Your Very Own Gender Studies Degree: The Discourse of Choice and Oppression
But first, how can I get my Very Own Gender Studies Degree?
Ex/ “Women in [music and porn] videos could just say no; they’re getting paid and choose to enact those scenes.”
“The discourse of “choice” is pervasive in dominant society. Much like individualism, “choice” claims that we are each free to participate in any opportunities made available to us. In the example of music videos, this argument claims that the women in the videos are adults, they are getting paid, and they could choose not to participate if they had a problem with the videos. Further, we can just choose not to watch the video if we have a problem with it.”
“…We [should account] for the structural forces shaping what choices are available to us [and ask questions] such as: What other opportunities to earn a living wage in the music industry do young women have? What opportunities do women have to participate in this industry without furthering the same sexist plots? In other words, if they choose to say no, could they still work? The discourse of choice diverts our attention away from structural oppression by placing responsibility wholly in the hands of individual women. And when there are rewards for conformity (such as conform and earn a salary, or don’t conform and don’t earn a salary), how much choice is really on the table? Further, only a very limited pool of traditionally attractive women have the choice to star in these videos at all.”
“It may be worthy of reflection to consider in which contexts we see women’s choices about how to use their bodies as free, and in which contexts we see those choices as up for debate. For example, in the context of a music or porn video, many argue that a woman has the right to use her body in any way that she chooses. In this context, the politics surrounding her choice (such as limited economic opportunities for women) are stripped away. But in the context of other kinds of choices, such as reproductive choice, it is often argued that a woman should not have choice.” *
* Excerpts from Is Everyone Really Equal? By, Ozlem Sensoy and Robin DiAngelo (pg. 140-41)
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Things to Think About:
1. Aside from the mentioned reproductive issues, what other contexts can you think of in which women have seemingly unlimited choices vs. obvious restricted choices?
2. What other identities cause adults to have limited opportunities that are passed off as individual choice?
3. How does this discourse on choice relate to the “culture of violence” or “culture of rape” that many Feminists talk about?
4. What are some examples of being rewarded for conformity?
