Men's Group

Last edited Sat Jul 28, 2012, 10:07 PM - Edit history (1)

. . . it has to do with your relation in the world. A prisoner can make himself feel better with the illusion that he has power, but the fact is, he will still have none. Now, you might say if he feels "empowered" he'd then be able to escape, but the problem with that is, he has to escape to actually have power. Now, he can gain "power" without any will toward it. I mean, he might get a parole.

You cannot define empowerment without the individual's relationship to the world. None of us are free of our environment, whether it's dominated by human relations or not.

Yes, you can change your emotional state, if nothing else. But that's the default if you have no power. Even there, emotions act on you and prompt you more than you can change them. The very act of wanting to change your emotion is actually one feeling dominating the other.

Rights are empowering only if you have them. Not before.

The right to dress as you see fit is an interesting way to see this. Tell me, when you're at work, do you feel free? I mean, you might love your job, but I doubt you would call it your "free time." So, the question becomes this: how many models or porn stars would dress that way (or undress that way) if it wasn't work? How many of them want unwelcome male attention on them all the time? That is, without any compensation? (There may be a few, and there may be some who go through a stage like that, and then fall out of it, but they generally also don't get any real power as a result.) Now, what if they can't get a wage above impoverishment without it? Isn't that a subtle form of coercion.

Now, I have no objection to nudity, and even public nudity specifically for arousal. I enjoy some kinds of porn. But there's nothing empowering about it. This, however, comes down to a question: if a person were free from any environmental concerns such as comfort, protection from the elements, or the judgment of others, or status, how would they dress? If the idea were just to satisfy yourself?

Nudity would probably be dominant, but a lot of slovenliness would be, too. Human effort tends to go toward what's important, therefore, it probably wouldn't be a beautiful form of nudity. It's not really something we can emulate, especially when the real object is to sexual arouse another person, for whatever reason. A bikini misses the point.

So, other than sexual fantasy, there's no reason to think that every beautiful woman, or even most of them, want to dress in a way that's enticing to men. In fact, women of every grade of attractiveness generally get nauseated at unwelcome sexual attention. This is one of the reasons why they're given pay to go nude or have sex on camera. That disturbing sexual attention is something they have to receive extra compensation for to learn to live with.

Then again, there's nothing disempowering about it, other than the way others will treat sex workers, and the cuts they will take in their self-esteem as a result.