How Are Personal Preferences Determined?

In many instances the experiences, feelings, and possibilities that form Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee’s personal lives are not just a matter of personal preferences and choices but are limited, molded, and defined by a broad political and social setting. While they feel personal, and the details are personal, they are actually universal in texture and character. The choices the Tweedles make personally have “political” implications. The term “political” is used to describe the expedient, tactical and delicate decisions that we make every day. Virtually all the choices Tweedle Dum and Dee make, even the ones that seem totally apolitical and personal, have political implications. The choice to wear make-up or not, to watch TV or not, to eat this and not that, to wear this or that, to use a bank or not, is personal, but it is also political.

The “personal is political”— indicates that personal outcomes are largely a product of universal relations and structures that exist beyond a single individual. (Z magazine)