The family sphere(范围) used to be defined by its isolation from the public realm. There was the public male realm(领域)of "rational accomplishment" and cruel competition, and the private female and child-rearing sphere of home, intuition(直觉)and emotion. The private realm was supposed to be isolated from the realities of adult life. For both better and worse, television and other electronic media tend to break down the difference between those two worlds. The membrane around the family sphere is much more permeable(可渗透的). TV takes public events and transforms them into dramas that are played out in the privacy of our living rooms, kitchens and bedrooms.