Marx Family Dynamics

Most people who think about Karl Marx only think about socialism, communism, and all the other negative aspects of his theories; however, he has many valid theories when it comes to his views on family dynamics. Family dynamics are bound to encounter many problems. Among these are commodification, sign-exchange value, and exchange value (Marxist Criticism par. 3). Therefore, the Marxist theories about family dynamics are valid because these issues are faced in everyday life, especially in media representation of families. Commodification that affects family dynamics is evident throughout mythology, popular media, and real families. In the mythology unit, one myth that supported the theory of commodification is "Hera and Hephaistos." In this …show more content…
In the myth of Hera and Hephaistos, Hephaistos is held dearly by his mother because of his talents, which increase her social status, which makes him a commodity for his own mother. The House of Atreus shows the theory of exchange value as Tantalus values the gods' favor as much as that of his son, so he tried to exchange his son's life and meat for the gods' favor, which turned his son into nothing but a commodity. In his economic manuscripts, Marx wrote: "The valid exchange values of a given commodity express something equal" (Marx par. 6). This only means that Tantalus' son was only as valuable to Tantalus as the favor of the gods, so he attempted to exchange one for the other, leading to many unintended consequences all down his family