Better yet, we must quit settling for one when what we really need is the other.
Empowerment and power are not the same thing. When Cooper learned of her grandmother's eloquent rage about love, sex, and marriage in an epic and hilarious front-porch confrontation, her life was changed. It reminds women that they don’t have to settle for less. Why? Have you ever noticed that people who have real “power”-wealth, job security, influence-don’t attend “empowerment” seminars? Power is not attained from books and seminars. Eloquent rage keeps us all honest and accountable. And it took another intervention, this time staged by one of her homegirls, to turn Brittney into the fierce feminist she is today. When Cooper learned of her grandmothers eloquent rage about love, sex, and marriage in an epic and hilarious front-porch confrontation, her life was changed.
Did we have enough drive? Enough vision? Enough hustle to change our condition? The politics of personal empowerment suggests to us that if we simply “free our minds, then our asses will follow.” I’m not convinced that this is true. It reminds women that they don’t have to settle for less. It tells us that in a free market, devoid of any regulation or accountability at the top, what happens to those on the bottom is entirely our fault. Neoliberalism is endlessly concerned with “personal responsibility” and individual self-regulation. It’s also a decidedly neoliberal word that places the responsibility for combating systems on individuals.
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