Irigaray argues that women are a commodity. They are traded between societies as a commodity. Furthermore, it seems that men can participate in the exchange of women but not with women. They are valued for their reproductive ability, a valuable utility to any man. Since commodities are the most basic form of capitalist wealth, we can interpret what women mean in a capitalist society.

Based off of these facts we can analyze the status of women in such social orders. They can be seen in three classes: the mother, the virgin, and the prostitute. The mother can not be exchanged as a commodity since they have both natural (reproductive) value and use value. They are private property in the name of the father because of their ability to reproduce. The virgin is pure exchange value. The prostitute possesses only use value, and that is appropriated by a man.

In India it seems to be an even sadder state of affairs. It seems as though women possess almost negative value, even the virgin, in very traditional Indian society. The woman's family pays the mans family a dowry to take her off their hands. As an anecdote, my mom's second-cousin was married off this way. The husband's family did not deem the dowry large enough. In response, they poisoned my mother's cousin to the point of near-death. Luckily that marriage was nullified very quickly.