Logistics Underpins Power—and Logistics Is Female

An essay on Psyche argues that the unpaid logistical labor performed by women—from 19th-century military wives to modern tradwives—is a foundational but unacknowledged pillar of patriarchal capitalism. The piece traces the concept of logistics from its military origins under Napoleon to its domestic application in Victorian households via Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (1861), and later to the industrial efficiency methods of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, who applied motion studies to their 12 children. It critiques the Christian patriarchy exemplified by the Duggar family of 19 Kids and Counting, noting the show's end amid sexual abuse scandals, and highlights Ghislaine Maxwell as an extreme case of a logistical procurer for Jeffrey Epstein. The essay draws on theorist Silvia Federici to argue that women's unpaid work sustains capitalism, and discusses the unequal distribution of domestic labor in heterosexual partnerships, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It concludes by suggesting that recognizing this history can empower women to redirect their organizational skills toward a more equitable future.