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

Abstract

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.

The Personal is Political: A Feministic Analysis of Pakistani Political Autogynographies

“…Second wave feminism embraced the premise of consciousness-raising to realise that the experiences of women that were understood as personal and private were connected to different forms of gender inequality and oppression; realisation of this fact made possible the analysis of political and collective actions. Lee (2007) which feminists deemed ubiquitous" (p. 165). According to Lee, consciousness-raising was the first step in forming women's independent thought without any influence of patriarchy.…”

Battles with Desire: Centering the Body in the Personal Narratives of Doria Shafik and Latifa El-Zayyat

“…Carol Hanisch's "the personal is political" disputes the public/private binary in gender theory (qtd in Lee, 2007). The politicization of what has been hitherto labelled as "personal issues" points to "broadening the concept of power to show that the private domain is as public and as political" (Ramazanoglu, 1989, p. 63).…”