Gender, the Public, and the Private

Abstract

The concepts of public and private spheres of life have been central to Western political thought at least since the seventeenth century. In some respects, they have origins in classical Greek thought.1 In much of mainstream (as contrasted with feminist) political theory today, these concepts continue to be used as if relatively un problematical. Important arguments in contemporary debates depend upon the assumption that public concerns can with relative ease be distinguished from private ones, that we have a solid basis for separating out the personal from the political. Sometimes explicitly, but more often implicitly, the idea is perpetuated that these spheres are sufficiently separate, and sufficiently different, that the public or political can be discussed in isolation from the private or personal. As I shall argue in this chapter, such assumptions can be sustained only if very persuasive arguments of feminist scholars are ignored.