What is “Choice Feminism”? How Does it Differ from Other Branches?
Note: Technically, a "Feminist" is a person who supports the ideology, while "Feminism" is the abstract concept. To avoid confusion in this article, the term "Feminist" will be used generally to cover the topic.
Disclaimer: This article represents a personal opinion. Please use your discretion while reading.
Actually, this topic stems from a conversation I had with a foreign online friend who didn't understand the meaning of “Choice Feminism.” Additionally, I noticed that many people still misunderstand that all feminists seen in the media are the same. When one feminist expresses an opinion that contradicts another, people often find it amusing, thinking, “These feminists said one thing yesterday and another today; what do they actually want?” I wrote this article to simply summarize the different types of feminists and explain what “Choice Feminism” is.
Feminism (the concept believing in equality between men and women) is currently roughly divided into three main branches: Radical Feminism, Liberal Feminism, and Socialist (Marxist) Feminism.
- Radical Feminism (also known as "hardline" or "extreme" feminism by some) is the concept that believes Patriarchy (a male-dominated social system) is the root cause of all oppression women face. The only way to achieve gender equality is to overthrow the patriarchal regime entirely.
- Liberal Feminism is the concept that believes women should have equality with men in all aspects through reforming the existing system, primarily using legal and political mechanisms.
- Socialist (Marxist) Feminism is the concept that believes Patriarchy and Capitalism work together to oppress women. Because of poverty and the unequal distribution of income and resources, women cannot be free from patriarchy. To truly liberate women, both the economic and social structures must change simultaneously.
“Choice Feminism” is a concept that branched off from Liberal Feminism. It is the belief that every personal choice a woman makes is inherently correct and constitutes an act of liberating herself from social frameworks, as long as she is the one who decided to “choose” it.
Superficially, this concept seems to promote Female Empowerment by encouraging women to dare to choose things in their own lives without caring about external influences. However, it is unfortunate that not everything a woman chooses is good, valuable, or beneficial to her body and mind. Generalizing that “every choice a woman makes is female empowerment” is misleading and dangerous for those who lack life experience.
If you ask, “Then can I choose to do these things?” The answer is: It’s your life; I have no right to judge. Just don't go around proclaiming that it is a good thing or that it empowers women. It’s similar to how we “choose” to drink alcohol, eat high-calorie food, or smoke. If you ask if you can do it, the answer is “Yes, no one is stopping you.” But if you ask, “Are these things good for my body?” The answer is “No.” And it wouldn't make sense for someone to say, “It must be good for the body because it’s something a woman chose.”
For example, many women “choose” to be full-time stay-at-home mothers after marriage or having children because they think marrying a financially stable husband makes them comfortable enough to never work again. Superficially, this might seem like a rational choice for a woman with a rich husband. However, being a full-time housewife means not having your own income, being in a vulnerable position because you rely solely on your husband and having no financial independence.
If, in the future, something happens that leads to a breakup—such as being abandoned, the husband cheating, or physical and emotional abuse—separating to start over becomes much harder or impossible if the woman has no income, no savings, or no support network (like family or friends) to provide shelter. Being a full-time housewife is akin to using your life as a betting chip on the husband's mercy alone with no guarantee that he won’t change. Therefore, this choice is not one that promotes female empowerment.
Or consider that many women “choose” to sell sex or become porn stars/sex creators. Liberal feminists believe in “My body, my choice.” Women have rights over their bodies; since the body belongs to the woman, she can decide to do whatever she wants with it, including selling it or revealing it for others to admire. Liberal feminists often hold the view that earning money from the sex industry is an expression of sexual freedom—it is a liberation from the sexual oppression of patriarchy that restricts women to having sex only with a spouse. Prostitution or filming pornography allows women to experience sexual pleasure without limits while gaining financial freedom.
Superficially, this choice seems rational for women who feel stifled by theoretical gender inequality. However, in practice, reducing one's value to just a sexual object destroys one's social status and cuts off other opportunities that might come in the future (this refers specifically to women who intentionally “choose” this, not those who have no choice or are forced).
From the beginning to the end of human society, people—especially men who support women selling sex or doing porn—will never honor or praise women in this industry as human beings. The more a woman intentionally “chooses” to enter this line of work, the more most men are disgusted by it. Even in countries where prostitution or the adult industry is legal, men in those countries do not view women in the industry any better; instead, they generalize that all women, including those unrelated to the industry, are sexual objects.
If this choice truly “empowered” the chooser, why don’t most men encourage their family members or other men to do it, or even decide to do it themselves the way they try to push women to do it? And if men are truly more open-minded about accepting women who earn money from the sex industry, why do most men still refuse to marry women who have sold sex or filmed porn?
Women who “choose” this path, aside from risking physical assault or murder by clients, also risk sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and psychiatric disorders, not to mention the various terrible experiences they endure in exchange for money. Women who film porn might not meet clients directly, but they still risk STDs or being discovered by acquaintances, leading to shame. Most certainly, if the fact that they used to sell sex or film porn spreads, life becomes difficult; they will be stigmatized forever, even after marriage and having children. This choice is, therefore, more dangerous to women than it counts as female empowerment.
Or the “choice” to engage in BDSM, Fetish, or Kink activities that are dangerous to the woman herself. This ranges from activities people see as common, like anal sex, group sex, physical assault, or scatophilia, to strangulation and drowning.
It is true that some women participate because they have those tastes. However, it cannot be denied that many women participate simply because they want to please men or want to be accepted as “progressive women,” not boring “conservative women,” without even knowing how dangerous those activities are to their bodies and minds in the short or long term. A single risky sexual encounter can extinguish a bright future. Sometimes, participants suffer injuries such as torn genitals or rectums, damaged sphincters leading to incontinence requiring diapers, or brain damage from lack of oxygen leading to permanent disability or even death.
It is not an exaggeration to say that men who encourage women to participate in activities dangerous to women view them merely as sexual objects and value a woman's life less than a single male orgasm.
Having sex in life-threatening ways is not a choice that “empowers women” and should not be encouraged or deemed as something good for general women to follow. In many progressive countries, news of deaths from “sex games gone wrong” appears periodically and almost all the deceased are women with the perpetrators being men (I use “almost,” but personally, I have never seen a case where the victim was a man killed by a woman). Of course, it is hard to prove whether it was truly an accidental death during consensual sex, or a rape/murder disguised as sadomasochistic sex. The dead woman cannot rise to answer whether what the man claims is true.
Reading to this point, I expect readers to understand briefly that “Choice Feminism” does not truly empower women. On the contrary, it is a poison-coated candy manufactured from misogynistic concepts that have evolved with the times after women gained more social rights. Since women have become too smart for direct misogynistic indoctrination, those with sexist values have infiltrated by borrowing feminist language. They coat the oppression and devaluation of women with beautiful words like “liberation” or “female empowerment” to lure inexperienced women into becoming victims and complying with what patriarchy wants.
Think about it simply: Since ancient times, when women had no voice and had to rely solely on men, society tried to indoctrinate women to be “feminine,” to be housewives taking care of husbands and children. Meanwhile, some men did everything—threats, force, deception, money—to create a sex trade industry to force women into being sexual objects to satisfy their lust. In eras where women had few choices, some had to participate reluctantly because there was no other way to earn income besides marrying to be a housewife or selling their bodies to survive.
Now that early feminists fought for women to have the right to work outside the home, being independent, have more life choices, and begin to have social status equal to men—why is there suddenly another group of “Feminists” rising up to push that being “feminine”/housewives, or selling bodies/filming porn for men to buy, has become something that “empowers women”? Why have the very things women of the past struggled to escape—like being a housewife dependent on a husband or prostitution—become choices that represent freedom of life path, liberation from patriarchy, and sexual freedom for women in this era?
As mentioned above, Liberal Feminism is the branch that finds a way to coexist with patriarchy without intending to change the structure or foundation of the system. For this branch, being a dependent housewife or earning money from the sex business counts as “playing the game” or “winning” against patriarchy within the existing social system, even if it means the woman's social status is still suppressed to just “servant” or “sex object” no different from the old days. This branch supports the existence of patriarchy as long as some women can still benefit from it.
It is no surprise why Liberal Feminism is called “Mainstream Feminism” and is the branch that most men, even if they don't support it, do not oppose its existence. This differs from Radical or Socialist Feminism, which are often resisted, harassed, obstructed, or eliminated until almost nothing remains.
I once jokingly talked to my wife: If slavery still existed today and someone stood up to campaign for its abolition, there would surely be liberals rising to oppose the abolitionist. They would reason that, “There are people who voluntarily agree to sell themselves into slavery. Abolishing slavery is, therefore, depriving them of the right to choose their life path, which amounts to violating the human rights of those who want to be slaves.”
Currently, everything changes very fast. Information is abundant, making it hard to distinguish what is true and what is deceptive. Consuming media requires more caution and care. Before deciding to believe anything, please consider all sides and review thoroughly. Look at the intent of the media producer: What do they want? Do they truly mean well for the consumer, or is there a hidden agenda? In this era, there are many ill-intentioned people in saints' clothing. And even though some people or media outlets call themselves “Feminist,” it doesn't mean every word or thought they express promotes women's rights and roles.
Even with the article you are reading right now, I ask that you read it but do not believe it all immediately. Try to find more information yourself, observe the situation around you and crystallize your thoughts from your own knowledge and experience. Reflect before giving yourself an answer on whether to believe it or not, and conclude based on your own understanding what the definition of “Feminist” should truly be.
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