By Kelsey Grant
In light of International Women’s Day this week, I find myself reflecting on my rocky, dynamic journey with feminism and female empowerment. I wish my reflections didn’t make me feel uneasy, worried, and maybe a little angry about the direction we’re heading.
Choice feminism, an elite, wonky label for the contemporary feminist movement, made sense to my younger self. In general, choice feminism says if a woman chooses to do something, it is an inherently liberating act. We cannot criticize the decisions a woman makes because she cannot possibly choose something that’s oppressive to herself. So, the only standard for judging what’s liberating to a woman, is whether or not an independent decision was made by her and for her. What the right decision is, choice feminism is agnostic on.
It sounds nice. Too bad it’s also outrageously patronizing and empty. If there was an advertisement for choice feminism it would say, “Critical-thinking? Not required!”
Consider a couple examples.
You see the cover of a Playboy magazine. You cannot, then, condemn the cultural practice of sexualizing and objectifying women. Why? Because the half-naked woman on that cover consented to be on it and was compensated. You must say, by making the choice to be on the cover of Playboy, she committed an empowering act. You cannot engage in a thoughtful and fair discussion on the misogynistic, destructive norms quietly underlying Playboy magazines because you would also be casting doubt on the “liberating” decision that woman made to participate in it.
Or, you see a woman choosing to protest on behalf of a woman’s right to receive an abortion. If you are pro-life, you must support her decision and label her advocacy as an empowering act. Choice feminism says you would be wrong to say why you think her decision to advocate for abortion is harmful to herself because she was the one who made that choice. The same applies in reverse.
The content of, the effect of, or external influences on women’s decisions is off limits from critical consideration when we operate within the confines of choice feminism. In extension, we are barred from having serious discussions about the very issues that most impact women.
You may be concerned. If we open the door to criticizing women’s choices, we run the risk of excessively judging women and rigidly categorizing behaviors that are acceptable or unacceptable. Choice feminism, understandably, sought to respond to widespread woman-shaming of this kind. That response was, “All behaviors are acceptable, so long as a woman made the choice to behave that way.”
I propose a shame-free alternative to both extremes, one that values a woman’s right to make autonomous decisions without blindly accepting each decision as an inherently good one. I propose that feminism should cultivate in women a willingness to engage in difficult, lively, and fierce discussions (we are thinking beings who have spines, after all) while also appreciating the different conclusions we may come to as we each go through the process of discovering what is empowering.
Critical-thinking and debate can exist without shame.
Feminist scholars strive to teach women to ask themselves, “Am I really making a free, independent decision? Am I defining empowerment on someone else’s terms or my own?” As difficult as they are to answer, they’re essential questions for women to explore.
Choice feminism, however, discourages women from wrestling with these challenging questions and many others. It discourages critical-thought, introspection, and debate between women about issues pertaining to our freedoms and quality of life. It discourages us from engaging in larger political discussions on what kind of society is best for us and how we can achieve it. It provides no thoughtful direction forward for women.
In other terms, choice feminism boils down to a big, ol’ pile of nothing. It served its purpose and it’s time to move on, toward something (much) better.
Thank you, next.
Kelsey Grant is a a senior at CU-Boulder and a Longmont resident.
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March 09, 2021 at 08:32PM
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Kelsey Grant: Choice feminism? Thank you, next. - Longmont Times-Call
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