Gender Perceptions of Power

Abstract In today's world, the democratization of power has caused numerous substantial changes in various spheres of social life, culture, and people's minds and behavior. Because they are universal, power relations transform the individual above all. At the same time, new attitudes toward power are emerging in society, new interpretations and perceptions of it. The anonymity of power (Michel Foucault) exists in people's perceptions side by side with individualized images and meanings. That which was on the periphery of power relations not long ago is now moving to the center. In the social sciences, a definite conceptual shift is taking place in the treatment of power, one that identifies fixed points where it comes into contact with the life of each individual and with the many differences between individuals. The distinguishing feature of this shift may be its emphasis on a phenomenological approach, which addresses the social, psychological, cultural, and gender prerequisites of people's interaction.