obis
Posts: 412
Joined: 9/9/2005 From: Austin, TX, USA Status: offline
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If you read the works of more modern third wave or "sex-positive" feminists, I think you'll find that they embrace the notion of individual sexual choice far more than earlier leaders did. It's easy to understand why influential women like Steinem would frown upon anything that seemed to be simply bowing to the patriarchy in another guise, but ultimately only an individual woman and her lover can decide if submission or domination is a genuine desire or simply an excuse to fit into the stereotype of a woman because you feel society expects it. I grew up in a very feminist household (and still consider myself to be very feminist), so this was one of the stereotypes or preconceptions I had to deal with in order to become comfortable with my own dominant desires. Ultimately I realized that if all you do is replace the expectations of the patriarchy with the expectations of the matriarchy, how have women (or society) progressed? The ultimate goal of feminism (and the Civil Rights movement as a whole) was to give ALL people equal opportunity to choose how they want to live and work, not require that they choose an "acceptable" life. The main point of conflict now is ultimately whether women are truly choosing things, or only appearing to choose them because they are still so influenced by society's expectations. But think about what a sign of great social progress that is -- that the debate has now moved into individual motivations rather than trying to justify why women would even want or "deserve" to be given equal freedom of choice!
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