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Choice Feminism and the Fear of Politics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2010

Michaele L. Ferguson
Michaele L. Ferguson
Affiliation:
University of Colorado at Boulder. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Choice feminism is motivated by a fear of politics. It arises in response to three common criticisms of feminism: that feminism is too radical, too exclusionary, and too judgmental. In response, choice feminism offers a worldview that does not challenge the status quo, that promises to include all women regardless of their choices, and that abstains from judgment altogether. Moreover, it enables feminists to sidestep the difficulties of making the personal political: making judgments and demanding change of friends, family, and lovers. Yet judgment, exclusion, and calls for change are unavoidable parts of politics. If feminists are not to withdraw from political life altogether, we have to acknowledge the difficulty of engaging in politics. Political claims are partial; we will inevitably exclude, offend, or alienate some of those whom we should wish to have as allies. The political concerns and dilemmas to which choice feminism responds are very real. However, we can take seriously the political motivations behind choice feminism without withdrawing from politics. Instead, we need to complement an acknowledgment of the political dilemmas facing feminists with a celebration of the pleasures of engaging in politics with those who differ from and disagree with us.

Type
Symposium
Information
Perspectives on Politics , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , March 2010 , pp. 247 - 253
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2010

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