Myths About Empowerment and “Choice”: The Illusion of Freedom in a Commodified World
In modern culture, “empowerment” and “choice” have become buzzwords—sacred terms used to justify everything from fashion decisions to life-altering career paths. We hear it everywhere: “She chose this,” “It’s her body, her choice,” “Sex work is empowering if she feels empowered.” But these phrases often mask deeper, more uncomfortable realities. In a world driven by consumerism and image, empowerment has been hijacked by profit, and choice has been reduced to illusion.
Let’s unpack some of the biggest myths surrounding these loaded ideas.
Myth #1: Choice Equals Freedom
Just because someone chooses something doesn’t mean they’re free. Choice without viable alternatives is not freedom—it’s coercion in disguise. A woman choosing to enter the sex industry because she can’t pay rent or escape domestic violence is not making an empowered decision. That’s survival. When economic pressure, past trauma, or lack of opportunity are the invisible hands guiding someone’s “choice,” we must question whether it’s really a choice at all.
“When people are forced to choose between bad and worse, that’s not choice. That’s entrapment.”
Myth #2: If It Feels Empowering, It Must Be Empowering
Feelings are not facts. A sense of empowerment doesn’t automatically mean something is genuinely good, healthy, or sustainable. Many harmful habits—like addiction, toxic relationships, or self-objectification—can temporarily feel empowering or affirming. But long-term empowerment is rooted in growth, autonomy, and dignity, not fleeting validation or monetary gain.
Empowerment cannot coexist with exploitation. If someone must commodify their body to feel powerful, we should be asking harder questions—not celebrating the system that requires it.
Myth #3: Selling Your Image Is a Form of Liberation
We’ve been sold a lie: that turning your body into a product is somehow an act of rebellion. In truth, it often reinforces the very systems of control it claims to subvert. When empowerment is filtered through the male gaze or the profit motive, it’s not empowerment—it’s just cleverly packaged objectification.
Liberation isn’t found in being desired; it’s found in not needing to be.
Myth #4: Criticizing “Empowered Choices” Is Anti-Woman
This is one of the most effective silencing tools used today: label any critique of the system as misogyny. But asking difficult questions isn’t anti-woman—it’s pro-truth. Women deserve to know the full reality of what they’re walking into—not just the highlight reels on social media or the glitzy narratives sold by influencers and industries with vested interests.
Real empowerment includes honest education, critical thinking, and the freedom to walk away without shame or financial ruin.
Myth #5: The Marketplace Is a Neutral Ground for Choice
In reality, the marketplace is rigged. It rewards those who exploit attention, sexuality, and shock value. Platforms like OnlyFans, TikTok, and Instagram are structured to push people—especially young women—toward increasingly provocative content in the name of “branding” or “financial independence.”
But what happens when the algorithm turns your trauma into content? When your value is measured by how many views your body can generate? The free market doesn’t care about your well-being. It only cares about your click rate.
Reclaiming True Empowerment
True empowerment isn’t transactional. It doesn’t require self-objectification or dependence on external validation. It looks like:
- Economic independence that doesn’t rely on being consumed
- The freedom to say “no” without fear of financial collapse
- Boundaries that are respected, not negotiated away
- Identity rooted in intrinsic worth, not market value
It’s time to reclaim the meaning of empowerment from industries that profit off its distortion. Because real freedom doesn’t come from being “allowed” to participate in your own commodification—it comes from no longer having to.
Empowerment is not about performing power. It’s about possessing it.
And that starts by exposing the myths that keep us trapped.
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