Power Dressing Essay

Throughout an individual’s life, one is bound to encounter domination against others. There are different ways to show power; physically, economically, intellectually, etc. However, power can be used positively or negatively. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, Lennie has the capability to use his strength to gain power. Next, Curley’s wife uses her gender to control men and takes advantage of her role as her husband’s wife to make the workers fear to lose their job. Finally, Curley has the advantage to use his father’s status on the ranch to make himself seem “untouchable”. Lennie, Curley’s wife, and Curley all have power, but when he or she gets directly or indirectly belittled, the character tends to use their own power to disempower others.

There are different kinds of power. There is, of course, the power over another person. A power in superiority, in dominance that makes people afraid. There’s power in acceptance too. Any person who has been welcomed by their peers has more power than one that has not. In my own life, I struggle with power, and what kind of power I should want. My need for power likely stems from a fundamental desire to fit in. Some days the power I crave is simply in acceptance. Acceptance from peers, friends, or family. On other, less agreeable days, the power I desire is in superiority, dominance, the power to make people listen to what you have to say. In the short story Saint Marie by Louise Erdrich, Marie, like me, seeks power. However, the power she craves is in relation to God and the convent she has been raised to look up to. At the convent, Marie struggles between wanting acceptance from the Sisters and desiring superiority over them, especially Leopolda. The first, acceptance, Marie mentions before joining the convent: “I was going up there to pray as good as they could” (1). Marie strives to be as good: as holy as the Sisters. Once she joins the convent, she hopes to be accepted by them. Superiority, the second kind of power, she uses as a threat to Leopolda. Marie threatened that she would “get to heaven first,” and when Leopolda arrived, she would “shut the gate” (5). Here, she strives for superiority over Leopolda by blocking her out of heaven rather than

What defines power in today’s society? Is it money? Privilege? Status? In Chapter 2 of Justice And The Politics of Difference, entitled “The Five Faces of Oppression,” Iris Marion Young offers a unique perspective on what power really is in modern day society and how oppression plays a role in it. According to Young, power is the result of having a concrete societal position that grants you respect and opportunities from people (A page would be nice right here.). However, Young argues that this “power” is so reliant upon your perceived status and worth from individuals, that if lacking these things, you then become vulnerable to oppression. Oppression

Power is seen throughout the book Serena by Ron Rash, in many different ways. Something to be desired, to be feared, or to be used as a way of control, power is very present in the lives of Mr. Pemberton and his wife, Serena. Total power over others, the power to rule without objection and protest is the most noticeable. This is the type of power that Serena holds; a complete power and captivation over everyone she meets. But the power she possesses still isn’t enough for her, and throughout the entire book Serena continues to gain power over others and use this power, adding intensity to the meaning of the book. For Serena, power is only the beginning.

Women are marked and judged by their outer appearance rather than their innermost. Tannen distinguished that “each of the women at the conference had to make decisions about hair, clothing, makeup and accessories, and each decision had a carried meaning” (411). Women

Men could make the mistake of “thinking that women [are provoking] attacks against them by the way they dress” (“Rape Myths” para. 9). A woman’s intention when she goes out in her tight dress can be to attract the attention of the opposite sex, but sometimes that can go too far. On the other hand, wearing the wrong thing can affect a woman’s chances in being accepted in a social setting. For example, if a female celebrity wears something that strays away from what society would consider as “what’s in”, then she can be publicly shamed by social media. That celebrity could receive the label of a “fashion victim”.

“The woman who does not require validation from anyone is the most feared individual on the planet” (Mohadesa Najumi). Essentially, femininity is the art of being a woman. Through fashion in the 1920’s, a new kind of femininity blossomed enthralling both men and women. As illustrated during the Jazz Age, a wave of women rejected the damsel in distress outlook and began channeling their inner Femme Fatale.

Through these various accounts, one witnesses how the reactions in different situations allude to an individual’s outcome and their authoritative position in relevance to others. Ultimately, power is a state of mind in this sense, for an individual’s importance in these situations is determined by the power with which they believe they behold. Not only this, but their success as individuals and how they survive their various encounters is also projected through their mentality associated with power, and it allows them to better manage their

There are many companies in the world today that put an idea of this perfect female body into the heads of women. These images lead to a faulty standard men hold of women and their bodies and that women strive to become. Margaret Atwood addresses the issue of the way men view the female body by writing her essay in the viewpoints of a male so the reader can better understand how the expectation men have of the female body is unrealistic. First, she uses an allusive comparison to show the male expectation of the female body and how it is objectified as if it were a doll that comes with accessories. Next, she uses an anecdote with defamiliarization to show how the way the father views a Barbie doll and the way it portrays the female body to young girls is hypocritical. Lastly, Margaret Atwood uses insidious diction to talk about how men not only view the female body as a product but how they also use the female body as a product which can be sold amongst businessmen. In The Female Body, Margaret Atwood uses many rhetorical devices to convey how the female body is viewed through the eyes of men.

Both “homage to my hips” by Lucille Clifton and “Barbie doll” by Marge Piercy are free verse and deliver different perspectives on the significance of woman's power. Clifton's poem empowers women to never be controlled by another person. Whereas Piercy's poem is a cautionary tale about a female giving their power to others and allowing an idea of perfection to create a self-conscious prisoner that wears them down until they voluntarily sacrifice their life. From our text we know that “Piercy engages with social myths that she believes inform the behavior of women”. (Kelly 238) These poems were written respectively in 1973 and 1980 but continue to remain relevant 37+ years later or the equivalent of an entire generation.

First a notable influence of fashion on self-perception is that it leads to a person developing confidence. The manner in which an individual has dressed will determine whether he will be confident or not. What an individual wears at a certain point leads him or her to develop power not only on himself but also on others. Evidence of this can be shown in a research carried out in the

Foucault states, “We must at the same time conceive of sex without the law and power without the king” (81). Foucault argues that sex and power must not be viewed as something that is only controlled by the law but rather as multidimensional with various forms that do not manifest themselves solely in coercion. Foucault’s suggests that power is unacquired, not external but within internal structures, non-binary, intentional and non-subjective, and exists simultaneously with resistance. First, Foucault suggests that power is not a “thing” that an individual can or cannot have but can be exercised from various angles in any relation. Foucault states, “Power is not something that is acquired, seized, or shared, something that one holds on to or allows to slip away” (94).

Power means to be on top, that there is no competition against you. I personally believe power gets you respect. People follow a powerful person. A powerful person is someone who does anything that they please in any particular way without any restraints. Another the way of having power to be financially successful. Having financial power in my world is another way of being powerful because money has a huge value in today's society and can affect people’s decisions. Having power is important to me not only for the respect factor but because by being powerful I would have less financial worries.

The concept of power is present within various realms of all organizations. Power, however, is not something that should necessarily be looked at negatively. There are justifiable types of power that may be important to criminal justice organizations. The main role of power in criminal justice administration should be to gain compliance from subordinates of all types, and turn that power over time into acceptable forms of authority (Stojkovic et al., 2008). It is for this reason that power is an important attribute in criminal justice agencies.

Politics in the 1980s was pivotal in directing fashion. The decade spanned seeing the first female prime minister Margaret Thatcher in the UK, women emphasizing more on issues such as abortion, sexuality and women’s rights, and ‘The 300 Group’ being formed to campaign for women to be equally represented in parliament. https://www.bl.uk/sisterhood/timeline. This caused the ‘Power Suit’, revitalized by designers such as Thierry Mugler through intricate designs of a tight skirt with a jacket that projected masculinity through the wide shoulder-pads (Watson, 2010, p.12), to evolve into a necessary trend for women due to the introduction of equal pay, maternity leave and more women working. Designer Donna Karen was essential in was essential in pioneering the Power Suit. In 1985, Donna Karen debuted a women’s wear collection that was essential for career-driven yet socialite women looking to be taken seriously in a male superior society. These designs could exuberate images of power and authority through an elegant feminine style, using primarily black to show control and to elongate the body (Rebecca Anrold, 1997, p.135). Karen’s influence of redefined femininity was driven through her advertisements that included scenes that exhibited a mixture of reaching career aspirations whilst being able to maintain a successful social and domestic life (Watson, 2010, p.12). This may have assisted in increasing the demand for power suits. Influential brands such as