The term politicos was used by some feminists of the 1960s and 1970s to describe those who wanted to continue working within the political structure of the New Left. Many women wanted to break away from leftist political groups and the Civil Rights Movement, because they found that even in those radical groups, men dominated women and the power structure was a patriarchal hierarchy.
This led to the “politico-feminist” split, in which radical feminists called for a separate women’s liberation movement. This self-sufficient movement would challenge the fundamentally male-dominated society and give women their own power. Some of these radical feminists used the term "politico" as a derogatory term to describe women who weren’t revolutionary enough to break away from other social movements.
The “politicos”, on the other hand, recognized that male-dominated patriarchal society had long oppressed women, but rejected the idea that sex was the totality of oppression. They saw themselves as feminist activists who also worked with men and other activist organizations. The politico-feminist split influenced the ongoing development of feminist theory.