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Why have radical feminists proclaimed that the ‘personal is the political’?

Traditional notions of what is political placed politics in the ‘public life’ understood to the public sphere of pressure groups, political parities, public debate etc. Family life was thought to be ‘non-political’ as it was part of the ‘private sphere’. Radical feminists question this distinction, whilst Liberal Feminists seek to reform and not necessarily breach the divide on all level, only if it will guarantee such things as education and voting rights.

More modern and radical feminists have claimed that politics takes place in all social groups. The ‘person is political’ because politics can exist where ever there is social conflict. Millet defined politics as: “power-structured relationships, arrangements where one group of persons is in controlled by another” By this radical feminist definition, not only is government political, but so too is the family life.

Radical feminists hold that sexual inequality has been preserved because of a division of labour through society. This is highlighted in Elshtain’s private man public women Traditionally the public life has been the concern of males – literatures, art, politics, philosophy etc. And women have been confined to the domestic tasks. Thus, they must question the personal / political divide, asserts Elshtain because if the role of women takes place within an untouchable personal sphere then politics cannot solve it and is of no importance. Women who are restricted to their private roles of housewife or mother are, in effect, excluded from politics.

What’s more, radical feminists have been keen to analyse the ‘politics of everyday life’ This is the process of social conditioning which takes place within the family. This is the distribution of housework, domestic responsibilities, childcare and the politics of personal and sexual conduct. For some, breaking down the divide implies giving some responsibility to the state via generous welfare programs and child support. It is thus suggested that males and females, within the personal ‘family unit’ are encouraged to adopt contrasting male and female stereotypes based on their parents social roles. “A women is not born, she is made” claimed Bouviour in illustration of this point. As an existentialist Bouviour felt that women could cast off these roles which they were being presented with. Women are making, at heart, choices to act like the socially dictated 'female' form and to claim otherwise is (what Sartre called) Bad Faith. Thus, the person is political because for the existential feminist the 'cogito' is the very source of their oppression.

Gender divisions which operate within the family, as such, structure all other forms of political life. Therefore, not only is political reform is needed but the radical feminists feel that only though revolutionary reform of the family and domestic life will equality start to permeate into other social institutions.

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This essay is aimed at people studying for A Level Politics, but will be suitable for other people too.

Originally submitted by Dr Pip on TSR Forums.