Latest Supporter Submission:
As usual, it depends on what type of feminism we’re talking about. It also depends on what we mean by “empowerment”, and this can take us down a philosophical road in trying to discern what that word actually means. Lets keep it simple, and begin exploring this by looking at the opposite of empowerment: learned helplessness.
In a study conducted by Seligman & Maier, three groups of dogs were observed in conditions where they were administered electrical shocks. The first two groups had a choice to get away from the shocks – the third group didn’t. Over time, the third group of dogs made no attempt to get away from shocks when they most certainly had the choice. They had been taught to not even try thanks to the previous experience of not having any choice.
In another study conducted by Langer and Rodin, patients at a senior citizen home were divided into two groups. The first group (we’ll call this one the helpless group) was told to let the staff take care of them and do everything for them (it’s important to note that they still had options to do what they wanted – they were simply told to let the staff do everything). The second group (we’ll call this one the empowered group) was told they needed to take care of themselves, and even given a few extra jobs to tend after, like watering plants.
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