“It might be, firstly, more difficult for women to access this kind of individualism. Personal autonomy understood in the individualistic sense constitutes a resource that is unjustly denied to women, or even something that men often attain at the expense of those women” (2).
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Reading this quote, I was very intrigued because it made me realize how women have been disadvantaged in our society in many different ways. These disadvantages are not just regarding lack of opportunities, access, and rights but also regarding our sense of selves. This quote made me think about mothers specifically and how it is not uncommon to hear mothers say they feel as if they lost their sense of self after having to sacrifice so much for their children. It also made me think about the workplace and how at times, women were not given the opportunity to express their own autonomy and own their individuality due to their work efforts being passed on to their male counterparts.
“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” (2).
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This quote reminded me of the common idea in our society of people finding themselves and finding meaning in their life and how this impacts others’ around them. This quote only supports the fact that exploring one’s meaning does not have to be done without the presence of others and although it is an individual journey, we should not view others as not playing a role in this journey.
“As Linday Barclay mentions, a precondition for our being able to ‘sustain’ autonomy is ‘attributable to our developing and remaining embedded within a network of social relationships. (Barclay, 200, p. 57). . . By focusing on ways that these social dynamics play out, relational autonomy theorists endeavour to resist the individualistic tradition of autonomy and to reconstitute autonomy as a socially sensitive concept” (4).
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When most of us think of the word autonomy, we tend to think of the individual, making choices based on one’s self, and not using others to sway one’s choice or decisions. However, after reading this quote, I realized the importance of thinking about autonomy in a way that allows us to connect with each other in society. As humans we are social beings, in order to maintain our independence and have a healthy relationship with ourselves as individuals, we must ensure we have healthy social relationships. This quote in the text allowed me to better understand the importance of relationships for us humans in our journeys exploring our autonomy.