Feminists in the 1970s often explained their choice of causes with the phrase, “the personal is political,” meaning that issues usually considered “private” (like marriage, sexuality, reproduction, or home life) were indelibly shaped by laws and policies developed in the “public” or political realm. How did this belief shape the women’s movement in the 1960s and 1970s? And, to what extent were women’s activists successful in changing society to reflect this insight?
