blog 3
I will be discussing Johnson’s theory of power as social hierarchy. Johnson explains that power trough hierarchy does exist and it creates trouble. Basically, power through hierarchy means that the privileged are on top and have the most power while the lower on the scale have less and less power as it goes down. Johnson also points out that this is not a trait or understanding we are born with it is inherited through society and can be negative due to the encouragement of allowing certain groups to tower over the other.
Johnson specifically explains how this system of power as social hierarchy defines the normative mode of existence in culture through his +5 system. The white heterosexual middle class Christian male according to the +5 system is the top and most powerful person according to the Western “norm�. Everyone that is different gets a point taken away and becomes less and less powerful as there points are subtracted. For example on the other end of the spectrum an Asian, homosexual lower class Jewish female would be considered with almost no power in Western society because she doesn’t fit in with the inherited power norm.
Johnson also explains that the reason we create this inherited trait to classify people through power as social hierarchy is because it helps us to understand how to act in society. If we didn’t know that we were a female or male how would we distinguish who is most powerful. Therefore this hierarchy can be linked to performing gender. If a man were classified as a homosexual he would lose some power in the respective +5 norms. Therefore, everyone wants to act like their gender to explain to the world where they fit and how they should be treated.