Passage 1 (page 7):
Being an autonomous person is not so much about having authentic values, but about having “the power to determine how [one] shall live” (Oshana, 1998, p. 82), which means that an agent should have regulative control “of the sort that involves the power to do otherwise than one actually does” (Oshana, 2006, p. 75).
This passage resonated with me because of the clear definition it provides for autonomy. The ideas in this passage reminded me of how during adolescence, there tends to be more friction between a teen and their parental guardian figure(s). This is due to the fact that during this era of development, teens are figuring out who they want to be and how they want to live their lives. Sometimes, I become irritated with my mother because I feel as though she is interfering too much with my life choices. I know she loves me and wants what is best for me, but at my age I also want to have autonomy. This passage highlights this concept of having choice over one’s decisions.
Passage 2 (page 3):
Thus, her freedom is accompanied by censure; to avoid it, she would have to continue abiding by motherhood norms at the cost of her preferred life choices. This thereby places someone like Nora in an oppressive double bind not faced by men: whatever she chooses to do, she faces a negative outcome. (Hiriji, 2021, p. 649).
This passage resonated with me because it reminded me of a student-athlete meeting I attended in my first year at Bryn Mawr where we watched two short films about women who excelled in sports. During the discussion afterwards, I remember the topic turning to how there is an “oppressive double bind” for women (especially mothers) who decide they want to play sports professionally. Deciding to quit a sport she excels at in order to focus on raising a family would mean sacrificing her life choices. Additionally, being a professional athlete/parent as a woman is very different than it is for a man. Not to mention, the pay for female professional athletes is significantly lower compared to male athletes. Recovering from pregnancy takes time and returning to sport after birthing a child is no small feat. This passage frustrated me because as an athlete myself who loves my sport, I have an idea of how difficult it can be to give up something you love due to other obstacles.
Passage 3 (page 2):
The romanticization of man’s quest for meaning presupposes that “other people function primarily as obstacles to the realization of an individual’s plans or goals,” (Abrams, 1999, p. 831) thereby obscuring the fact that such endeavours are often only made possible by the invisible and domesticized labour of women who are left to support such endeavours in the background.
This passage resonated with me because I think it is crucial to acknowledge how men often obtain individualism through the suppression of women and society’s traditional standards of what it means to be a “woman” help maintain this. Women are traditionally expected to be homemakers and caretakers of children, and “domestic work” is mostly placed upon their shoulders. This can make it more difficult for women who are wives and mothers to make choices about their lives and feel autonomous. In my family, my father is typically the one who cooks dinner each night, which leaves my mother time to walk my dog with a friend and relax after her day of work. The balance of daily tasks allows my parents to each have more freedom of choice in their lives.