The distinction between 'the political' and 'the non-political' coincides with the division between an essentially public sphere of life and what can be thought of as a private sphere

- the division between the state (institutions of the state) and civil society.
- between the political (some institutions thought of as public, economy transfers from private to public) and the personal.

Because gender inequality has been preserved because the sexual division that runs through society has traditionally been thought of as natural rather than political. Women have been confined to a private existence, they are excluded from politics.
If politics takes place only within the public sphere, the role of women and the question of gender equality are issues of little or no political importance.