SELK'S FOUCAULT ON POWER
I am currently an Athletic Administrator’s intern at The
Prairie School under the direction of Athletic Director, Sandy Freres. Referring to Foucualt’s theory on power he
states, on page 128 that, “Power is not an asset which a person can have;
rather, power is something exercised with interactions.” This phrase most definitely
describes Sandy Freres. She is the type of person who takes charge/dominate in
a conversation, is very opinionated, and has the most to say. Her co-workers
and she admit that she is the most powerful one while interacting with others
through conversing. I have great excitement to pursue high school athletic
administration; hence, my internship. However, is this trait that is the most
beneficial or can this characteristic hurt herself while building a relationship
with others??
Hi Amy,
ReplyDeleteI having trouble with posting my comments today, not sure why. So, I will write this again :-) Anyway, I don't agree with anyone in positions of leadership and authority who assume their voices are the most important. Leaders should be good listeners and treat everyone with respect. Sometimes, leaders feel if they appear domineering and speak the loudest, they will be considered the most powerful. In reality, it has the opposite effect and subordinates feel disrespected, unimportant, and essentially controlled. Everyone has an equally important opinion, and sometimes having the confidence and humility to keep quiet and listen will draw people towards the leader, rather than alienating them forever.
Amy,
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Colleen -- interesting how people in leadership positions interpret power as "overpowering" as in be loud, always be the dominant voice, always express your opinion -- strongly. Have you ever read Stephen Covey's book on effective leaders and communicators -- he redefines what power can mean and makes it a positive attribute that is exercised in a more collaborative, negotiated way.
Amy & Colleen,
ReplyDeleteI just wrote a very longggggg response to your posts but when I hit Publish, it disappeared -- SOOOOOOOOOO frustrating!!!
Ok, once more....
Historian and activist Cheris Kramarae once famously remarked that "feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings."
My own t
My own definition of feminism relates to the ongoing effort of MEN AND WOMEN to achieve equality socially, politically, and economically. When we pose the question: "Has feminism gone too far?" I always wonder what the assumption is underlying that question? Is it that we have achieved social, political, and economic equality? Or does it mean that we have actually exceeded those democratic goals and now women are dominant in our society so the balance has totally shifted? I don't know any statistics that would support that -- nor do my daily observations and interactions with men or women -- what I notice in women is more that they are complicit in their own oppression. Amy, I often think about our conversations about the UWP Women's basketball team being underfunded compared to the men's even when your team had a better record of winning! If we had achieved our goals, funding would never be a question for men and women's sport -- it would just be a given because it is how society operates -- in a fair and just way based on democratic principles on which our country was founded. This is exactly the ideology that drives civil rights and, more recently, gay rights. Have we gone too far with those social movements? Have we achieved tolerance and equity for those groups? If you think of feminism as a social movement to correct an imbalance in our society AND if you begin to think that everybody WINS when lives are lived in more equitable ways, you might start to see the issues differently. The men in our class have mothers, sisters, maybe some time even daughters -- do you think these men would not want the women in their lives to have equal opportunities?
ReplyDeleteOk -- enough from me! What do you think?