I’m reading Yes Means Yes for Feminism 101 purposes and I feel like feminism really needs to learn how to shut up and multiply.
Like there’s this essay that is repeatedly like “well of course women should have the choice to work at Hooters … but if they do they’re allowing themselves to be objectified and contributing to the commodification of female sexuality thus perpetuating rape culture.”
Like even if you think all of that is true, do you really believe that the actual effect of one (replaceable) woman choosing to work at Hooters can’t be outweighed by, say, that woman donating $1 a year of her salary to GiveDirectly? Generally if someone chooses a job it is probably because it’s the best option they have. Is resisting the commodification of female sexuality by this tiny tiny amount really worth pressuring this woman into taking a worse-paying or less-pleasant or more-hours job?
The nice thing about EA is that we acknowledge how far we all are from perfect. And if you’re not going to be perfect, the best course of action is to consider your impact on the world for a few decisions where the scale actually justifies it and make the rest of your decisions about you. Whereas feminists seem to want me to “face the reality of what you’re doing and make sure you’re self-aware enough to know why you’re doing it” (in this essay’s words), to “examine your complicity in this pervasive rape culture” (another essay) for every little choice and like … no. I have other stuff to worry about.