Hello My fellow bloggers! Today’s entry is all about Power as you can probably tell by the title. But, more than that it is about our society, as well as the things around us that affect our perspectives on what power is and how it should be used. I will be using a couple literary pieces to examine this idea. Now, without further ado, I’ll get right to it.

Almost everyone has created an account on the internet that requires a password. Actually, what type of account wouldn’t require a password? I can’t think of one, and I’m pretty sure that it’s because people value privacy. In this day and age, I’m not sure I could find an individual who would willingly give their phone password to a complete stranger. The reason being that everyone stores personal information behind these passwords that we’ve created to protect the most sacred and private parts of our life. The short story “Slide to Unlock” by Ed Park is somewhat of a reality check about how the passwords we create can only protect us to a certain extent. The story describes a man trying to remember the password to his phone while a robber holds a gun to his head. It has become so easy to believe that these combinations of numbers, letters, and sometimes symbols will protect us and our information that we have forgotten that we are only human, therefore there is not a password protecting our existence. “Slide to Unlock” is just another example of how a person’s life can be bounded to the passwords they create, but can not be saved by them. The man can no longer be protected by his password, therefore the power is not in the password but in the person holding the gun.

Growing up as a young woman in America has made me accustom to the trends that are happening around me. From time to time I choose to challenge these trends with a fashion statement here and there. No big deal for me, but what I’ve realized after reading “Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi is that in other countries around the world a girl may not feel free to explore their individuality or make taboo fashion statements. The comic centers around a young girl who decides to do her own thing regardless if it is acceptable in her country or not. As a result of this, she faces a great deal of criticism from a lady in her community about the clothes she wears and the music she listens to, which made me realize that even a woman in my society gets criticised for what they do and wear. Even things as small as school dress code can be demeaning and unfair to girls, and it has been said time and time again that women need to be treated equal to men. But, this is not a new issue seeing as how women have been judged for centuries. There is a rising movement for equality between men and women, yet still many people and places around the globe have yet to realize that women deserve equality among men. After reading the ending of “Persepolis” when the girl finally goes home, enters her room, and proceeds to jamming out to the music that the lady would have frowned upon, I realized that it is not countries or cultures or communities that have power over an individual. Instead, every person has the power within themselves to do what they want and have no care in the world about what anyone says because at the end of the day, only you can be the one to accept yourself. (552)