Abstract

ALCANIZ, Mercedes. Reconciling the public and private spheres: a new model in the gender system?. Sociologia, Problemas e Práticas [online]. 2004, n.44, pp.47-70. ISSN 0873-6529.

The text analyzes recent changes in the traditional model of the gender system, set up in the nineteenth century, which allocated the public sphere to men, with its higher esteem and remuneration, and left the private sphere to women. In the closing decades of the twentieth century, social and economic change led to the incorporation of women into the public sphere, especially in the labor market, though the same did not happen with men in the private or domestic domain. This article indicates how legislative efforts, policies of equality, public investment in services for "working mothers" and tax policies are not enough. If a new gender system model is to be instituted in society, mentalities must change and the social definition of gender must alter, modifying earlier, traditional definitions and putting an end to the identification of women with the private sphere and men with the public.

Keywords : Gender system; private sphere; public sphere; reconciliation.

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