"She calls this a ‘damage model’ of autonomy: a framework that treats the individual as damaged under oppressive circumstances, rather than considering the outside environment as damaging."
This passage makes me think about the concept of victim-blaming. It resonates with me because I have experienced victim-blaming where people questioned me as if it was my fault when bad things happened to me. In reality, it was the external factors in my environment, others' choices and actions that I had no control over, that caused me pain.
"On Johnston's view, however, the problem is not so much about the individual damage the agent incurs, but the fact that some people are by default ascribed a violable or expendable status by a ‘superordinated’ identity."
This passage resonates with me because I can think of many times that I was treated as violable or expendable due to being a woman. Men who were raised by society to see themselves as superior to women treated me as lesser and ‘harassable’.
"those who face external challenges may nonetheless still be “competent enough to bear the status of autonomous agent and formulate decisions about their own life that are worthy of respect and consideration."
I resonate with this passage because when I was facing external challenges, I was still able to make respectable decisions regarding my own life. Certainly not every decision was the right one, but I am proud of myself for using my autonomy and doing what I thought was right in the moment.