Book Quote of the Month (about power) - April 2014

Power is the ability to take one’s place in whatever discourse is essential to action and the right to have one’s part matter. - Carolyn G. Heilbrun in Writing a Woman’s Life

What do you think about this definition of power? It is easy to accept it as common sense. The definition is appealing to me because, with this definition, power does not require physical strength, large size, or even superior intellect. Power is something that can we wielded by just about anyone that makes a choice to do it. It may require sacrifice and perseverance. In this book, Heilbrun uses short biographical sketches of the lives of women writers to illustrate how they overcame the obstacle of their gender to become writers. Much of what they experienced is the same for women that took any role that happened to be non-traditional in their society.  No one goes against the norms of society without some hardship.

The book was originally published in the late 1980s and still seems very relevant. I recommend it both for the perspective on the history of women writers in particular and women’s struggle to “take one’s place in whatever discourse is essential to action” in general.