Taina's fourth theme of the month is makt or power. I haven't had a clear idea of what I wanted to write about. I have been contemplating a serious post about gender equality or about political power games but unfortunately I don't have the time for that right now.
Instead I thought I'd just list all the stuff I think of when I hear "power". It's mainly about power relationships and dependence, either between two people or between a person and something abstract, for example a custom. Sometimes it's more about "force" rather than the Swedish word makt. Other/better Englih words than power are perhaps influence, might, potency, power. Wikipedia explains well both in English and Swedish.
- the power of one individual over another; which can also be associated with coercion
- the power of a country over another
- the Cold War as in the demonstration of power or might and the balance of power
- the power of men over women; I would say men as a group have more power over women but this does not necessarily mean than an individual man have power over an individual women.
- related to that the power over one's own body; I'm thinking specifically about the pro-life/pro-choice debate in the US mainly
- the power society have on us, society as in structure, cultural conceptions and traditions
- the fact we also need to conform to the structures of society as in work, calendar time (the clock); though this varies from one culture to the other; not all feel the power of the protestant work ethic
- whether one feels they feel/have power over their own life (beyond the shackles of society as described above), for example having a say at work
- also the power bad habits have on us, how hard it may be to get out bad behaviour, whether it is nail-biting or crime
- democracy
- the power of money and capital
- the power of love;
- the mix of love and politics in flower power :)
- the power of fashion
- the power of advertising
- electric power or energy
- and the lack of power; powerlessness, impotence (vanmakt)
Images from user.tninet.se, sfs.se, jbsaint.wordpress.com, 12manage.com, resume.se, marianova.com and supportdell.com
