Research On The Women’s Liberation Thought Of Marcuse

The level of women’s liberation is the primary criterion to measure the degree of human development and social progress. With the development of society, women’s liberation faces a lot of challenges and difficulties. Therefore, it is crucial to decide which exist theory to choose to solve the existing problems. Herbert Marcuse is known as a famous western Marxist as well as the most radical philosopher in Frankfurt School. His thought on women’s liberation is quite unique and full of distinctive features. The thought system of Marcuse is very large, covering human theory, critical theory, theory of ideology, anti-positivist theory, new revolution theory and aesthetic theory. His thought on women’s liberation is learned from part of his other theories separately and it is a concise reflection of Marcuse’s thought system. Although the thought of Marcuse is rich and covers a wide range, there are still some different opinions on his theory. Some scholars even call his theories the "strange mixture". Every theory has its drawbacks and so is the thought of Marcuse. In this eassy, we will view this situation objectively.This eassy attempts to study the women’s liberation theory of Marcuse. It is composed of the following order:the general situation of western women’s liberation, the social backgrounds and theoretical foundations of Marcuse’s women’s liberation theory, the basic contents of the theory and the advantages and drawbacks.Marcuse combines Freud’s theory and Marx’s theory together with his theory of "non repressive civilization theory", and applies them to the women’s liberation theory. Marcuse thinks, in "one dimensional society", the women’s liberation has encountered the bottleneck of consciousness loss, the liberation of women in the consumer society has been in a symbolic and formal situation, lost the vigilance to the capitalist society. A correct understanding of "warm slavery", the revelation of the conspicuous consumption and excessive consumption and also the disclosure of problems caused by "false needs" and mass media are playing a very impotant role in the process of making women achieve their liberation. In Marcuse’s opinion, only the social liberation is the ultimate objective.Marcuse tries to analyse the way and goal of women’s liberation in a new view. This essay tries to provide some enlightenments for women’s liberation and finish some detective work.