Identify
and analyze the presence of Foucault’s two notions of power, which is “power
over”
and power relation,” in regards to Carolyn Merchant’s depiction of women and nature.
Identify
and analyze the presence of Foucault’s two notions of power, which is “power
over”
Nature
created power, women and witches. It goes other ways as well. Nature created
women. Women were born and lived in the nature (mother earth). Women created
power by their personal feeling and elegant body. When women used
their body as a sexual method, then the term witch appeared. But we knew
that everything was created by nature because nature was formed by god
to rule our lives. These methods involved the two powers: “power relations
and power over.”
Foucault
article, “Foucault for Beginners” states different kinds of power.
One is the power relations and the other is power over. Power over
is the dominant power that someone has on others. For example, if
I was to walk in the park and see someone that I did not like, I start
to call him or her names and tease. Such power would be abusive.
Power relation is when something was written or interpersonal and we can
choose to either do it or not. Power relation could be the dominant
power that could make us stop and think about it over again. Most
likely this power is making us feel guilty over what was told. It
is not a direct power. For example, there is a speed limit; we can either
drive as fast as it allows or we can drive over. But if we were to
drive over the speed limit we will get tickets or we might accidentally
kill someone on the same road.
The
relationship of powers between men and women during that time were difficult
to understand. We know that women did not have power over men, but
they were involved in power relationship with men. Men in the article
by Carolyn Merchant, “Death of Nature” judged women by the gender and the
weakness. So men determine women as the withes. Men never want
to find out more about women and how much powers that women stored.
Merchant recommends that “Enlarge knowledge by observation and experience,
so that nature is known. It may be mastered, managed, and used in
the services of humane life.” (1980, Page 275). Men should give women
the chance to prove that women could have the power just as men do.
Then women, under the rules of god, were tending to thee rules of men.
As the women, we know that they could be in charge of themselves; they
had the power to do whatever they wanted to do just like men.
We all can see that as the time goes on, women got rights to vote, work,
and have their way of pursuits the happiness. So if men were to give
some freedom to women, the world today will be twice as it developed.
Nature
was born for men, women, animal and plants, so we all have the same equal
rights to use these natures of power. Merchant stated, “The new image
of nature as a female to be controlled and dissected through experiment
legitimated the exploitation of nature resources. Although the image
of the nurturing earth popular in the Renaissance did not vanish, it was
superseded by new controlling imagery. The constraints against penetration
associated with the earth-mother image were transformed into sanctions
for denudation.” (1980, Page 276) Everything was just free and open to
everyone. But they tried to take control over the nature of women and exited
things. Men should look at this statement and follow through.
They were born on the same universe as women, so why not give women the
same rights?
Men
never realized that women have the sexual power over them. Women
were attractive to men; men should proclaim this power as supernatural.
Instead, the attractive, unconquerable women became witches. Then
they would think that women were their sexism slave. From my beliefs,
this term was determined by men and the feminize nature. Still men
were look down at women, all women that were born with the nature.
They would call as witches.
In my personal opinion, the term witch to me means evil. Women were
called witches because of jealousy. Stereotypically, women are more
emotional then men. Women have soft-hearted and thus, they are stereo-typed
by society. “Killing Me Softly” is one example, women are jealous of other
women regarding looks. In this case, women used the power over to
determine themselves over the society. The other thing was women got jealous
because of what they did not have that others have. These good-looking
women would have the eating disorder and unhealthy. They destroyed
themselves and other women that did not have the same looks as them.
The women that did not have the same looking would feel bad about themselves
and try to find the way to get to the same shape to fit in the society.
Women developed into a witch ideal by destroyed themselves and other.
These are the power over and the power relations that women had on women.
So through my opinion, I think that the word of witch still existing nowadays.
Power,
nature, women and witches made the society today. In the past, society
was not fair at all toward women, regardless of the fact that society is
made up of both men and women. However, all these flaws are being changed
little by little through time. In order for women to obtain power like
men, women need to be educated and stand up for their beliefs.
Works Cited