Assignment 02
Women’s role in society at large has always been explained away as somehow “natural” – a term, we should keep in mind, whose meaning is largely derived from the ideology of whoever happens to be employing it. Of course, if something is “natural” then how can anyone question it? In the case of women, “natural” also seems to implies something that should be taken for granted and not terribly important. They are unquestionable truths with which we should barely even bother to reckon. But, Carole Pateman’s The Sexual Contract begins to reckon with these seemingly common sense ideas and challenges the notions about women that society holds so dear.
To break down some of the ways that we can begin to understand this, Pateman offers up the yin and yang of private vs. public or, as they tend to be described by theorists, natural vs. civil. Pateman reminds us that the terms are actually defined in opposition to each other. That is, what defines the private is precisely that it is not public and vice versa. If we agree with that supposition (and, it does seem nearly impossible to argue against) then, this has implications for the way private – generally, defined by what happens within the bounds of domesticity – and the public – generally, defined by what happens in the world outside of the home – both depend on and interact with one another.
What we find is that all sorts of antiquated ideas about how women should contribute to society are deeply ingrained, even today. And, according to Pateman, the questions of the relationship of the private to the public are not sufficiently grappled with even by political theorists who should have something to say about it. But, because this private (i.e. within the home) is generally thought of as the domain of women it is consistently undervalued. This, despite the fact that, in general terms, the raising of children – all of the responsibility that the word “raise” entails – the general maintenance of the household – all of the responsibility that the word “maintenance” entails – is thought of, at best, as playing a supporting role.
Yet, if we go back to the notion that the public and private cannot exist without the other, we are then forced to say that women – accepting that this is an antiquated version of the role of women – make possible the existence of the public. Whatever happens, then, in civil society is only possible because of the private. In this sense, while the private is separate, it bleeds into and creates the conditions for the public.
