Choice Feminism
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Choice feminism is a critical term for expressions of
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
that emphasize women’s freedom of choice. Such expressions seek to be “non-judgmental” and to reach as many allies as possible, which is considered depoliticization by its critics. Despite its individualistic aspect, choice feminism differs from
individualist feminism Individualist feminism, also known as ifeminism, is a libertarian feminist movement that emphasizes individualism, personal autonomy, freedom from state-sanctioned discrimination against women, and gender equality. Overview Individualist f ...
in that it is not deliberately a movement. It has been associated with
neoliberalism Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pe ...
and
postfeminism Postfeminism (alternatively rendered as post-feminism) is an alleged decrease in popular support for feminism from the 1990s onwards. It can be considered a critical way of understanding the changed relations between feminism, femininity and po ...
.


Origins

Linda Hirshman first used the term in ''Get to Work: A Manifesto for Women of the World'' (2006) to oppose the alleged free choice of
housewives A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which may include Parenting, caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; Sew ...
. Her argument centered around the societal harms of women sacrificing their career aspirations to stay at home.
"Choice feminism", the shadowy remnant of the original movement, tells women that their choices, everyone's choices, the incredibly constrained "choices" they made, are good choices.
In her essay “Choice Feminism and the Fear of Politics”,
gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field n ...
scholar Michaele Ferguson argues that choice feminism emerges in response to the accusations of feminism being too radical, exclusionary and judgemental. It seeks to be the opposite of that, sometimes approaching postfeminism.
Understood as an orientation, choice feminism has three important features. First, it understands freedom as the capacity to make individual choices, and oppression as the inability to choose. Consequently, as long as a woman can say that she has chosen to do something, it is considered by choice feminists to be an expression of her liberation. Second, since the only criterion for evaluating women’s freedom is individual choice, we should abstain from judging the content of the choices women make. It is definitionally impossible for a woman to choose her own oppression; all choices she makes are equally expressions of her freedom, and therefore equally to be supported. Finally, this view of freedom is supported by a particular historical narrative: it is the women’s movement in the past that has made it possible for women to make free choices in the present.


Analysis

Michaele Ferguson identifies a great influence of liberal individualism in choice feminism. She cites Amy Richards,
Jennifer Baumgardner Jennifer Baumgardner (born 1970) is a writer, activist, filmmaker, and lecturer whose work explores abortion, sex, bisexuality, rape, single parenthood, and women's power. From 2013 to 2017, she served as the Executive Director/Publisher at The F ...
,
Naomi Wolf Naomi Rebekah Wolf (born 1962) is an American feminist author, journalist, and conspiracy theorist. After the 1991 publication of her first book, '' The Beauty Myth'', Wolf became a prominent figure in the third wave of the feminist movemen ...
, and
Rebecca Walker Rebecca Walker (born Rebecca Leventhal; November 17, 1969) is an American writer, feminist, and activist. Walker has been regarded as one of the prominent voices of Third Wave Feminism, and the coiner of the term "third wave", since publishing ...
as examples of choice feminists. Serene J. Khader critiques choice feminism in her book ''Faux Feminism: Why We Fall for White Feminism and How We Can Stop.'' Khader argues against prioritizing individual choice in feminist movements and seeing feminist progress primarily in terms of the successes of individual women. She suggests that emphasizing individual choice undermines efforts to bring about structural change, arguing that "the dilution of feminism into respect for individual freedom is justifying policies and actions that don't actually do anything for the majority of women." Khader argues that feminists should fight for the good of all women rather than focusing on helping elite women succeed.


See also

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Abortion-rights movement Abortion-rights movements, also self-styled as pro-choice movements, are movements that advocate for legal access to induced abortion services, including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pr ...
*
Anarcha-feminism Anarcha-feminism, also known as anarchist feminism or anarcho-feminism, is a system of analysis which combines the principles and power analysis of anarchist theory with feminism. It closely resembles intersectional feminism. Anarcha-feminism ge ...
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Bodily integrity Bodily integrity is the inviolability of the physical body and emphasizes the importance of personal autonomy, self-ownership, and self-determination of human beings over their own bodies. In the field of human rights, violation of the bodily int ...
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Freedom of choice Freedom of choice describes an individual's opportunity and autonomy to perform an action selected from at least two available options, unconstrained by external parties. In politics In the abortion debate, for example, the term "freedom of c ...
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Intersectionality Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how groups' and individuals' social and political identities result in unique combinations of discrimination and privilege. Examples of these intersecting and overlapping factor ...
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Lesbian feminism Lesbian feminism is a cultural movement and critical perspective that encourages women to focus their efforts, attentions, relationships, and activities towards their fellow women rather than men, and often advocates lesbianism as the logica ...
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Liberal feminism Liberal feminism, also called mainstream feminism, is a main branch of feminism defined by its focus on achieving gender equality through political and legal reform within the framework of liberal democracy and informed by a human rights per ...
* Lipstick feminism *
Postfeminism Postfeminism (alternatively rendered as post-feminism) is an alleged decrease in popular support for feminism from the 1990s onwards. It can be considered a critical way of understanding the changed relations between feminism, femininity and po ...
*
Reproductive rights Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to human reproduction, reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights: Reproductive rights ...
*
Self-ownership Self-ownership, also known as sovereignty of the individual or individual sovereignty, is the concept of property in one's own person, expressed as the moral or natural right of a person to have bodily integrity and be the exclusive controlle ...
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Sex worker movements Sex worker movements address issues of labor rights, gender-related violence, social stigma, Migration studies, migration, access to health care, Sex workers' rights, criminalization, and Police brutality, police violence and have evolved to addr ...
* Sex workers' rights *
Sex-positive feminism Sex-positive feminism, also known as pro-sex feminism, sex-radical feminism, or sexually liberal feminism, is a feminist movement centering on the idea that sexual freedom is an essential component of women's freedom. They oppose legal or soci ...
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Sexual and reproductive health and rights Sexual and reproductive health and rights or ''SRHR'' is the concept of human rights applied to sexuality and Human reproduction, reproduction. It is the recognition of every person’s right to make fully informed and self-determined decisions ...
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Third-wave feminism Third-wave feminism is a feminist movement that began in the early 1990s, prominent in the decades prior to the fourth-wave feminism, fourth wave. Grounded in the civil-rights advances of the second-wave feminism, second wave, Generation X, Gen X ...
* Victim feminism


References

{{Feminism Feminism and society Feminist movements and ideologies Feminist terminology