"empowerment" is such an empty word

ApartPersonality · 2021-04-03T01:43:30+00:00

Lol the average man can’t even give it away for free, much less sell it

chickenery · 2021-04-02T23:48:36+00:00

This is something I’ve been reflecting on - how women are always “empowered” by this or that. What does it even mean?

a_room_of_my_own3 · 2021-04-03T08:37:11+00:00

It's weird. Prostitution is considered one of the oldest "jobs"; women have been doing it for a looong time. But we only got our rights like 100 years ago (and only in certain places of the world). Almost as if..it doesn't give us any power as a class?🤔

Exsqueeze_meh · 2021-04-03T02:42:22+00:00

For me, casual sex made me feel like shit. It was not empowering, and I repeatedly ignored my inner knowing that it didnt feel good because society has been telling me it should be. We are being lied to, that it's empowering to pretend you don't care, to pretend it's all about the sex too "it's fun, just go have fun!" ... well, generally for me and as far as I know a lot of women, sex with a rando with whom we have zero connection is a waste of time and feels like shit.

And i'm sick of men putting it all on women as if they don't fucking push our boundaries, call us a prude if we say"hey, i'm not cool with talking about sex with you, we just met" etc. Men push and neg and manipulate to get sex. They know what they're doing and they know where we are coming from. It's taken me a long time to get to this point but now i would absolutely delete and block the second a scrote pushes my boundaries, and all the while knowing i'll be called an ugly fat bitch for doing so.

twisdom12 · 2021-04-03T02:43:12+00:00

It's a way to control us for their own enjoyment and pleasure. Fuck that shit.

spicyspa · 2021-04-03T03:21:36+00:00

Wait a sec. Men's sexual market value is infinite, it truly is baffling why they're not trying to profit off of it.

UnstrirringCoffee · 2021-04-03T05:57:48+00:00

The word is not empty, but the way we use it is.

People think you can "feel" empowered or that there is such a thing as individual empowerment. This is not true. We can only BE empowered and it only ever truly works if we women, as a group, are empowered to make permenant and positive changes to our lives.

Empowerment means that we have options regarding our career and where we live and what education we persue. It has nothing to do with getting cheered on at a twerking contest (Liberated) or a career ending decision such as having an OnlyFans page.

Pointing this out doe snot remove anyone's "agency". If anything, being aware of the pitfall that exist for women and helping ourselves and other women avoid them, gives women agency.

Apricot_Ibex · 2021-04-03T11:10:10+00:00

There was a recent “Am I the Asshole?” post where a mom was attacked for having reservations about sending her 5 year old daughter to a makeover party where she’d get a full face of makeup because she was worried about the message it would send her young daughter about body image.

EVERYONE was calling her an asshole and saying that makeup is “empowering” and how she can’t control her daughter’s choices. A freaking 5 year old, not a teen! And not just dress-up fun with tiaras and a little nail polish and glitter, but full on professional “model” makeup and hair with a hired artist.

The only person questioning why kindergarten boys don’t have makeover parties was downvoted to oblivion. 🤡 Don’t ever question anything, ladies- EVERYTHING is empowering! /s

2021-04-02T23:39:38+00:00

w0MeN LiVe 0n eASy m0dE

squaremarshmallow · 2021-04-03T01:41:10+00:00

Honestly, I've never once felt a need to be "empowered". I am already powerful as a human being and as a woman, and what I want is for that power to not be taken from me by lv boyfriends, husbands, family members, colleagues, harmful societal norms.

eatchickpeas · 2021-04-03T00:44:38+00:00

men's idea of femininity swings between being weak/pretty/always sexy/make babies/being a bitch/being a prude etc. the basic idea is that women exist for sex in some way, she exists for the man and to be worthy of his valuable attention, she must show she is willing to work. thats her waxing her legs/doing chores/being curvy/being thin, enduring pain. these are all things no man would do for a woman because by default the woman 'should' be listening to the men. the woman by default would provide sex so why would a man want to do anything for her. she is a dumb, weak but sexy object he must ACQUIRE. she isnt human

redpeithos · 2021-04-03T01:17:47+00:00

There are certain words which are just thrown around, until one day, they fall apart into meaningless symbols...

DependentSite210 · 2021-04-03T15:38:00+00:00

Men already have power.

Women are taught that our power doesn't lie in equal opportunity.

Rather, it lies in our ability to access power by gaining the approval of men who have power.

Fitncurly · 2021-04-03T04:14:00+00:00

This is so well put and succinct—saving it. Gonna show it to any loser who wonders why women aren’t truly free.

m00n5t0n3 · 2021-04-03T01:57:14+00:00

I think empowerment is a real thing but it does not apply to any of the things listed in the post, and it does not replace actual power/influence/safety/etc.

Jamiepappasatlanta · 2021-04-03T03:49:41+00:00

90 percent of men are fucking ugly. Yuk

Pornruinedsociety · 2021-04-03T08:36:26+00:00

Because we don't need to pay for it and even if we did we still wouldn't waste our money. Dick is abundant and free.

ScrotonimoStilton · 2021-04-03T06:51:07+00:00

My dear friends, it's all very simple.

Our biological features are just perceived differently. The male anatomy and penis is considered powerful, thrusting, energetic, imposing and dominant.

The female anatomy.... is considered a HOLE in which you stick a penis. That's it, that's what you are, shh stop complaining.

Don't you hole havers want to be just as empowered as men feel? We will tell you lies that directly serve our penises. Look we also have handmaids who we brainwashed enough into thinking that pleasing the penis is the most valuable goal in life!

NoSurprise7196 · 2021-04-03T06:23:22+00:00

Yep this is where I’m at too sis

Bitter_Froyo_6742 · 2021-04-03T03:07:14+00:00

I mean...men don't even wash their ass so I'm not sure we should be using straight men as a baseline to judge women's actions. I get that the point is to challenge superficial "empowerment" that doesn't actually challenge sexist patriarchal norms and that objectification is not a real path towards empowerment. BUT, I don't think I know many women who would want to live like men even if the patriarchy and sexism disappeared tomorrow. Have you met straight men? They're miserable and they hate themselves and they're so weird and uptight about their bodies and sex. If I felt the way about my body that the average straight dude does about his, I'd cry. Despite what straight men think, I don't think being pretty and excessive grooming standards us an issue. I like being smooth and smelling good. Does it empower me? Not outside of any extra self-advocacy I get from a boost in self confidence.

I don't want to be like a straight man. They're gross and sad. I want to be a woman with the freedoms and opportunities and social protection if a man, but other than societal priveleges there's absolutely nothing about my life I would want to resemble a straight man's.

Exploring my bisexuality has helped me separate my own (admittedly gendered) behaviors from things which are the result of sexist expectations. Gay women don't expect to you to be a hairless baby, but it turns out that I just genuinely don't like armpit hair. I sweat way more, and I think my armpit hair just looks bad somehow. On the opposite end, I don't like makeup. If I am dealing with hormonal acne, I like to have a basic face done-up, but I have zero interest in contouring and highlighting and creative eyeshadow looks. Turns out that's a purely performative desire to be attractive to those I find attractive (and I've realized men are not worth the effort, so either they need to find my bare face cute or they can move in cause I'm not going makeup on a regular basis for the rest of my life. I refuse)

FlockAroundtheClock · 2021-04-03T09:29:40+00:00

Excellent questions.

BlackGirlNerd · 2021-04-03T19:57:56+00:00

This would make all the purple-haired, septum ring people on Facebook literally SHAKE with anger.

Then they'll attempt to tell you you're anti-woman if you don't buy in that such actions are empowering.

Title	"empowerment" is such an empty word
Author	sblwsk
Upvotes	3401
Comments	65
Date	April 2, 2021 11:07 PM UTC (5 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/FemaleDatingStrategy
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/FemaleDatingStrategy/comments/miw2ak/empowerment_is_such_an_empty_word/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/FemaleDatingStrategy/empowerment-is-such-an-empty-word.765516 https://theredarchive.com/post/765516

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