There are many commodities in the world around us. According to Marx, a commodity is defined as something that has exchange value (204). The labor that one puts into their job is said to be a commodity. This is because their work is being exchanged for a paycheck each week. When a worker is not fairly compensated for their hard labor is when we start to see the rise in strikes and lawsuits.
When a commodity is involved, one also usually sees wage-labor. Wage-labor is when a worker sells their labor power in exchange for a wage (Marx, 208). “But the exercise of labor power, labor, is the worker’s own life-activity, the manifestation of his own life. And this life activity he sells to another person in order to secure the necessary means of subsistence” (Marx, 204). As mentioned in class, the wage does not have to be in the form of money. For example, back in the times of feudalism workers worked for food and housing. However, in today’s society when someone earns a wage; it is almost always in the form on money.
Take for example, the lawsuits that have put forth against Wal-Mart for their numerous issues with unfair wage-labor. According to an article on the Equal Rights Advocates page, Wal-Mart was sued back in 2001 for discrimination between sexes in the case of Dukes vs. Wal-Mart stores. Wal-Mart was sued by female workers because men were visibly making more money for doing the same exact job they were. This story came as no surprise to me because they have been known for having unfair wage practices in the past. This story has to do with commodities because the females were putting in their hard work and expected to have a fair paycheck.
However, as mentioned this did not happen. According to the website for Equal Rights Advocates, a woman in a store manager’s position made $89, 300 year and a man in a store manager’s position made $105,700 a year. That is a $16,400 a year gap just for being biologically a woman. A female cashier for the store would make $13,800 a year while a male cashier would make $14,500 a year. This constitutes a $700 a year wage gap. It seems apparent that as one climbs the corporate ladder, the more gendered wage-labor differences we start to see.
This example also shows wage-labor because the women were not being properly exchanged for their wage. The wage gap between men and women is very apparent in today’s society. The Equal Rights Advocates page also mentioned that the unfair wages were forcing more and more women into poverty. How is this fair when both men and women are trying to hold down their house and make a living for themselves?
Unfortunately, we do not just see this difference in wage-labor at Wal-Mart. It would be awesome if this was the only place, but as members of our society we tend to know otherwise. Women in our society are constantly fighting for their position in the labor market and fighting to have the same wage-labor as their male-counterparts in the same position.
Source: http://www.equalrights.org/professional/walmart.asp
When a commodity is involved, one also usually sees wage-labor. Wage-labor is when a worker sells their labor power in exchange for a wage (Marx, 208). “But the exercise of labor power, labor, is the worker’s own life-activity, the manifestation of his own life. And this life activity he sells to another person in order to secure the necessary means of subsistence” (Marx, 204). As mentioned in class, the wage does not have to be in the form of money. For example, back in the times of feudalism workers worked for food and housing. However, in today’s society when someone earns a wage; it is almost always in the form on money.
Take for example, the lawsuits that have put forth against Wal-Mart for their numerous issues with unfair wage-labor. According to an article on the Equal Rights Advocates page, Wal-Mart was sued back in 2001 for discrimination between sexes in the case of Dukes vs. Wal-Mart stores. Wal-Mart was sued by female workers because men were visibly making more money for doing the same exact job they were. This story came as no surprise to me because they have been known for having unfair wage practices in the past. This story has to do with commodities because the females were putting in their hard work and expected to have a fair paycheck.
However, as mentioned this did not happen. According to the website for Equal Rights Advocates, a woman in a store manager’s position made $89, 300 year and a man in a store manager’s position made $105,700 a year. That is a $16,400 a year gap just for being biologically a woman. A female cashier for the store would make $13,800 a year while a male cashier would make $14,500 a year. This constitutes a $700 a year wage gap. It seems apparent that as one climbs the corporate ladder, the more gendered wage-labor differences we start to see.
This example also shows wage-labor because the women were not being properly exchanged for their wage. The wage gap between men and women is very apparent in today’s society. The Equal Rights Advocates page also mentioned that the unfair wages were forcing more and more women into poverty. How is this fair when both men and women are trying to hold down their house and make a living for themselves?
Unfortunately, we do not just see this difference in wage-labor at Wal-Mart. It would be awesome if this was the only place, but as members of our society we tend to know otherwise. Women in our society are constantly fighting for their position in the labor market and fighting to have the same wage-labor as their male-counterparts in the same position.
Source: http://www.equalrights.org/professional/walmart.asp