What Is Positive And Positive Freedom In The Capitalist Market How It Actually Works?

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In Chapter four, The Capitalist Market: How it Actually Works, by Wright and Rogers, there are two parts to human freedom, negative and positive freedom. Positive freedom is “the actual capacity of people to do things” (Wright and Rogers, 48). A person is able to do more things and has a greater reach on what they want to act and do in the world. Positive freedom gives a person a limitless choice as to what they want to do. The second freedom is negative freedom, which is “freedom from coercion” (48). Negative freedom is when no one directly commands someone to do things against their own will. It is an act of a person’s choice. People have the ability to be in control of what they want to do and their own actions unless they agree to follow someone else’s orders. An example of negative freedom would be a free of force contract. Positive and negative freedom can be applied to gender relations. Gender relations are a man or woman’s way of representing themselves in their own society and their households. According to Wright and Rogers, the male dominating world is wearing down and women are gaining more recognition (28). In chapter two it lists the inequalities that women faced: until the 1920’s, they couldn’t vote in America, until the 1930’s they couldn’t hold a passport in their own name. With both positive and negative freedoms, women have the right to now have a choice as to what kind of work or actions they wish to do, but nothing against their own will. Gender relations between men and women can also be applied to positive freedom. With positive freedom, both women and men have “freedom to rather than freedom from” (48). They can choose to do whatever kind of work they want. Women can work a “masculine job”, such as a co... ... middle of paper ... ...norms is tattoos. Today, it is normal that most young adults have tattoos or body piercings. In Kang and Jones article, “Why Do People Get Tattoos?”, 15% of young adults in 2003 had tattoos (42). It is a form of self-expression and art, and a way for young people to find their independence (42). Men and women have different norms at to what tattoos they get. Men tend to get more masculine tattoos, while women tend to get more feminine ones (44). Even though it is seen as normal to get a tattoo today, most employers still have a problem with them. Most employers want their employees who are tattooed to cover them up so they are not visible on the job (46). Others view people with tattoos to be stupid and trouble makers (46). Tattoos as a social norm, proves that in some cases they are acceptable and in other cases, they still cause problems like stereotyping.

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