While agency and autonomy are often celebrated in Western culture, it’s important to look at who benefits from these ideals and how they are distributed. Upon closer examination, there are significant disparities in whose agency and autonomy are truly respected, and this tends to depend on race, gender, socioeconomic status, and power dynamics.
Whose Agency and Autonomy Are Valued?
White, Upper-Class Individuals
Western culture tends to prioritize the agency and autonomy of those who hold social and economic power, often those who are white, male, and from a higher socioeconomic class. These individuals are more likely to have the freedom to make personal and professional choices without substantial barriers.
Wealth allows for greater freedom of choice in terms of healthcare, education, career paths, and lifestyle decisions, giving a disproportionate sense of agency that many others lack.
Men Over Women
Historically and even today, male autonomy is often given priority, with men’s decisions and desires being normalized and respected more broadly than women’s. Women often face systemic barriers to their autonomy, such as reproductive rights, unequal pay, and lack of safety in public and private spheres, which limit their agency.
For instance, in many workplace settings, women might face challenges in being heard, having their leadership valued, or being given the same professional autonomy as their male counterparts.
Able-Bodied vs. Disabled
Individuals who are able-bodied have greater autonomy in navigating public and private spaces, accessing services, and participating in society. People with disabilities often face institutional and physical barriers that restrict their ability to act autonomously, even though the cultural narrative might celebrate autonomy as an ideal.
Autonomy in decision-making is also limited for disabled individuals when systems impose paternalistic or restrictive care models that undermine personal agency.
Heteronormativity and LGBTQ+ Marginalization
While Western culture has made progress in recognizing LGBTQ+ rights, members of these communities still often struggle to assert their full agency and autonomy, especially in environments that are heteronormative or discriminatory. These individuals may face social stigma, legal barriers (e.g., access to healthcare or marriage equality), and threats to their safety, which limit their ability to fully express and live according to their true identities.
Marginalized Racial and Ethnic Groups
Racial minorities, particularly Black, Indigenous, and Latino communities, often experience systemic oppression that severely limits their autonomy. Disparities in education, employment, housing, healthcare, and justice systems mean that their ability to make autonomous decisions is constrained by systemic racism.
For instance, the over-policing of Black and Indigenous communities, alongside disparities in legal representation and sentencing, means these groups face significant barriers to the autonomy that white individuals might take for granted.
Workers in Precarious Labor Conditions
In the workplace, lower-wage workers, gig workers, and those in precarious jobs often have limited autonomy. Their economic survival depends on complying with demands from employers, leaving little room for true choice. Many are denied the ability to set boundaries, control their working conditions, or make decisions about their work-life balance.
The celebration of entrepreneurial autonomy is often limited to those who have the financial resources and social capital to take risks and control their work lives, leaving many excluded from this ideal.
Where is Agency and Autonomy Limited?
Healthcare
In healthcare, patient autonomy is often compromised, especially for women, people of color, and disabled individuals. Medical paternalism, racial and gender biases, and systemic inequalities in healthcare access mean that patients often face a lack of control over their treatment plans. Unnecessary and involuntary surgeries are a stark example of how autonomy can be violated.
Informed consent and respect for patients’ decisions can be inconsistent–particularly in the behavioral health industry–and this is exacerbated for marginalized groups, who may face dehumanization or dismissal in medical settings.
Criminal Justice System
Incarcerated individuals, especially those from marginalized racial and economic backgrounds, often have little to no autonomy within the legal system. The criminal justice system disproportionately strips people of their agency, particularly Black and Brown individuals, through mass incarceration, over-policing, and discriminatory legal practices.
Even outside of incarceration, probation systems, policing, and other mechanisms of control leave many marginalized groups with little autonomy in how they live their daily lives.
Reproductive Rights
Women’s reproductive autonomy is still contested in many parts of the Western world. Restrictions on abortion access, contraceptive choices, and maternal healthcare highlight how women’s bodily autonomy is regulated and controlled by patriarchal systems.
Many women, particularly those from lower-income or marginalized racial backgrounds, have limited options in accessing comprehensive reproductive care, impacting their autonomy over life choices.
Economic Disparities
Economic disparities largely limit the ideal of autonomy in career and personal life. For those living in poverty, working multiple jobs, or stuck in cycles of debt, autonomy is often a luxury. People in these circumstances have to make decisions out of necessity, not choice, which compromises the true meaning of autonomy.
The rising cost of living, especially in areas like healthcare, education, and housing, limits the ability of many to feel they have control over their lives or futures.
Cultural Narratives vs. Reality
While autonomy and agency are widely touted as values in Western culture, the reality is that they are often contingent on privilege and power dynamics. Western ideals emphasize individualism and self-determination, but the systems in place frequently undermine these values for many groups.
From an IPNB perspective, people need to feel seen, heard, and respected within their communities for true agency and nervous system regulation to flourish. They need environments that support their basic rights to safety, connection, and self-determination. When large groups of people are systematically denied autonomy, it creates a toxic culture where mistrust, alienation, and disconnection are pervasive.
While Western culture claims to value autonomy and agency, these ideals are often unevenly applied. They are more accessible to those with privilege, leaving marginalized individuals and groups fighting for their basic rights to self-determination. From an IPNB lens, true agency requires individual control and relational environments that foster mutual respect, support, and equity—something that mainstream culture still denies for too many.
This post includes content generated by ChatGPT, a language model developed by OpenAI. The AI-generated content has been reviewed and edited for accuracy and relevance.
