personal is political

• The meaning has sometimes been interpreted to mean that political and personal issues affect each other. It has also meant that the experience of women is the grounding of feminism, both personal and political.
• Liberal feminists

  • Focus on the public sphere of society
  • Such as equal pay and conditions in the workplace
  • Arguing that the private life of women is outside the remit of political analysis
• Radical feminists

  • Refute the liberal feminist view
  • Arguing that the personal is political as patriarchy is prevalent in the private sphere of family life
• Gilman: 'Berated the misery of women's private lives and the exploitative nature of domestic roles'
• Societal pressure

  • Forced young girls to conform to motherhood
  • With gender-specific clothes and toys
  • Gilman argued for gender-neutral garments and playthings
• Rowbotham: 'Argued that marriage was like feudalism, with women akin to serfs paying feudal dues to their husband'
• De Beauvoir

  • Championed contraception
  • Allowed women control of their bodies and the chance to avoid endless childbearing
• Millett

  • Believed that the personal is political