Hidden Power Made Visible: Unveiling the Subtle Influence of Male Power in Intimate Relationships

Couples, Gender, and Power reveals the insidious ways that the legacy of male power continues to influence intimate couples today. The book serves as almost a how-to guide for clinicians in assessing the power dynamics within couples and working to create egalitarian relationships. Knudson-Martin, Mahoney, and colleagues argue that all relationships exist within a cultural context which influences the relational processes that occur. While most American couples today believe that relationship partners should have equal power within a relationship, the legacy of male power often infects relationships in a covert manner. Mahoney and Rankin reject the relativist notion that equality is in the eye of the beholder (i.e. Harris 2006) and provide some guidelines that they believe are necessary for a relationship to be considered truly equal. At the core of these guidelines is the notion that both partners have “personal power” in the relationship. In other words, both are capable of influencing the relationship towards his/her own goals, needs, and interests. The authors argue that personal power is necessary for true intimacy to flourish in a relationship.