Choice Feminism

[Ansciess]

Excerpted from longer article by Meghan Murphy:

Have you noticed that a lot of conversations about female empowerment today seem to be stuck in a discourse of choice that makes it difficult to challenge—well, anything at all?

Falling somewhere between victim feminism and the American dream, choice feminism is the new reigning queen of empowerment discourse. In contrast to political philosophies that explore the ways in which structural inequality limits freedom, choice feminism tells us that every individual is free to choose and that choice is empowering, no matter what the choice actually is.

The result is that the term choice is now employed in feminist debates about everything from the sex industry to marriage and makeup. Choice feminism dictates that any time a woman makes a choice it is an act of feminism.

Because a woman chooses to work in a strip club, for example, the factors that could affect her choice to do this work—which may include class, colonialism, education, abuse or the reality of living in a culture that objectifies women’s bodies—are neatly erased. No one is forcing her to be there, choice feminism says. If men will pay, why not take the cash?

The decision made by Slutwalk DC organizers to hold a fundraiser for an event last year in a strip club invoked this notion of choice feminism. Many feminists balked at the idea of using a strip club for a seemingly oppositional cause. However, the organizers responded in a statement on their Tumblr page stating, “This is a non-judgmental movement that embraces all choices a woman wishes to make.” Really? Since when is nonjudgmental the descriptor of a movement based on achieving collective freedom from oppression and exploitation? What if the choices being made perpetuate patriarchal ideas?...

Whatever its origins, choice feminism has co-opted feminist language in a way that takes the political out of the personal. It’s all about whatever makes you feel good—right now!...

Denise Thompson wrote about the problem of individualism as a foundation for feminist action in her book Radical Feminism Today. She argues that “if domination is desired, it cannot be challenged and opposed.” So, for example, if sex worker is framed as an individual choice, the system of prostitution can be dissociated from the idea of systematic or gendered oppression. If prostitution is only a personal life choice, it need not have anything to do with patriarchy. It becomes a private issue rather than a public one. And yet, as we all know, private choices don’t provide the basis for a movement. Viewing prostitution as a personal choice frames it as an empowerment exercise and, in so doing, erases the context of male domination and female exploitation in which it typically occurs...

Choice is far more complex than adherents of choice feminism make it out to be. For example, while our freedom to make choices enhances our ability to feel personally empowered, many of the choices we make do not help anyone but ourselves. One woman’s pole-dancing class might be another’s sole method of obtaining an income.

Heaping this decontextualized notion of choice upon the often very limited decisions made by women who are disadvantaged erases the structural inequities that feminism would normally set out to change. As feminists, we need to remember that, in this world, one person’s freedom often comes at the expense of another’s...

For me, it comes down to whether one person’s choice to play with objectification may actually have an impact on other women. Feminism isn’t simply doing whatever we want, whenever we want, without considering how our actions impact others.

If choice is going to continue to be a valuable part of feminist discourse and a foundation for activism, we need to start thinking of it in collective, rather than individualistic, terms...

Beyond simply choosing objectification, women are told that if they are compensated, sexism can be all the more empowering. Capitalism, partnered with media and neo-liberalism, tells us that all we need to do is to get paid in order for something to become a feminist act. Famous burlesque dancer Dita von Teese asked, “How can it be disempowering when I’m up there for seven minutes and I’ve just made $20,000? I feel pretty powerful."

Not only does von Teese ignore the fact that most women who are paid to take their clothes off do not earn that amount of money, but there is also the fact that receiving payment does not negate objectification.

Undeniably, choice is fundamental to feminism. But that does not mean that every choice we make is a feminist one. Choice, and the feminist context within which the slogan was born, has been de-politicized...

http://www.herizons.ca/node/519

 

[mlp]

Very good article.

It seems to me that many young women are largely oblivious to how recent, and how tenuous, the advances women have made actually are.

It also seems to me that women are, and throughout history have been, uniquely complicit in the the objectification, disempowerment and degradation of women as a group.

 

[das_nut]

I'm going to have to side with "choice feminism", as much as this article's author disagrees.

The problem is, as soon as you say "you can't have the freedom to make that choice", you're putting yourself in a position where you are imposing your own views on another person.

 

[mlp]

You're missing the point.

 

[ledboots]

"Making the porn choice."

 

[das_nut]

You're missing the point.

No, no, I think I got it. One side wants to shut down debate by playing "it's a choice I'm freely making as a woman" card and that interferes with the other side trying to shut down debate by playing the "objectification" card.

 

[Ansciess]

I'm going to have to side with "choice feminism", as much as this article's author disagrees.

The problem is, as soon as you say "you can't have the freedom to make that choice", you're putting yourself in a position where you are imposing your own views on another person.

She isn't saying that individuals can't have freedom. She's talking about collective political freedom - which includes those individuals who clearly do not have it.

Not much point in a liberation movement if every example of institutionalized oppression can be politically neutralized by someone saying they're o.k. with it. It makes it completely devoid of political analysis.

But are you trying to argue that you make no judgements? Are you trying to argue that "choice feminists" make no judgements (i.e. "impose their views") on others (including on this other group of feminists)?

No, no, I think I got it. One side wants to shut down debate by playing "it's a choice I'm freely making as a woman" card and that interferes with the other side trying to shut down debate by playing the "objectification" card.

I'm not shutting down debate. I posted this to open up debate.

 

[das_nut]

She isn't saying that individuals can't have freedom. She's talking about collective political freedom - which includes those individuals who clearly do not have it.

Not much point in a liberation movement if every example of institutionalized oppression can be politically neutralized by someone saying they're o.k. with it. It makes it completely devoid of political analysis.

How is it politically neutralized when someone says they are okay with it? What's being neutralized is questioning a person's decision.

But are you trying to argue that you make no judgements? Are you trying to argue that "choice feminists" make no judgements (i.e. "impose their views") on others (including on this other group of feminists)?

There's a difference between having an opinion on something, and coercing someone else to obey your opinion.

 

[Second Summer]

A woman can make a choice which she personally will benefit from and not have any qualms about, but which is not beneficial or is even unhelpful to women as a group. It can probably be "empowering" whatever that is, but it's not a feminist choice. Whether it's good or bad is in the eye of the beholder.

I haven't been much of a feminist in the past, and still not sure about that label, but I do have a new perspective after I became a dad. I'm concerned about the society my daughter is going to live in.

 

[IamJen]

What if you take this discussion (as I have indeed seen on another board) away from sex workers, etc. and into areas like stay at home moms. Is a woman a ****-poor feminist because she chooses not to "lean in"?

 

[ledboots]

What if you take this discussion (as I have indeed seen on another board) away from sex workers, etc. and into areas like stay at home moms. Is a woman a ****-poor feminist because she chooses not to "lean in"?

What kills me today is when men are patted on the back and lauded for staying home and raising children while their wife works, yet women are often looked down upon for doing the same thing.

And tbh, I don't see these men doing the stuff my mom did as a stay at home mom. She cleaned, cooked, ironed, did laundry, gardened, canned, sewed and knitted clothes, volunteered in the community, had dad's boring work friends for dinner, and pinched a penny hard so that my dad's hard work wasn't wasted. The two of them worked as a well-oiled machine.

 

[Clueless Git]

No, no, I think I got it. One side wants to shut down debate by playing "it's a choice I'm freely making as a woman" card and that interferes with the other side trying to shut down debate by playing the "objectification" card.

Minds me of a hilarious card game that I just made up ...

Shut Down Debate: A card game consisting entirely of Aces. The trump Ace is decided by which player(s) do better at shouting the other player(s) down.

 

[Clueless Git]

...but it's not a feminist choice.

Anything is a feminist choice dependant soley upon who gets to determine what feminism actualy is?

I'm purely kinda thinking that this topic is all about who gets to determine what feminism is, or isn't, there btw.

 

[beancounter]

Feminism is about the freedom to make choices. Just because other women don't like the freely chosen choice one women make, doesn't make that one women anti-feminist, or suppressed.

 

[mlp]

I think it's amusing that the first reaction of some is that this thread is meant to shut down debate. This is the first time I've seen that response to a debate topic, and it's interesting that the accusation is made in this context, and by these particular individuals.

Feminism is about the freedom to make choices. Just because other women don't like the freely chosen choice one women make, doesn't make that one women anti-feminist, or suppressed.

There's a difference between a choice not being a feminist choice and being anti-feminist.

There are many women in cultures where female genital mutilation is the acceptable cultural practice who are just as in favor of the mutilation as the men are - in fact, it's generally carried out by women. I gather those women are feminist, because they are women, and they are making choices.

 

[das_nut]

What if you take this discussion (as I have indeed seen on another board) away from sex workers, etc. and into areas like stay at home moms. Is a woman a ****-poor feminist because she chooses not to "lean in"?

Well, if you can criticize someone for embracing aspects of traditional gendered culture such as sex workers, then can't you just as easily criticize another person for embracing aspects of traditional gendered culture such as stay-at-home-moms?

I suspect that the focus on sex workers, etc, in the original article is intentional. It's much easier to say "hey, someone who decides to be a stripper is making a wrong choice" because most of us won't ever decide to become strippers, and probably most of us don't know one.

When we start focusing on the "anti-feminist" actions of mainstream women, then anti-choice feminism is going to run into some major objections.

 

[beancounter]

There are many women in cultures where female genital mutilation is the acceptable cultural practice who are just as in favor of the mutilation as the men are - in fact, it's generally carried out by women. I gather those women are feminist, because they are women, and they are making choices.

The girl receiving the female circumcision is not making the choice, so it that is not a good analogy.

I'm taking about adult female who chooses to be a house wife for example. That choice would make a hard core feminists blood boil of course, but at the end of the day, if the women makes that choice on her own, it's a feminist choice.

Sure, that women may have been influenced by the culture, but she made the choice of her own free will. It's impossible to remove cultural influences. Even "proper feminist" are influenced by the culture around them.

It seems to me that your definition of a feminist is someone who rejects all cultural/traditional practices.

 

[Second Summer]

Well, if you can criticize someone for embracing aspects of traditional gendered culture such as sex workers, then can't you just as easily criticize another person for embracing aspects of traditional gendered culture such as stay-at-home-moms?

Stay-at-home moms, at least some of them, are staying at home for a morally commendable reason, namely to give their children the best possible start to life.

 

[das_nut]

Stay-at-home moms, at least some of them, are staying at home for a morally commendable reason, namely to give their children the best possible start to life.

"Choice feminism" says whatever their reasoning is, it is their choice.

I like that.

This anti-choice feminism seems to state that such a choice should be second guessed, and that women (and why is it only women?) need their choices examined in the larger cultural context to see if they are being objectified (I'm guessing in this case, their objectification would be the role of a woman as the primary nurturer/caregiver.)

 

[Ann Chovie]

It seems to me that your definition of a feminist is someone who rejects all cultural/traditional practices.