Feminism is at once centered around a simple question, a complicated theory and complex situation. Beyond the external struggles of the historical and endless fight to be seen as equal, the feminist movement faces another, more internal struggle: the huge divide between choice feminists and those that are diametrically opposed to them.
Coined by author and lawyer Linda Hirshman, the term “choice feminism” describes the belief that any action a woman chooses is automatically empowering. The fact is, before feminist movements became truly effective, women did not have any choice at all. So now, a woman using her agency to make any choice reflects her inner feminist beliefs.
Hirshman, however, created the term to assert the fact that not all choices are inherently feminist, and she is right. It reflects a deeper self-absorption enveloping society now; people make choices that benefit themselves the most, forgetting the responsibility that they have for civilization and those that have come before them. Choice feminism means that women can make choices that support the patriarchy, inadvertently or not.
They forget that there was once a time where women did not have the choice. Women like Mary Wollstonecraft and Susan B. Anthony fought for equal rights through collective action. They weren’t thinking of just the personal benefit, they were thinking of how future generations of women would use these rights to uplift each other and go further than they ever could. I don’t think they could have imagined categorizing women under their conflatedchoices.
But in a country with an increasingly conservative government, categorization is necessary. Kristi Noem, for example, was elected as the first female governor of South Dakota and rose to the position of secretary of homeland security. In that respect, she is the pinnacle of the goals of the feminist movement: she used that fight and all that it has given her and other women to rise to a respected position within the federal government. However, she has used that power to perpetuate an immoral immigration system and has even allowed for the continuous rape of detainees in ICE detention centers.
Another example is Justice Amy Coney Barrett. She is only the fifth female Supreme Court Justice in the history of the United States but has used the opportunity given to her not to uplift future generations of women but to suppress their freedom of choice by voting to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Many choice feminists would most likely say that the choices these women have made are empowering because hundreds of years ago, it would not even be permitted for women to have that position and access to that power. However, if a woman’s choices actively promote the patriarchy and work against women, then she probably cannot claim the title of feminist.
The downside to this categorization is its extremeness. Even just wearing makeup every day could classify a woman as a choice feminist, because doing so reinforces patriarchal beauty standards. Maybe it is necessary to put feminists in these boxes but sometimes it is almost judgmental in nature.
And what do these extremes do to young women trying to find their identities in feminism? Increasingly I notice women my age turning towards conservatism and traditional roles and I wonder if it is because they were unable to find feminist spaces welcoming. Feminists have always been falsely called man-haters, but perhaps the classification within our community has made us seem like women-haters too.
I am most definitely a choice feminist, and it is not just because I wear concealer whenever I can. I went through an awkward phase, as most young teenagers do, where I was figuring out what I liked to wear, how I wanted my hair to look and the overall impression I wanted to make on people. I was so insecure in my image that instead of regarding this phase as temporary, I decided that I was just unimpressive and not worth anyone’s attention. In that silly phase that seems to be a rite of passage for everyone, I decided that I was ugly, and that I would be that way forever.
This phase coincided with the point in my life where I started becoming aware of feminism and what resulted was immense guilt. The conclusion that I came to and the feelings that I could not help were a moral failing. If I was a feminist, why did I care about the way I looked? Didn’t I know that the only way to dismantle the patriarchal beliefs within myself was to be neutral about my appearance?
Granted, this guilt was entirely self-inflicted, and I outgrew it by giving myself grace. After all, I was fourteen14! But what about the young women who are guilted by external parties? Their growth is hindered by guilt and judgment, and it makes the feminist movement seem elitist, when most feminists are happy to bring more women towards the movement.
Critiques of choice feminism are not incorrect. But there comes a point in every woman’s life where she makes dubious choices or thinks only of herself. There are some who choose not to be introspective, but there are also many who make changes within themselves. The feminist movement should not only be welcoming, but it should also be educating. When we give grace to each other, we form tighter bonds. We can become more capable of transforming the relationship between women, activism and society, if only we learn to forgive minor transgressions and support each other, as the original purpose of feminism dictates.