Why "Choice Feminism" is an Illusion (With Bonus "Lost" Analogy)

[redqueen]

http://www.xojane.com/issues/choice-feminism-isn't-a-choice

So I was looking at “Hot Chicks of Occupy Wall Street,” which is so blatantly sexist I got bored trying to write about it. The site’s slogan is “The Sexy Side of Protesting Corruption,” but it might as well be “Come On Down, Boys, Some Boobs Are Here!”

If you were concerned that people at the Occupy Wall Street protests might accidentally focus more on economic inequality than on whether they’d like to bang you, well, apparently you did not have to worry about that.

On the front page currently is a note from one of the Hot Chicks. The women are not asked in advance whether they would like to be put in a Tumblr heralding their Hot Chickness -- many of them actually appear to have been photographed without their knowledge. But one of them has spoken up, and she says she doesn’t mind being considered a Hot Chick. Well, that’s cleared that up then! Sexism: over.

This got me thinking about the phenomenon of “choice feminism,” where women argue that even anti-feminist behaviors are feminist because “feminism is about choice.” If you choose to be on a Hot Chicks Tumblr -- or if you decide after the fact that, having been put on a Hot Chicks Tumblr without your knowledge, you will choose to be okay with it -- that means the Tumblr isn’t misogynistic, because anything you as a woman choose to do is feminist. In fact, the real misogynist is the feminist who’s trying to tell you that being a Hot Chick isn’t okay.

...

An excellent analysis of "choice" feminism.

[seabeyond]

1. there is that male feminist. and there is this male feminist that i have been thinking about.

[MadrasT]

2. Love it. n/t

[seabeyond]

3. what is this? the black movement is about blacks. the gay movement is about gays. the mens movement

is about men

and feminism is not necessarily about women.

how the fuck does that work. and really, not outrage. nor throwing a hissy.

funny as fuckin shit.

[redqueen]

4. Women are expected to put others' needs before their own.

Just as it is expected that we maintain a pleasant, friendly demeanor at all times (or be labeled and criticized for it).

To be the nursemaid, cheerleader, and ego assuager for others... to sacrifice, eagerly and happily.

It's one thing to do so for your kids... But other adults?

[seabeyond]

5. there is that. but, it is the very dichotomy of the whole issue in the womans movement.

i did like hearing women, i think golly saying that we are not here to make the men feel good, coddle them. but, the very fact that women cannot have a movement of their own without the direction from me is the whole issue with feminism and male dominance and control. that is what i think so oddly funny. i wonder ...

[redqueen]

6. Well it is a movement made up of women

who have overwhelmingly been conditioned to do just that.

Join enough mixed feminist groups and you cannot help but see it. Over and over and over.

Men who join and get it are showered with so many cookies, and if/when they step up to start with proclamations about what they think women should do, watch as so many women oh so gently attempt to address the mistake. And any woman who speaks forthrightly and directly to the mistake will even be admonished by other women for risking the alienation of our male allies. It is like a bad soap opera. It plays out over and over. This doesn't mean I think men have no place in feminism, far from it... I do think there needs to be an awareness of these issues, though, so that feminism isn't erased into becoming a womanly offshoot of humanism, which is what seems to he the goal for some.

[seabeyond]

7. so that feminism isn't erased into becoming a womanly offshoot of humanism

this is what slammed on the breaks for me. imagine my surprise when i started hearing it was to address everyones issues, women generally last.

as i said, the last year has made me more aware and why i feel the need to speak up.

another issue. feminism and womans right. i think the are separate. i havent found anything discussing this particular issue. but, over the last while i seem to see a lot that stand up for womens rights and are absolutely not feminist. not sure how that would be worded either.

[redqueen]

8. The way I see it...

Women's rights relates to the way the laws affect us... But feminism is more about liberating ourselves from the patriarchy and overthrowing it... more centered on culture and human interaction.

[seabeyond]

9. i felt that. i couldnt express it. thank you.

that works.

[redqueen]

10. :)

Happy to help.