It has often been asserted on this blog that I am answerable for feminisms weaker points because I have chosen to be feminist. However when I answered with the religion argument (review old posts if you need to) it was returned that believing in god isn't a choice. Well in the same way for me believing in feminism isn't a choice, I didn't wake up one day and say to myself I wanted to be a feminist, it just happened that way. I couldn't stop being a feminist any more then a devout catholic could stop being a catholic. In what way are beliefs choices and in what way are choices beliefs?
Secondly, what does it matter? It is just like the homosexual debates about whether being gay is a choice or not, I often become confused about the matter. What difference does it make if it is a choice? Being able to choose doesn't seem to make things more or less wrong.
What do other people think about this?
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As someone who is both a feminist and a Christian, I don't think I agree with you. Yes, sometimes we just are certain things or have come to believe certain things without making a deliberate and pinpointable conscious turnaround decision, but other times, we do make a decision.
ReplyDeleteI've read many stories about feminists deciding they were feminists at one point or another (in fact, just read an anthology called Click, which is a collection of such stories), and a lot of Christians have testimonies about when they decided to follow Jesus.
You could argue in some philosophical sense that we don't really "choose" the choices we make, but that's besides the point.
Not everyone chooses, but some certainly do.
I'll probably have more to say on this, but my first response to the idea that by ascribing to a certain philosophy/belief system, you must then defend EVERYthing associated with it, is the very mature and academic:
ReplyDeleteBULLSHIT!
I don't buy into that kind of bullying. And that's how I see it. I've faced the same accusation, both here and on other websites, that I must defend every aspect of feminism because of my support of it. It's a ridiculous thing to even attempt, assuming I want to. There are CONFLICTING viewpoints and beliefs inside of every philosophy, so to attempt to support all of anything is not possible.
And I realize this is separate from choice vs beliefs, but I needed to get that out.
In my view, there are very few things that are not choices. Everything I THINK is a choice. I can choose another thought, were I to try hard enough or if someone presented enough info to change my mind. The fact that I CAN change my mind is proof, to me, that my beliefs are choices. I may cling very hard to my beliefs and defend against change, but that doesn't make them less of a choice.
Choices are not beliefs, though. I choose to do all sorts of things (see my last post on Balance) that I do not believe in in an ongoing way. Those are the things I tend to feel guilty about.
Living fully in accordance with one's beliefs is a very hard choice.
Does it matter? Only when someone with an agenda to disprove your belief tries to force you to make a choice.
I've read many stories about feminists deciding they were feminists at one point or another (in fact, just read an anthology called Click, which is a collection of such stories), and a lot of Christians have testimonies about when they decided to follow Jesus.
ReplyDeleteYes that is the point I was trying to make in my post, feminism is as much a choice as religion, so comparing the two is useful
Absolutely, I agree with that. A decision to follow a particular philosophy is a choice.
ReplyDeleteI think only those not willing to think it through say things like, "God chose me, I didn't choose her/him."