Collectively, the culture of society placing subconscious restrictions on women’s motility places a conscious hesitation and unexpressed movement that women inhabit. A very thorough reading, “Throwing Like a Girl” by Iris Marion Young, demonstrated great examples and analysis of the way society perceives the movements of women which waterfalls to women’s own perceptions of themselves to conform to those of society. Young emphasizes that our movements and sense of space are often not limited by ability, but by social expectations and subjectivity that teach them to be restrained, cautious, and self conscious. Therefore, the summarization is a culmination of how Young mentions that “A woman often does not trust her body to carry her where she wants to go.” In contemporary society it is specifically a learned restriction and/or lack of confidence.

The Phenomenology of how women move is very specific in Young’s writing because she provides very explicit examples and ways in which women move in a restricted way and how they learn their bodies are perceived as objects not jsut a subject. Women tend to experience their bodies being looked at or judged (object) instead of something they control and act through(subject). This leads to less confidence and assurance in feeling like actions aren’t “fully theirs.” Another strong point that came across to me was Young’s comparison of Immanence vs Transcendence. Immanence is particularly about staying contained, limited, passive, and restricted; correlated with femininity and women. Where as transcendence is about acting outward, confidently using space; correlated a lot with masculinity and men. These behaviors are shaped by society and expected to be a social norm that is acted out specifically towards ones gender. These examples lead towards Young’s example of spatial awareness, “The woman lives her body as object as well as subject.” What this quote portrays is the paradox of how women tend to stay within a small safe space, waiting for things to come instead of moving towards. This is a sense of shape that is created by social limits and not just physical ability. How women see the world affects how they move in it and vice versa.

One specific quote that I specifically felt inclined to write about and I related to that the author wrote: “These modalities of feminine bodily existence have their root in the fact that feminine existence experiences the body as a mere thing.” Young does a phenomenal job about emphasizing the social expectations on shaping the body. When I was younger I was very intrigued as to why women were perceived in a much different but furthermore weaker manner than men. It was peculiar to me because I could factor in a lot of circumstances where I felt women were mentally and physically tougher than men. Although, biologically men have certain physical ability’s women don’t, I think that how we perceive ourselves is subjective. The first step is consciousness and awareness of one’s abilities without the bias of society fogging our view. How we view ourselves clearly correlates with how we act and perform. A lot of our internal dialogue translates to our external actions. If our movements are restricted than our perception of space becomes restricted as well. How we view ourselves and the world around us blatantly react with our perceptions and actions of ourselves towards the outside world.

What does it mean to merely view our bodies as an object and how can this affect us? Furthermore, can these patterns change, and how? A lot of these actions and perceptions that are shaped by society quite simply lead to a power dynamic and polarization of men and women towards social power. Social norms and expectations are taught at a young age and it is now a situation for contemporary society and new-age to recognize and act on. The mere consciousness that women are essentially taught creates a mistrust within themselves and a lack of confidence. Rather than natural ability these limitations brought forth by many years of society create and reflect broader inequalities in power and freedom in all aspects of our common world whether that’s in day-to-day life, politics, cultural views, and relationships.