Historical Continuity of Private and Public

Abstract

The paper addresses the patriarchal model of understanding family relationships as an exclusively private sphere with specified and unchanging roles for men and women. In socialist Yugoslavia, despite support for women's emancipation in principle, the model of the patriarchal family and invisible work at home was not called into question and was not a focus of official policy. With the fall of socialism and the growth of nationalist ideology in the 1990s, there was a re-traditionalization and a return of women to the private sphere, and emphasis was placed on their contribution to the survival of the family during a socio-economic crisis. Based on personal and professional memories of female reporters in Vojvodina of different ages, this paper will examine the relationship between private and public: family roles, maternity, motherhood, and professional careers. The conclusions point to identifying gender identity with traditional roles, which, due to an overlap with a journalist’s obligations, contributes to either suppressing female identity as it relates to professional identity or turning women into superheroines who are equally successful at being mothers, wives, homemakers, and female reporters. These issues could continue to further limit a more effective merging of gender and professional identity and hamper the development of a gender-sensitive culture in journalism. Thus, it does not contribute to the improvement of women's social positions.