THE ILLUSION OF CHOICE FEMINISM

In today’s world, “choice” has become a hot topic in feminism. It features predominatly on social media and marketing campaigns. You’ll have often heard of the phrase “ my body, my choice” or  “empowered women empower women”. 

It sounds liberating and inclusive. This is what the suffragettes fought for- the right to choose. 

But it conveys the idea that as long as a woman makes her own decision, then that decision is automatically feminist. 

But what if the choices we’re celebrating as empowering are actually shaped by the same patriarchy?

This is where the illusion of choice feminism has grounded itself.

For example, using the phrase “my body, my choice” to justify plastic surgery can take away from the fact that it wasn’t an individual choice, but rather a woman succumbing to ever-changing beauty standards. 

Choice feminism did grow with good intentions. It does embody a culture where we can celebrate diverse women for their choices and respect different lifestyles. 

It says feminism isn’t about rules or restrictions over your life; it’s about freedom. If a woman chooses to stay home with her kids, or work 40-hour weeks, wear makeup, or not wear makeup, then all of those seem like valid feminist choices. But it isn’t as straightforward as that. 

Not all choices come from the same set of opportunities. 

A woman “choosing” to quit her job to care for her kids might be able to do that if she comes from a middle-class background that has the money to support that lifestyle. The same privilege can’t be afforded to a working-class woman. 

A woman who spends hundreds on skincare might genuinely love it, but she’s also following a consumerist, patriarchal culture that says her value lies in how she looks. 

When society and marketing shape what we desire, can we really call those desires completely our own?

Modern feminism, especially the kind we see online, has been heavily influenced by capitalism. It perpetuates the idea that we can buy our way to confidence and equality. 

We often see it in marketing campaigns. 

Think of GAP’s marketing advert with Katseye. Having that diversity for young women can be empowering and inspiring for young girls who don’t see themselves represented in media. But it also engages in consumerism and the idea that to be an empowering woman we have to engage in such a spending culture. 

Feminism becomes less about changing the world and more about changing your skincare routine.

When feminism is reduced to “whatever a woman chooses,” it stops asking why those choices exist in the first place. Sometimes the people who really benefit from these ‘feminist choices’ aren’t women themselves, but the patriarchal system behind it. 

This is exactly how structural inequality prevails by repackaging feminism into this newer version that seems to give us the illusion of choice.

The women who can “choose” empowerment through self-care and luxury are often those with the means to do so. For women struggling with low wages or a lack of access to healthcare, choice isn’t so simple.

None of this means that women shouldn’t enjoy their choices or their independence. The point is to remember that real empowerment isn’t about individual choices existing in a vacuum. It’s about the conditions and systemic inequalitiesthat make those choices possible.

If feminism is going to keep evolving, it needs to move past the illusion that choice alone equals liberation. We need to look at the bigger picture that shape what we think we want. True freedom means having genuine options, not just the illusion of them.

Because while choice matters, awareness matters more. And the most powerful choice any of us can make is to see that our choices form a wider role in society. 

• Capitalism
• consumerism
• feminism