Antigone's Dilemma: A Problem in Political Membership

Hartouni, Valerie

doi:10.1111/j.1527-2001.1986.tb00520.x

“…Elshtain's position is not without its critics (Dietz 1985; Hartouni 1986; Holland 1998; Zerilli 1991). First among them was Mary Dietz, who notes that maternal thinking is problematic from a feminist perspective because it fails to challenge the very confinement of women to the private sphere.…”

Section: Antigone As Feminist Heroinementioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking the Personal and the Political: Feminist Activism and Civic Engagement

Lee¹

2007

Hypatia

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The slogan "the personal is political" captures the distinctive chalknge to the publicprivate divide posed by contemporary feminists. As such, feminist activism is not necessarily congruent with civic engagement, which is predicated on the paradoxical need to both bridge and sustain the public-private divide. k e argues that rather than subverting the divide, the politics of the personal offers an alternative understunding of civic engagement that aims to reinstate individuals' dignity and agency.Among the many legacies of the so-called second wave of the American women's movement, perhaps the most distinctive and controversial is the politicization of the everyday life of ordinary women, as captured by the slogan "the personal is political." The slogan was coined in 1968 by Carol Hanisch, who was at that time a civil rights worker and a feminist activist (1970/2000).Ruth Rosen notes, "By this, she [Hanisch] meant to convey the then-shocking idea that there were political dimensions to private life, that power relations shaped life in marriage, in the kitchen, the bedroom, the nursery, and at work" (2000,196). This insight helped propel the momentum of the second wave and continues to inspire women's movements all around the world.The hallmark of contemporary feminism has been its challenge to the otherwise seemingly clear divide between the private and the public spheres.

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“…What Hartouni (1986) calls "Antigone's Dilemma" is precisely that-a situation where action and inaction alike harbor the consequence of noninnocence, where neither the womanliness of inaction advised by Ismene and demanded by Creon, nor the "unwomanliness" of public action offer any means of escape from tragedy. If, unlike Orestes, Antigone cannot survive her own acts, her death returns to Thebans not the opportunity to begin yet again but rather the opportunity to begin anew by continuing on different terms.…”

Section: Thebes's Antigonementioning

confidence: 98%

After Antigone: Women, the Past, and the Future of Feminist Political Thought

Holland¹

1998

American Journal of Political Science

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“…Elshtain's position is not without its critics (Dietz 1985;Hartouni 1986;Holland 1998;Zerilli 1991). First among them was Mary Dieu, who notes that maternal thinking is problematic from a feminist perspective because it fails to challenge the very confinement of women to the private sphere.…”

Section: Hypatiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking the Personal and the Political: Feminist Activism and Civic Engagement

Lee¹

2007

Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The slogan "the personal is political" captures the distinctive chalknge to the publicprivate divide posed by contemporary feminists. As such, feminist activism is not necessarily congruent with civic engagement, which is predicated on the paradoxical need to both bridge and sustain the public-private divide. k e argues that rather than subverting the divide, the politics of the personal offers an alternative understunding of civic engagement that aims to reinstate individuals' dignity and agency.Among the many legacies of the so-called second wave of the American women's movement, perhaps the most distinctive and controversial is the politicization of the everyday life of ordinary women, as captured by the slogan "the personal is political." The slogan was coined in 1968 by Carol Hanisch, who was at that time a civil rights worker and a feminist activist (1970/2000).Ruth Rosen notes, "By this, she [Hanisch] meant to convey the then-shocking idea that there were political dimensions to private life, that power relations shaped life in marriage, in the kitchen, the bedroom, the nursery, and at work" (2000,196). This insight helped propel the momentum of the second wave and continues to inspire women's movements all around the world.The hallmark of contemporary feminism has been its challenge to the otherwise seemingly clear divide between the private and the public spheres.

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Antigone's Dilemma: A Problem in Political Membership

Abstract: I would like to thank Donna Haraway, Barrie Thome, Daniel Scripture and, especially, Peter Euben for their many helpful comments and suggestions on various drafts of this article. I would also like to thank Thelma Francis for her generous support and encouragement.

Cited by 26 publications

References 8 publications

Rethinking the Personal and the Political: Feminist Activism and Civic Engagement

Rethinking the Personal and the Political: Feminist Activism and Civic Engagement

After Antigone: Women, the Past, and the Future of Feminist Political Thought

Rethinking the Personal and the Political: Feminist Activism and Civic Engagement

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