History Extra Podcast Summary: "Public vs Private: History Behind Closed Doors"
Release Date: May 1, 2025
Host: Lauren Good
Guest: Tiffany Jenkins, Writer, Cultural Historian, and Broadcaster
Book Discussed: "Strangers and Intimates" by Tiffany Jenkins
Introduction: Exploring the Boundaries of Public and Private Life
In this engaging episode of the History Extra Podcast, Lauren Good hosts Tiffany Jenkins to delve into the intricate history of public and private life as explored in Jenkins' book, Strangers and Intimates. The conversation seeks to understand how the lines between public and private spheres have evolved over centuries, shaping societal norms and individual behaviors.
1. The Origins and Evolution of Privacy
Jenkins' Exploration of Privacy: Tiffany Jenkins begins by expressing her fascination with the concepts of privacy and secrecy, highlighting that contemporary discussions often center around technology and social media. However, she emphasizes that the valuation of privacy has deep historical roots.
- Quote:
"Privacy is not natural. It's something that you have to define and fight for that. It's bigger than just digital privacy." [38:30]
Historical Misconceptions: Contrary to popular belief, privacy didn't emerge solely from domestic innovations like curtains or property laws in the 18th century. Instead, Jenkins posits that the concept of privacy accidentally arose from individuals' attempts to separate themselves from authoritative entities like the church and the monarchy.
- Quote:
"They end up accidentally creating this private sphere." [20:23]
2. Public and Private Spheres in Ancient Athens
Sharp Delineation: In 5th century Athens, society exhibited a stark separation between the public and private realms. The public sphere, epitomized by areas like the Acropolis and the agora, was exclusively for male free citizens. Women and slaves were relegated to the private domain, which was often viewed negatively.
- Quote:
"The public realm was venerated, the private realm was denigrated." [03:33]
Diogenes' Transgressions: Jenkins references the philosopher Diogenes, who famously blurred these boundaries by engaging in typically private acts in public spaces, challenging societal norms.
- Quote:
"Diogenes was basically saying, your venerated public realm is not as great as you might think." [05:23]
3. The Role of Women in Public and Private Spheres
18th-Century Britain: Jenkins discusses the case of the Duchess of Devonshire in 1784, who publicly campaigned for Charles Fox to become MP in Westminster. Her actions were met with severe backlash, as society deemed her transgression into the public sphere inappropriate for women.
- Quote:
"Women at that time who would transgress and come out of it were often put in their place and told to go back to childrearing." [05:52]
Double Standards and Feminist Resistance: Prominent women like Mary Wollstonecraft challenged these norms, advocating for the education and participation of women in public life, thereby laying the groundwork for future feminist movements.
- Quote:
"Mary Wollstonecraft would argue that actually they have both the rational capacity for public life." [07:29]
4. The Transformation of Privacy in the 18th and 19th Centuries
Rise of Biographies and Personal Lives: The 18th century witnessed the burgeoning of modern biography, exemplified by Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson. This shift indicated a growing public interest in the private lives of notable figures.
- Quote:
"Boswell's biography gives this sense of the man and the self being important." [11:42]
Literature and Domesticity: Novels by authors like Jane Austen began to celebrate domestic life, embedding the value of the private sphere into the cultural consciousness.
- Quote:
"Domesticity doesn't become recognized and valued into the end of that century." [16:24]
5. The Interplay Between Public Culture and Domestic Architecture
Architectural Changes: Jenkins highlights how architectural developments mirrored the evolving boundaries between public and private life. The introduction of corridors and the delineation of rooms within homes fostered a sense of intimacy and separation from the outside world.
- Quote:
"Curtains were drawn, cushions were plumped, and the home began to embody this sense of separation, intimacy." [16:24]
Social Life and Public Spaces: The proliferation of coffee houses and public institutions like the British Museum facilitated a culture where private ideas were shared in communal settings, further delineating the public-private divide.
- Quote:
"Coffee houses helped demarcate begins with mercantile society." [28:56]
6. Community Oversight and Regulation of Private Behavior
Bawdy Courts and Public Shame: Before the solidification of private spheres, communities actively regulated personal behavior through institutions like bawdy courts, where acts such as adultery were prosecuted and publicly shamed.
- Quote:
"If you didn't, you could, I think, be accused of bawdy, which is effectively encouraging lavishness and poor behavior." [22:59]
Impact on Women: Women faced heightened scrutiny, with societal expectations forcing them to adhere to strict moral codes, often policing their own bodies and behaviors.
- Quote:
"Women's breasts would be felt to see if they were pregnant or not." [26:19]
7. The Shift Towards Valuing the Private Sphere
Freedom of Conscience: Jenkins argues that the development of concepts like freedom of conscience in the 16th to 18th centuries inadvertently fostered the private sphere by advocating for individual beliefs separate from state or church control.
- Quote:
"Freedom of conscience firmly separates the state and the individual." [18:57]
Validation of Private Life: By the end of the 18th century, both public and private spheres gained equal validation, with private life increasingly celebrated through literature and societal norms.
- Quote:
"Private and public like a dance with one another." [last part of section 5]
8. Modern Implications: Technology and the Blurred Lines of Privacy
Pre-Tech Influences: Jenkins emphasizes that the erosion of clear public-private boundaries began long before the advent of technology and social media. Factors such as advertising, psychological manipulation, and feminist movements played significant roles.
- Quote:
"Tech comes in, but the border between public and private had already dissolved by the time social media comes in." [36:53]
Tech as an Accelerator: While technology, particularly social media, has accelerated the integration of public and private lives, Jenkins contends that the foundational changes were already underway.
- Quote:
"Tech is what is blamed for that change, but the change came before tech." [36:45]
Surveillance Society: Drawing parallels with historical events like the Monica Lewinsky scandal and pre-digital surveillance experiments, Jenkins illustrates how the intrusion into private lives has long been a societal issue.
- Quote:
"Jennifer Ringley... placed a camera on her computer as an experiment. It's a 24-hour camera and it becomes a phenomenal sensation." [32:05]
9. Conclusion: The Importance of Preserving Privacy
Key Takeaways: Jenkins underscores that privacy is a constructed concept that requires ongoing effort to maintain. She advocates for preserving private spaces as essential for intimacy, trust, and societal well-being.
- Quote:
"It's good to have privacy. It's not hypocritical to be different in public. There are different sides to ourselves." [38:30]
Societal Benefits: Maintaining a balance between public and private realms benefits both individuals and society, fostering better citizenship and healthier personal relationships.
- Quote:
"Citizens need that to be better in public. We need it for intimacy." [38:30]
Final Thoughts
Tiffany Jenkins provides a comprehensive exploration of how the boundaries between public and private life have been shaped and reshaped across different historical periods. Her analysis challenges modern perceptions of privacy, encouraging listeners to recognize its value and the efforts required to sustain it in an increasingly interconnected world.
Produced by Jack Bateman.