Introduction to Historical and Archaeological Perspectives on Gender Transformations: From Private to Public

Abstract

This edited volume examines and denaturalizes the “separate-spheres” gender system that historians have identified as persisting at least from the Greek, Roman, and Christian empires into modern times in Western cultures (Anderson and Zinsser 1988: xiii–xiv, 96–99, 144; Matthaei 1982: 29–31; Donovan 2001: 19). It is important to understand the “separate-spheres” ideology, identities, roles, and practices because this gender system is the deepest historical context for this volume. The dualistic ideology posits that men belong in the public sphere while women are innately inclined to engaging in private domestic pursuits (Spencer-Wood 1991a: 237). The association of women with the domestic sphere of housework, mothering, and household activities has been considered a natural extension of women’s biological roles in childbirth and breast feeding. According to the “separate-spheres” ideology, women are genetically engineered to enjoy and excel at caring for the home and mothering children, while men are best at conducting public activities such as agricultural fieldwork, wars, governments, and capitalist businesses (Robertson 1982: 21, 25–28; Matthaei 1982: 110–111). The asymmetrical power dynamics in the “separate-spheres” gender system are addressed in Spencer-Wood’s chapter in this volume.