Diana Meyer Personal Socialization Summary

In Card’s argument, she centralizes the abandonment of marriage and its entirety since it jeopardizes a woman’s autonomy to marry, seek long-term relationships and even be single. In opposition, Feminist, Diana Meyers, has a piece on Personal Autonomy and the Paradox of Feminine Socialization, which strongly supports the theory of autonomy deriving from the self while considering environmental stimuli. Meyers persistently magnifies the belief that autonomy is defined by expressing your true self by avoiding conformist attitudes, recognizing the need for inner change, as well as considering internal reflections and external guidance from the outside world. Like Card, Meyers believes that raw, authentic choices from the self is what makes up
for some parts of a woman’s autonomous decision. However, Meyer’s also recognizes the environment as a factor that composes the parts of her autonomy. She considers the public sphere as a “variegated setting that compasses diverse occupations” which is why it’s appropriate to acknowledge various surroundings as different arenas “in which the true self might find expression”. Meyers supports this claim by empowering the way a woman was raised and her innate mindset as two contributing factors towards autonomy and considering how it could affect her autonomous decisions. Assorted outside elements can constitute towards autonomy, such as living in a home-centered household versus a work-centered one. These exterior forces are what possibly drives a woman’s choice to centralize family, to become career oriented, or to even consider marriage. If a woman eventually decided to pursue the obligations of traditional motherhood and marriage, she could autonomously do so because it is likely that her choice was derived from extraneous stimuli that coincides with her true self-expression. For example, women that are brought up in traditional heteronormative homes are likely to assume these tasks because it’s possible that traditionalism has grown to be part of her. However, it is equally true that these women could pursue a different path such as becoming employed and not marrying at all. This is due to the idea that extraneous stimuli and inner notions can coexist within an autonomous decision, rather than viewing is as an all-or-nothing phenomenon (Meyers, 1987). Another reference where outside and inside influences synchronize together is when Meyers states that “economic self-sufficiency may be from the standpoint of personal autonomy,” meaning we must acknowledge our inner and external needs. To further explain this theory of synchronization, in Adrienne Rich’s book, Of Woman Born, it can be deduced that when marriage or any other life-changing event is self-ruled and considers varying outside forces, it’s inescapable and undeniably a distinct part of your autonomy. This is because were all born into different parts of the world with differing societal and economic circumstances as well as diversified innate methods of thinking, which makes us authentic from one another since we do not originally conform as one.
The concept of self-rule can be defined by the realms of authentic choices and environmental influences, such as the State. Similar to Rich’s theory of self-rule, Meyers believes that the equilibrium between the integrity of the self, people, and their projects is key to autonomy and consequently embraces the self. These ideas support Meyer’s argument because when we are readily endorsing the inner self and regarding other external motives, all women should have the opportunity to autonomously decide to seek their own lifestyle whether it being a heteronormative marriage, polyamorous relationship, or even remaining single because the abstraction of autonomy is not entirely derived from the self alone. Conclusively, it can be conceived that if an individual disagrees with the statutes of today’s form of marriage, then it is possible that they can autonomously decide not to marry if it’s against their authenticity, as well as disagreeing with their situational circumstances and vice
versa.