ABSTRACT
The self I am-the identity I have-is affected by the politics of gender, race, class, sexuality, disability and world justice. In other words, the feelings I have, the reasons I recognise, the wants I act upon-they are all deeply political. Feminist theory and feminist politics have been responsible for my coming to understand that my individuality is shaped by political forces and that what I feel as deeply personal is affected by public systems of control. Equally, I know that such shaping and control are not absolute, fixed or deterministic. The individual I am and the identity I have is mine, and I shape and control it in so far as I am capable of doing so.
