Phoolan Devi: Perceptions Of Power :: essays research papers

Phoolan Devi Perceptions of cause The purpose of this paper is to analyze and index gender and power as theyfactor into the life of whizz Dalit woman, Phoolan Devi. Particularly, I havechosen to try on the idea of whether or not she wielded real power. In anattempt to crop it more useful to speak of this slippery thing c completelyed power, Iwould interchangeable to make some declarations and pose some questions about its nature.Cynthia Emerson has suggested that power is finally based on dependencyrelationships (Emerson 1962). It is important to remember that almost allmanifestations of power require a power holder and at least unrivaled other party thatbelieves that the offset holds power. I would like to filtrate the word"believes" in the previous sentence because I think it is one of the keyingredients in understanding relationships of power. I realize that in many a(prenominal)instances the power of the first party may not be undone merely by the secondp arty ceasing to accept it, and that the power of one individual over anothermay sometimes be physically or otherwise inescapable. Often, the flavour followsthe direct experience of power, besides careless(predicate) of the order in which it isconceptualized, I feel the nature of power is inextricably founded in belief andperception.One of the most striking characteristics of Phoolan Devi is her refusal toaccept her power-deficient positions in her relationships. From the time thatshe was a child, she seems to have refused to align to her societyshierarchical indexing. She resisted attempts to categorize and vex her intotypical gender, class, and matrimonial positions. This is not to say that herresistance was always successful, but I am trying to show a lack of willingnessto conform and accept her positions in her power relations. Her belief that thestatus that had been prescribed to her was unsportsmanlike and her reluctance to acceptit are key factors that led to her gaining power and open frame from her powerdeficient relationships. Her belief in her upward mobility made it possible.This belief in her self and resistance towards accepting the power forced on herhelped undermine that same power. This is the one factor that makes Phoolan sodifferent from so many of her Indian sisters that are still living under the hitch of Manus Code.Does Phoolan Devi possess real power? So far we have consideredtheoretic power in relationships, but what about physical manifestations ofpower? The first example that comes to mind is the fact that over two hundred