Women As Sex Vendors Or, Why Women Are Conservative (Being a View of the Economic Status of Woman) — Key Ideas to Explore

The Economic Basis of Conservatism

The opening chapter, “Why Women Are Conservative,” establishes the central analogy: women, as a sex, are like skilled trade unionists or small farmers—groups that have something to conserve. The authors argue that women’s biological and economic position as “sex vendors” makes them a favored class, and the favored class never revolts. They write that “revolt comes from the submerged, never from the group occupying a favored place.” This framing is notable for its directness: women are not portrayed as victims but as rational actors within a system of exploitation. The argument relies on a Marxist class analysis applied to gender, with women occupying a role analogous to the labor aristocracy. The text does not entertain alternative explanations, such as legal or educational barriers, focusing instead on economic self-interest as the key to political behavior.

Anthropological Evidence and the Family

The excerpts include substantial material from Engels’s Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State and from Bachofen, used to argue that early human societies were matriarchal and that women held high status. The authors quote Arthur Wright’s description of Iroquois long houses, where “the female part generally ruled the house” and could expel a lazy husband. This evidence is deployed to counter the notion that women have always been subordinate. The pamphlet then traces how the shift to private property and slavery led to monogamy and the subordination of women. The argument is historical materialist: changes in economic organization drive changes in family structure. The excerpts do not, however, show the authors applying this framework to contemporary 1918 conditions, leaving the reader to infer how the historical analysis supports their opening thesis.

The Limits of the Excerpted Argument

The available text is incomplete, containing only the first chapter and part of a later chapter on the evolution of the family. The pamphlet’s full argument—including the sections “Youth and Maid” and “The Future”—is not present. Based on the excerpts, the authors rely heavily on secondary sources (Engels, Bachofen) rather than original research. The tone is polemical and assured, with no acknowledgment of counterarguments. The catalog subjects list “Sexual ethics” and “Family,” but the excerpts focus on economic determinism rather than moral or ethical questions. Readers should note that the pamphlet’s title, Women As Sex Vendors, is more provocative than the excerpts’ actual content, which is a dry Marxist analysis. The text assumes a reader familiar with socialist terminology and does not define terms like “surplus value” or “means of production.”

This pamphlet is best approached as a period piece of socialist feminist thought, not as a comprehensive study of women’s status. Its value lies in its clear articulation of an economic determinist view of gender conservatism, a position that was radical in 1918 and remains provocative. Readers interested in the history of feminist economics or early twentieth-century American socialism will find it a concise primary source. Those seeking empirical data or nuanced treatment of women’s diverse experiences will need to look elsewhere.

Sometimes I think of that 1918 pamphlet about women selling access to survive, its stark title still sharp. It makes me recall another old book, quieter in its way, about drink and other social questions. That one sat on a shelf, its pages yellowed, holding similar worries about chains we choose or endure. The warmth of remembering them together feels like finding old friends. The Ethics of Drink and Other Social Questions; Or, Joints In Our Social Armour — Reading Notes carries that same patient ache.