Mary O'Brien

Mary Mamie O'Brien (8 July 1926 – 17 October 1998) was a feminist philosopher and professor. She taught sociology and feminist social theory in Canada until her death. She was a founding member of the Feminist Party of Canada. Born in Walmer, Kent, England, O'Brien moved to Glasgow as a child and was raised by aunts. Her early political engagement with the Fabian Society and the Labour Party was impacted by the Suez Crisis and the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956. Her experiences as a midwife in Clydeside informed her later philosophical work. O'Brien emigrated to Canada in 1957, working as a nurse before pursuing graduate studies in political philosophy. She died in Toronto in 1998 from a heart attack. Her seminal work, "The Politics of Reproduction" (1981), is a key text in feminist political theory. O'Brien connected Marxist concepts of labor to the act of giving birth, placing women at the center of materialist analysis. She argued that the relations of reproduction are essential to understanding social and political endeavors and identified the discovery of paternity as a precursor to patriarchal institutions. Her work integrated essentialism and social constructivism, aiming to place women's experiences at the center of political discourse. She also coined the term "malestream" to describe traditional Western thought. In her later years, O'Brien explored the implications of reproductive technologies, such as contraception, in vitro fertilization, and surrogate motherhood, for women's relationship to reproduction and motherhood. O'Brien's contributions also extended to the nursing profession, advocating for nurses to have greater control over their working conditions and status. She was a strong proponent of women's rights to maintain authority over their children and the means of production. She was a founding member of the Feminist Party of Canada in 1979, emphasizing women's involvement in politics and the need for their role in shaping society.