| What is politics usually thought of as? | ‘Politics’ is usually thought of as an interactive activity that takes place in the public sphere of life- activities such as governmental institutions, protest groups and so on. |
| What is the personal/private life? | Private life such as the family is usually seen as the private sphere of life and therefore non-political. |
| What was the start of the personal is political movement? | Second wave feminism, however, insisted that politics takes place wherever there is any kind of human relationship and not merely in public life. Politics is thought to exist wherever social interaction and conflict is found. |
| What does Millet define politics as? | ‘power-structured relationships’. |
| What does Millet's definition allude to? | The relationship between state and citizens is therefore clearly political but, relationships such as those between husbands and wives or parents and children are also political. |
| How does this definition of politics help explain the feminist argument of sexual inequality | They claim that inequality and oppression are underpinned by the sexual division of labour that runs through society and has been thought of as ‘natural’ rather than political. Men have traditionally inhabited public spaces which include politics whereas women inhabit private spaces, which means women are excluded from politics |
| What is the response of radical feminists to the personal is political? | Radical feminists have been the keenest opponents of the idea that politics stops at the front door, arguing that the ‘personal is political’. Female oppression is thought to operate in all walks of life and is preserved and created by the family institution. They have therefore challenged the ‘politics of everyday life’ – for example – child-rearing responsibilities, domestic chores and other so-called ‘female duties’. |
| What is the response of liberal feminists to the personal is political? | Liberal feminists focus more on the equality of opportunity in the public sphere. They warn against politicising the private sphere, claiming that this is a place of individual freedom and choice. |
