India Risk Analysis

Sexuality and Economic Independence outside the Nuclear Family

In the essay Capitalism and Gay Identity from Making Trouble, D'Emilio makes a clear portrayal of the existing difference between gay identity and homosexual acts. He emphasizes these differences by thoroughly describing the crucial role capitalism plays in differentiating such. Capitalism has created the material conditions for homosexual desire to express itself as a central component of some individuals' lives. The three variables we will use to support our thesis are; the separation of sexuality from procreation, the transition away from the household family-based economy to a fully developed capitalist free-labor economy and the homosexual desire caused by labor force and high wages.

Capitalism has led to the separation of sexuality from procreation. As the economic family unit slowly disintegrated, child bearing was no longer necessary for labor. Birth rate was cut down to less than 30%. Sexual desire is no longer linked to reproductive imperatives. Constructing one's personal and intimate life based on homosexual attraction became an option. Particular men and women made decisions to act on their erotic preference for the same sex.

The capitalist system of free labor has knocked the material foundation away from family life. It has gradually undermined its nuclear basis by taking away the economic functions that cemented the ties between family members (men and women in particular). It destroyed the system of household production. As the free labor system strengthened individuals were allowed to make their living through wage labor. Consequentially interfamilial ties weakened and it became possible for homosexual desire to become part of their identity. With economic independence away from the household men and women organized their personal lives around their erotic attractions.

Homosexual desire caused by labor force and high wages predominated amongst men. Capitalism made it possible for more men