Thought for the Day

[bcholmes]

Seen on my friends list:

Ideology is why you fall in love, naturally and sincerely and honestly, with someone of similar race and class and educational background. Ideology makes it so that millions of American women make individual decisions about their own personal happiness and take their husband's name. Ideology does not lie to you, it does not oppress you, it does not stifle you. It makes you want the Right Thing, and then you want it. It's not fake. It's not submission. You want it, you choose it, you feel good about it. Ideology is what makes it so that when you really sit down and consult your heart and do what feels right to you, it supports the system.

- Jessie

Comments

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

That's what I was wondering. I guess there's no such thing as coincidence that I could love someone who happened to be the same race and opposite sex as myself.

The flip side of this is that if you actively resist the status quo, you're just bowing to a different ideology. Why is it any more forward-thinking to be contrary for the sake of contrariness? A sheep that automatically runs in the opposite direction to the rest of the herd is still a sheep.

I think Jessie's theory supposes that there is no such thing as free will, and that our desires are only shaped by societal expectations. But if that were true, there'd never be such a thing as 'forbidden love', i.e. relationships that are disapproved of by society. Everyone would be genuinely happy just doing what society wants, and we know that isn't the way it works.