Sohila Elattar - Week 9 - The Cycle of Power
Power is the ability to influence or control outcomes, and this ability is demonstrated in a multitude of areas of life.
People in power are people with authority, which can include the richest people in the world or teachers.
Teachers have to answer to their higher-ups, the principal, who then has to listen to their higher-ups, the school government. It is an endless staircase of power.
This is not just to say that people in positions of power with jobs have power.
There are also power dynamics in family.
In practice, the children respect their parents, who then respect their children’s grandparents, and then again the endless staircase begins again. And due to the history of misogyny and sexism in our country and in almost all countries in the world; men have power over women. This is shown again in family dynamics, where both parents have power, however many times, the father’s opinion is almost always valued over the mother’s.
This cycle of power, both structured and implicit, shapes how society functions, reinforcing certain norms and dynamics throughout life.
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Hi Sohila! The examples you included with teachers and family illustrate your point about power perfectly! I like how the examples you included are relatable or understandable to most people in their own lives as well. Your comparison of power to an endless staircase is interesting to me because I had not thought of it like that before!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that in general a father’s opinion is valued over a mother’s, but I don’t believe this is always the case. There are histories of misogyny and sexism, but (despite recent laws being passed) for the most part men do not have as much authority as they did previously in the United States, and there is more awareness being spread for the importance of women’s equality and rights.
Still, I am glad you focused on such an important topic! I like how you shifted from a less serious example to an example that narrows in on sexism and misogyny. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Sohila! I really liked how you brought up the cycle of power in your blog post this week and explained how power is a hierarchy, not just a platform. It was really interesting to see you highlight this idea of an “endless staircase of power,” where there is always someone with more authority over the other. I think that the analogy you used about the hierarchy at school is a great example of how power works, since it shows how even those that we think are at the “top” are always following the orders of someone else. But reading about this made me wonder, who is considered to be at the top of this pyramid of power? Personally, I believe that individuals who have the most wealth are also the ones that have the most power and influence, as our society is built to the advantage of these people. I would love to hear your thoughts on this question and possibly expand on how you think this power structure works. Thank you for sharing Sohila!
ReplyDeleteHi Sohila, I thought your blog was super interesting to read because it discusses such a broad range of examples where power dynamics come into play in society. The way you described how people we might think have the most power in one place actually have their own higher-ups too was really insightful. I don’t usually think that far ahead when it comes to the bosses of bosses, but the way you logically outlined the infinite chain of power (especially by mentioning how it can be observed in a school setting) allowed me to understand how it works clearly. I also liked how you organized your sentences in your blog, with spaces between paragraphs that jump between nuances of your topic; it helped categorize your ideas without breaking the overall flow of your writing and added to the engagement of it as a lot of your single lines felt really impactful. Thanks for sharing!
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ReplyDeleteSohila, your blog really made me think about how much power dynamics affect every part of our lives, often in ways we don’t even notice. Your example of teachers and their higher-ups is such a relatable one—I’ve definitely seen how much authority teachers have in their classrooms, but it’s easy to forget that they still have to answer to others. It’s like they’re caught in this endless cycle of rules and expectations, and it shows how power is never really absolute. There’s always someone higher up the “staircase,” as you put it, which is such a great way to describe it.
Your point about family power dynamics also hit close to home, especially the idea of how historical sexism still influences who holds more authority in certain situations. I’ve seen moments in my own family where my dad’s opinion seemed to carry more weight, even when my mom’s input was just as important. It’s frustrating to think about how these patterns have been passed down for so long, but your blog made me realize how ingrained they are in society. You did such a great job highlighting how these cycles of power shape our everyday lives—it really got me reflecting on how I see authority and influence around me!