This paper defines the concepts of gender and social reproduction as developed in feminist theory and discusses their utility for synthesizing recent historical research on women. We review literature on the emergence, institutionalization, and reorganization of “separate spheres” in nineteenth and early twentieth century Europe and North America. Focusing on social class differences in family strategies, procreation, sexuality, consumerism, professionalization, and state policy, we argue that the organization of gender relations and social reproduction crucially shaped macrohistorical processes, as well as being shaped by them.

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Privacy and secrecy both involve boundaries and the denial of access to others; however, they differ in the moral content of the behavior which is concealed. Privacy is consensual where secrecy is not; that is, there is a "right to privacy" but no equivalent "right to secrecy." Those stigmatized o r disadvantaged social groups who have little or no access to privacy utilize secrecy to conceal their behavior. T h e private family and the secret homosexual world are examples of groups which utilize privacy and secrecy, respectively.

This article argues that changes in the organization of social reproduction, defined to include the activities, attitudes, behaviors, emotions, responsibilities, and relationships involved in maintaining daily life, can explain historical differences in women's political self-organization. Examining the Progressive period, the 1930s, and the 1960s and 1970s, the authors suggest that the conditions of social reproduction provide the organizational resources for and legitimation of women's collective action.