Essays

Analysis Of Power

When you think of power and who truly holds power many people believe it's usually political. Power comes in shapes and forms. Power is dynamic between two or more people. When the word power comes to mind I think of who is a leader and who is a follower,. Who is willing to put themselves out there and who is willing to sit on the sidelines.

I recently had the opportunity to view my own power during these last few days and I will say I have more power than what I envisioned myself to have. During the day when I observed those around me as well as my very self I came across my roommate and decided to speak with her. I realized even though I speak to her as equals she has a bit more of a respectable voice than I would have. This creates the idea of power for me.

During my interactions with the people I usually speak to was the day I worked only one of the two jobs I have. When I work I usually have a high pitched voice suitable for customer service because of my own assumption that my normal voice might be lower and can sound ill-mannered, except when I speak to people around my age because we are the same age and understand one another more so than if I spoke to a manager or to a professor. I believe people who are around the same age or part of the same group (gen z or millennials) have a better understanding than the other because of the hardships the specific group had which can create a power balance. During work I talked to my managers and coworkers, When it came to my managers I could tell the power was toward them rather than myself because they had authority creating a boundary between us. When it came to my coworkers it was a bit difficult to tell due to the fact that it felt as though the coworkers who have been there longer than me had power but when it came to coworkers who were there for a short amount of time I had power. I had a class from 2-2:50 pm and it became so clear as to who had the power. I as well as the class knew the professor had the power, however many spoke over them from time to time and it brought me to think when it comes to power there needs to be a sense of comfort to be able to speak so freely and openly during that time we spent together.

I ran into an RA (resident advisor) I knew and realized they had power over me due to the fact I was living in a dorm.

Power to me is knowing how to talk to people or who has what it takes to lead and set an example than others. I personally don't see the need for power dynamics especially when it comes to income, race or sexuality because it should not matter what the person looks like, how they grew up or how their love life should go into account for power. I do understand income because some people have a higher paying careers than others or based on the position one has, however we as a society work to provide for our family and selves which is why power also depends on family. When it comes to power in families,those, who are older,can keep the family from fighting one another and know the drama in the family holds the power. The reason why is because they have lived longer than those and are considered to be wiser than the rest of the family.

I think power can change because society is changing as well, we evolve with our community so we can be and do better in our community. I think we will realize people who understand life are genuinely decent people and someone who can be there for others will hold power due to knowing the human language and have the grasp of knowing the right words to say to help someone feel comfortable. What I think we need to take into account as well is if people will abuse the power or not because families and our community can become better if we use power correctly or we can fall and be angry with ourselves due to a person abusing the power they gain. We need to remember we are all human and that we each hold a power to ourselves first then toward everyone else. Power can change because of the emotion we encounter and learn. We are always learning and growing, that's how we are biologically which begs the question is power biological? Based on history and events in societies power is something you work hard for and earn, but it is up for debate in my opinion. Power is needed because we evolve our society and change the faith of our lives because of power. We create wars, disagreements because of power, but power creates trust, guidance and comfort because power is a word at the end of the day and we have to find it within ourselves to find the conclusion on what power truly means to us individually.