fyxan:

my problem with “choice feminism” à la buzzfeed isn’t that it focuses too much on choice but rather that choice feminists don’t seem to want substantive, free choice at all.  they don’t want to investigate the context of women’s decisions (what atwood would call the rat’s maze).  they don’t want to challenge power structures or belief systems that restrict or coerce women’s choices. just like in sex positivity, their concern is not the freedom to choose yes or no but rather the willingness & enthusiasm to say yes.

if you describe cultural coercion (like the reward-punishment system that pushes women to wear make-up), choice feminists will defend make-up by saying that they choose to wear it.  they don’t attempt to refute feminist analysis, they just proudly declare that they don’t mind the coercion at all.  when they say “i chose it, so those pressures don’t harm me”, they really mean “i like it, so i don’t care how those pressures harm others.”