And no coffee,” (Oz, page 89). He is re-thinking his own thoughts of her power in this community. He sees that this woman is important to the meeting to cool down any flaring tempers. Does he see this as a position of power? Or does this fall in line of men behave better in the presence of a lady? But he added the line, “And no coffee,” to his thought. This to me only ratifies that she has no power at all. Women also battle men for Personal power over their relationships. “You may or may not be surprised that I call this a love letter, since in our relationship we have never mentioned the word love,” (Saadawi, page 59). She clearly has not defined this relationship with this man. Perhaps she has defined it within herself, making it a battle between her mind and heart. For this is a struggle that is commonplace in today’s society. As women gain more Social/Political power, they have to compromise Personal power. For instance, women are holding higher jobs and are more educated. They have to be careful not to let their guard down; for fear that this will affect all of the hard work that they have accomplished. Women struggle to show their independence from the typical male dominance and long to just be a woman all at the same time. “This involuntary side of my relationship with you arouses rebellion in me, for I value my freedom. That’s why I rebel against you,” (Saadawi, page 62).This theory of the battle for Personal power can be found between women and other women too. Women compete with other women. I shouldn’t say compete, as they often envy what others have. “But you, you seemed above all of this – somehow you had something inside you that I did not have,” (Ngugi, page 82). But this envy travels in both directions. Another character from that same story, “She saw in every girl a rival and adopted a sullen attitude… She s...
