The definition of the concept of power at all periods of modern human history is deeply rooted in the patriarchal notions of absolute authority, ascendancy and control.

Powerful men are seen as those who occupy the corridors of parliaments, the dizzying neon-lit pinnacles of the church hierarchy, the brokers in the institutions that control and limit the decision making of ordinary folks and pistol-packing criminals that keep us cowering in the middle of the night.

Both the first and second wave of the feminist movement impacted dramatically on the many power-related issues that were and are still of concern to women in all sectors of the modern world.

Today, in spite of the many shortcomings of the movement, we continue to be motivated to redefine the concepts that must continue to drive the most important social movement in the developmental path of the human family - the struggle for women's human rights across the globe.

varying experiences

In this process, women have had varying experiences with the notion of both personal and group power. It is therefore useful to bring to mind examples of the individuals and groups who have historically and contemporarily helped us to redefine the dynamics of the power struggle between the sexes.

Women and girls who are inspired by the depiction of the lives of both fictional and non-fictional women are drawn to the many instances in which the notion of personal power is transformed in order to allow women to express their humanity and their unique personalities.

A narrow sampling of such women could touch on the impact of the biblical Queen of Sheba, the controversial Queen Victoria of England whose regime came to characterise the repression of female sexuality.

In this same mode, the persona of Cleopatra is worthy of mention. Distinguished historian Michael Grant detailed the extraordinary life of the celebrated Cleopatra who is generally revered as one of the most powerful and controversial women in the human family.

Grant has left us with a chronicle of events from which he concluded that this woman was indeed "a brilliant linguist and the author of treatises on agriculture, make-up and alchemy". On the flipside, she was seen as a ruthless foe who carefully calculated her love affairs in order to restore her Greek-speaking empire to its former greatness.

Her legendary lover Mark Anthony committed suicide and she became a prisoner of her conqueror Octavian.

In more recent times, there are several examples of women redefining power on the continent of Africa. Most notable and unique is the stance taken by Kenyan women who placed a weeklong sex embargo on their male partners in protest over the political infighting.

Recognising that the Kibaki-Odinga fight for political power had left more than 1,000 of their citizens dead and more than 600,000 homeless, the women of Kenya found a way to redefine power.

They lobbied the support of the wives of the president and the prime minister and they also paid off the prostitutes to walk off their jobs.

This Afro-centric response to the power of the patriarch was reflected in the broad-based representatives of women's groups and the clear vision of the kind of change that would lead to sustainable development.

The women of Kenya recognised their power and declared "sex is the answer".

Rukia Sulow, chair of the Women's Development Organisation, argued that sex "does not know tribe, it does not have a political party and it happens in the lowest of households". It is interesting to note that sex strikes are rare worldwide and might have seemed unthinkable in the legal polygamous framework that exists in Kenya.

The impact of the action of our Kenyan sisters will most likely be fully understood worldwide in the next 100 years.

a great starting point

Yes! Sex is a great starting point towards the goal of redefining power.

Out on the prairies in Western Canada, most unlikely group of grandmothers have been motivated to redefine the dynamics of male power by reaching out across the divide of cultures to raise awareness of the plight of African grandmothers who are forced to raise their grandchildren. These are African women who lost their children to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Motivated by the vision and insights of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, these Canadian Eastside grannies found the energy and the power to reach out in an effort to support their African sisters.

At any age, women can redefine power!

Closer to home, the June 2, 2009 edition of The Gleaner carried a dramatic headline 'Woman power' above a picture of two women lovingly wooing a bunch of green mangoes hanging from a healthy-looking tree on a farm in Leith Hall, St Thomas.

I was mesmerised by the combination of the bold headline and a photograph that carried the trademark professionalism of the newspaper's chief photographer, Norman Grindley. This set the stage for my feminist anticipation of a story about women taking power away from the patriarchal agents in the nation state.

The content of the story written by Arthur Hall, a senior staff reporter, was about a group of women who has organised around the activities of farming in a collaborative, collegial and culturally rooted framework.

Many of us who have been reared in the deep rural areas of St Elizabeth and Manchester still have memories of the practice of "giving a day" to all the small farming households in the district. During those days of old, the men took their hoes, machetes and pickaxes to dig the yam hills, the sweet potato and cassava banks and the holes to plant the corn and gungo peas. These work details moved from plot to plot until everyone was served.

unique form of power

The women attached to the households of these small farms moved from house to house to tend the big iron pots which produced the tastiest peas soup loaded with salted pork, ground provisions and the vintage cornmeal dumplings that the 'toothless wonders' of the district had to bypass.

It is within these traditions that the contemporary rural sisterhood of Dumfries in St Thomas have found their unique form of power to make a difference in the lives of their families.

Another locally related form of woman power was also reported in the June 2 edition of The Gleaner. This was described in a story written by writer Kemesha Walters. According to Walters, a group of August Town women "United for Empowerment and Transformation" are "intent on making something positive of their community which has been ravaged by crime and violence:.

Obviously, these inner-city women understand the need to wrench the power away from the criminal elements through their commitment to change and development and their instinctive understanding of the power of female solidarity.

fighting spirit

This writer identifies with the fighting spirit of the dynamic African slave woman who built the solid foundation of spirituality and warrior energies that fashioned the strength of character into which many Jamaican women tap.

Daily, we observe the activities of groups of women who are redefining power in order to find a safe path out of the economic and social confusion that now confronts all of us. In this process we come to the realisation that we need not look outside of our woman-centred experiences to find the strength to redefine the notion of power in line with the gift of womanhood, sisterhood and the good of the collective.

Yes indeed, we must continue to redefine power in order to bring balance to the confusion and the noises of our time.

Dr Glenda P. Simms is a consultant on gender issues. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com.

Bernadette 'Annie' Graham (left) and Patricia 'Aunt Pat' Garrick test mangoes on a farm in Leith Hall, St Thomas. - Norman Grindley/Chief Photographer