The Illusion of Female Empowerment

Disclaimers:

This channel is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing on this channel is intended to substitute therapy.

The thoughts expressed in videos are my own personal opinion and do not reflect the opinion of any institution I am involved with.

My videos are general and not specific to your unique case.

If you are a current or past client, due to confidentiality/privacy, I cannot engage with you on this platform.

If you are having a mental health crisis, call 911.

My email is only for business inquiries. I cannot provide one-on-one psychological advice to someone who is not my therapy client, and I cannot take clients through Youtube.

Time Stamps:
00:00 Intro
1:15 What even is female empowerment?
2:47 Men get power, women get empowerment
5:14 Empowerment is more than what women do with their bodies
8:49 Empowerment vs. female empowerment

[TheEvanesarah]

Whenever something is labeled as empowering for women, i ask myself who is really benefiting from this?

[senjoFan]

I think you hit the nail on the head when you said that empowerment would ideally lead to external power within a community/organization. Sadly, most of the things women nowadays refer to as empowering have nothing to do with actual power (not that casual sex or things of that nature are inherently wrong or anything like that, they just don't actually make an individual more powerful like getting a promotion would).

If 3rd wave feminism is really going to achieve what it set out to, then I think step one is actually understanding the jargon related to the movement is key. Throwing around buzzwords that are subjective/people can't even define is more harmful than good imo.

Tbh as a guy I'm trying hard to understand the female perspective on issues like this, but it can be hard when words like empowering can mean literally anything.

[funkyfresh]

Even in the definition of internal empowerment that you gave, bodily agency wasn’t one of the components. Because, like you said, bodily agency =|= empowerment, it’s a basic human right

[emiliagarcia]

you hit the nail on the head. i think this is like..the main problem we're facing today with the online ""onlyfans/sugarbaby culture"" that's making so many young women think that treating their intimacy and sexuality as a commodity to get men to give them money is somehow empowering just bc they might be getting a lot of money from it, or that hypersexualizing themselves and imitating men in hookup culture by treating sex and sexuality as something completely devoid of intimacy or human emotion is somehow healthy and empowering just bc men are also doing it

[valleyofsaddolls]

this feels like a slap in the face, but a good one. i used to sexualize myself a lot when i was younger. through the media, i thought that that was what being powerful was, being able to do whatever the fuck you want whenever you want to. but honestly, i always felt like shit. like i felt cheap and just sad, like i'm being devalued . after watching your video i completely understand why. your content is eye opening, thorough and straight to the point as always. i've always wanted to study psychology and you're a huge inspiration for me. keep up the great content!

[maclectic]

Simplified, it means: Rights without responsibilities. Freedom without accountability. Consumption without production.

[khadi]

loved this video! this is something I've been thinking a lot about lately and I still feel like it's a touchy topic and not easy to criticise since a lot of people (girls AND guys (cuz they often get something out of it as well, usually sexual content)) seem to be riding that "female empowerment train"

[alexanderringler]

It is frustating, that this has to be explained.

[EH]

It's refreshing to see some clear critical thinking on the subject, especially since "empowerment" is now marketing term and not much else. The very fact that women's choices are scrutinised to the extent that they feel pressured to justify their personal choices is simply a continuation of social control.

[SoVidushi]

Unrelated but when WAP came out last year, some people were calling it female empowerment while others were criticising the artists for 'objectifying' themselves and calling it antifeminist. I didn't think it was either of those things and it kinda made me mad that everything a woman does has to be viewed in the context of womenkind as a whole and not just individual choices made by and for an individual. Can't a racey but non-problematic music video be just that and not a message to all of womankind? I don't see a male artist's racey music (the non-problematic kind) being treated with so much scrutiny.

[auroraomelas]

can you make a video about what studying psychology has been like for you? the workload, the subjects, the variety of job prospects… for people like me who are thinking about pursuing psychology academically but who aren’t completely sure if it’s for them. thanks!

[ramonakjerstina]

I've found it really difficult to communicate that most things are basically neutral, and that pointing out that something is not empowering isn't an insult and doesn't mean that it's wrong and unhealthy, it just doesn't actually give you power. If it makes you feel good it's good and you should do whatever you want but it usually has nothing to do with your human rights as a female or any aquirement or transfer of actual power. I think people don't usually use the word empowerment without implying female empowerment, you could say things like "eating a cookie empowered me to not pass out" but I've never personally seen the word used outside of feminism other than in old ass books from before feminism was a huge topic where people specified what things were empowering them to do.

[Xena]

This whole idea of romanticising and encouraging this culture of only fans and sugar babies especially to young girls on tiktok made me feel some type of way. While it’s good that women have the choices to do what they want with their body, the social stigma that comes to being a sex worker is hardly empowering. Let’s be honest, sex workers being exploited is not a shocking news to anyone and the power dynamics between the rich sugar daddy and these often barely legal women is something that’s not talked about often. When women have a real seat at the table where important decisions are being made is where we all of us females are empowered.

[WoahhTeamJacob]

I would love to read your dissertation once your done! 😩👏🏽

[elizabethrose]

I feel like you've managed to articulate something that I've seen, but couldn't put into words.

[larae]

You nailed this! I agree with you! While i'm all for women doing whatever they want I feel like them showing empowerment when showing skin is what the men want! and what they claim "empowerment" You an do whatever you want with your body but I sometimes get so scared for women because I see sexual comment on insta from men and it's sickening.. Another note i'd like to add (kinda off topic) is when women announce that they're gay in public and still get sexual comments from men...? that's so disgusting because I feel like women can't do anything without being sexualized... even for wearing a uniform etc.. like wtf?

[SoVidushi]

Been a while since i watched one of your videos, glad to see ure still uploading bangers Ana!!

[lenzcliff]

The only real power is financial power / freedom. That's it. As a woman that's the only thing you can rely on.

[Ilovesushi]

Very interesting video! I would love if you went into more depth about what real female power is in society. Maybe some real life examples and you opinion on what ideally would need to happen for women to have more power in society, particularly the prejudices, shaming and double standards that are still so prevalent today. You touched on something that I’ve noticed myself as a woman but I’ve always had a hard time articulating it to my male friends and family members, not because they are bad but because they have a hard time relating.

[KirillSkobelev]

That’s a very good and important video. Thanks Ana