Behold The Barbie: Education, Power and Symbology

2143 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Conformity broken down

Embodied within the image of the ideal is the dynamism between empowerment and conformity. Within the sphere of conformity the masses become a "collective coercion of bodies" Thus, the state has possessed the mind in order that it might possess the body. Humans, therefore are willing agents, since the body has been shaped or as French philosopher Michel Foucault would explain "in the form of habits and behavior…the body [is] subjected to training" This training often happens without conscious knowledge, or even if there is knowledge of it, the practice remains because of its beneficial qualities of order to the larger society as a whole. Additionally, the more that the individual conforms unwittingly to the will of the state the more docile that they become due to the "formation of a relation that in the mechanism itself makes it more obedient as it becomes more useful, and conversely"

Speaking of power becomes difficult because there is the tendency to still create a duality in which power becomes the a negative force in a dualism of good versus evil. It is not that power is moral, but rather that it is prevalent—so much so, that there is no escaping it. This exposition, therefore, is a mere statement of where power lies (which often is in the hands of the state), but power will continue to exist, whether it remains with the state or not, power could be compared with the law of conservation of energy because power like energy, is never destroyed but rather continually transferred in an infinite loop in which a “binary…of the powerless and the powerful…struggles to gain more power as mapped out by movement from the former to the latter, resulting in a simple inversion of the previous formation.” Without any sort of recogniti...

... middle of paper ...

...rt/barbie/barbie.html.

Toffoletti, Cyborgs and Barbie Dolls, 60.

Toffoletti, Cyborgs and Barbie Dolls, 61.

Kilbourne, Killing Us Softly 3.

Napier, “The Distorted Barbie.”

Toffoletti, Cyborgs and Barbie Dolls, 60.

Napier, “The Distorted Barbie.”

Toffoletti, Cyborgs and Barbie Dolls, 61.

Toffoletti, Cyborgs and Barbie Dolls, 60.

Toffoletti, Cyborgs and Barbie Dolls, 61.

Toffoletti, Cyborgs and Barbie Dolls,

Dennis Hall and Susan G. Hall. American Icons: an Encyclopedia of the People, Places, and Things That Have Shaped Our Culture. (Westport: Greenwood, 2006), 174.

Gladwell, The Tipping Point, 162.

Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (Boston: Back Bay, 2002), 162

Toffoletti, Cyborgs and Barbie Dolls, 3.

Foucault, Discipline and Punish, 194.

Barthes, Mythologies, 97.

Show More
Related

  • Essay Comparing Frankenstein And Harrison Bergeron

    1309 Words  | 3 Pages

    What is power to a human? As time has gone by, there have been many forms of control and influence in the world. Many strive to achieve total rule over a society or group of individuals. Yet the question still presents itself to the average man. Why does man desire power so greatly even though there is visible trouble that follows? Shelley’s Frankenstein, Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron”, and Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, whether through the situation or the character themselves, depict the evils and hardships due to an imbalance and poor management of power.

    Read More

  • Forced Labor in "King Leopold’s Ghost"

    1342 Words  | 3 Pages

    Part 1. 2009. The 'Secondary' of the Print. The. Landstreet, Peter. A. The “Power and Power Relations Lecture”.

    Read More

  • Power

    713 Words  | 2 Pages

    Power. It is defined as the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. Throughout time, certain individuals have acquired power in their society as a way to govern and keep order among their community. Power is not a new concept; it was used in the past by many emperors, kings, and queens, and is still being used by presidents, prime ministers, and dictators. Although, it has been used to further progress societies into what the world is like today, not all power has been used for the best of mankind. But what goes awry to make power turn corrupt? In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, it is illustrated how power can turn corrupt, when authoritative figures, who possess power, abuse it for their personal gain, rather than for the common good of the society.

    Read More

  • Paradoxes of Power in Sociological Insight by Randall Collins

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    establishes some valid points concerning power. He posits that power is something of a self-

    Read More

  • Applying Gladwell's Tipping Point Concept to Technology

    1863 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...dwell, Malcolm. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2000.

    Read More

  • Power: the Fuel of a Crucible

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    In consideration of how power functioned in both the Crucible and the Holocaust, a tend of how an individual can use power to control, influence, benefit themselves, and also protect themselves from attacks can be seen. Human Nature compels us to gain power because of want, but once we have the power we will inherently use it to influence others because of the need of the individual to have their ideas agreed with. Power can either make a leader great or make a whole society or movement corrupt. Lessons can be learned about how to effectively use power to properly initiate change and make a positive impact on the world.

    Read More

  • Habermas’ Between Facts and Norms: Legitimizing Power?

    3383 Words  | 7 Pages

    I will argue that the revised notion of power as a positive influence that is produced in communicative space, runs c...

    Read More

  • Pierre Bourdieu Power Essay

    1288 Words  | 3 Pages

    At this point, with an understanding of what power is, what it means, how it is created and the various means through which it is expressed, one can begin to conceptualise how it is that power functions within a given society. Symbolic, cultural, social and economic capital distribute and perpetuate power within a society, through a cycle of transformation whereby these capital resources can be interchanged and manipulated to the advantage of individuals who have

    Read More

  • The Power Of Power In William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

    1020 Words  | 3 Pages

    Power is a very interesting thing to hold. Many good-natured men have been destroyed by power and turned away from their morals as a result. When giving a man absolute power, it’s ingrained in the human brain to take it to a new level. This ideal is present in every type of government, regardless of if it’s a dictatorship or a government supported by autonomy. Modern day government suffers from this power hungry greed. Power is an element of human life and often leads to temptation because mankind thirsts for control, and that’s what power grants.

    Read More

  • Comparing Foucault's 'Truth And Juridical Forms'

    2238 Words  | 5 Pages

    They are not only its inert or consenting target; they are always also the elements of its articulation” (Foucault, “Two Lectures” 34). Power may take various forms, all of which are employed and exercised by individualsand unto individuals in the institutions of society. In all institutions, there is political and judicial power, as certain individuals claim the right to give orders, establish rules, and so forth as well as the right to punish and award. For example, in school, the professor not only teaches, but also dictates, evaluates, as well as punishes and rewards.

    Read More

  • Power In Kurt Vonnegut's Iliad And The Epic Of Gilgamesh

    1803 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to the oxford dictionary, “Power” is the ability to do something or act in a particular way especially as a faculty or even individually. It is also the political, social authority, or control that is exercised by a government. The theme of power, is portrayed throughout several texts and novels in both Mosaic I and II. In the book, Cat’s cradle by Kurt Vonnegut expresses the idea of power through religion, science and politics. The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marks and Frederick Engles, demonstrates how power, through class and economy leads to political empowerment. Homer’s Iliad and the Epic of Gilgamesh both demonstrate conflicting views of what is means to be powerful. Throughout these two text, both the Gods and mortals, struggle to discover their own power, whether it is through their strengths or an obsession with glory. The theme of power also manifests itself in the book of Antigone, where Creon abuses his privilege of absolute power and this allows him to suffer to a great extent. The Complete Persepolis and Walden and Civil Disobedience also demonstrates how governing powers can oppress people and this can be very restrictive in societies.

    Read More

  • Foucault's Panopticon Essay

    470 Words  | 1 Pages

    Power finds its way into our daily lives; Foucault illustrates this in the example of education, saying that school succeeds “in making children’s bodies the object of highly complex systems of manipulation and conditioning” (Rainbow, p.66-67). This means that these children grow up to become, for the most part, law abiding citizens, aware of the social norms and relationships of power. Foucault explains this following of the rules as a product of “studiously cultivated fear of criminals” meaning that we “tolerate the maintenance, or rather the reinforcement, of the judicial and police apparatuses” (Rainbow, p.72).

    Read More

  • Power: Absolute Sovereignty In The Nineteenth Century

    1544 Words  | 4 Pages

    Power – here defined as the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behaviour of others of courses of events – is relative. The forms that it takes and the way in which it is exercised has been constantly shifting and altering for centuries. This essay will focus particularly on forms of state power and the use of violence since the fall of feudalism and the prevalence of absolute sovereignty in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, through the process of modernity through to the present post-9/11 age. Over history, power has dispersed and become less evident; from being centralised in sole sovereigns with unlimited power over subjects, the bureaucratisation and democratisation of states and spread liberal concepts of freedom and

    Read More

  • The Power of Kurtz in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness

    656 Words  | 2 Pages

    Power has been defined as the psychological relations over another to get them to do what you want them to do.  We are exposed to forms of power from the time of birth.  Our parents exercise power over us to behave in a way they deem appropriate. In school, teachers use their power to help us learn.  When we enter the work world the power of our boss motivates us to perform and desire to move up the corporate ladder so that we too can intimidate someone with power one day.  In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Kurtz had a power over the jungle and its people that was inexplicable.

    Read More

  • Compare and Contrast of the Three Faces of Power

    1832 Words  | 4 Pages

    Some theorists believe that ‘power is everywhere: not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere… power is not an institution, nor a structure, nor possession. It is the name we give to a complex strategic situation in a particular society. (Foucault, 1990: 93) This is because power is present in each individual and in every relationship. It is defined as the ability of a group to get another group to take some form of desired action, usually by consensual power and sometimes by force. (Holmes, Hughes &Julian, 2007) There have been a number of differing views on ‘power over’ the many years in which it has been studied. Theorist such as Anthony Gidden in his works on structuration theory attempts to integrate basic structural analyses and agency-centred traditions. According to this, people are free to act, but they must also use and replicate fundamental structures of power by and through their own actions. Power is wielded and maintained by how one ‘makes a difference’ and based on their decisions and actions, if one fails to exercise power, that is to ‘make a difference’ then power is lost. (Giddens: 1984: 14) However, more recent theorists have revisited older conceptions including the power one has over another and within the decision-making processes, and power, as the ability to set specific, wanted agendas. To put it simply, power is the ability to get others to do something they wouldn’t otherwise do. In the political arena, therefore, power is the ability to make or influence decisions that other people are bound by.

    Read More

More about Behold The Barbie: Education, Power and Symbology

Open Document