• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Joint Public Issues Team

Churches working for peace and justice

  • Home Page
  • Who We Are
    • Six hopes for society
  • Issues
    • Economy
      • Tax Justice
      • Reset The Debt
      • Living Wage
    • Environment
      • Net Zero In My Neighbourhood
    • Poverty and Inequality
      • The Cost of Living Crisis
      • Universal Credit
      • Truth and Lies
      • Enough
      • Rethink Sanctions
      • Faith in Foodbanks
      • Housing and Homelessness
    • Asylum and Migration
      • Refugees
      • End Hostility
      • The Asylum System
    • Peacemaking
      • The Arms Trade
      • Nuclear Weapons
      • Drones
      • Peacemaking resources
    • Politics and Elections
      • Elections
      • Meet Your MP
      • Art of the Possible
      • Brexit
    • Other Issues
      • International Development
      • Modern Slavery and Exploitation
        • Forced labour in fashion
  • Get Involved
    • JPIT Conference 2022
    • Newsletter
    • Events
    • Walking with Micah
  • Resources
    • Advent
    • 10 Minutes on… podcast
    • Politics in the Pulpit?
    • Stay and Pray
    • Season of Creation
    • Prayers
    • Public Issues Calendar
    • Poetry
    • Small Group Resources
  • Blog

Blog, Politics and Elections · 3 May, 2018

Power posing: cause for concern?

Rachel Allison explores the latest trend of political power posing and asks what it means that our politicians think they must be superheroes…

There has been a lot of talk about ‘power-posing’ this week.  The new Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, decided to power pose outside the Home Office for photos after his appointment.  Standing with his legs slightly too far apart, the aim seemed to be to imitate a heavyweight boxing champion.  The consensus seemed to be that he didn’t really pull it off and just reminded everyone George Osborne at the 2015 Conservative Party Conference.

I, myself,

prefer a superwoman power pose

I, myself, prefer a superwoman power pose – but only in the privacy of the toilet cubicle for a pre-meeting confidence boost. Power poses do have some great benefits, especially for women, as Harvard Professor Amy Cuddy and her colleagues explore in their paper and TED talk.[1] Try it.

However, I would argue that the public power posing of high profile politicians is a cause for concern

Besides making politicians look a bit odd, power posing is a type of body language designed to say: I am strong, powerful and mighty.  It propagates the idea that politicians should be super human, all powerful beings who are going to change the world.  It makes us believe that they have the power and confidence to do things which are not humanly possible and can sometimes make us less forgiving of them when they make mistakes.

It is easy to get frustrated when you get an automated reply to a handwritten letter, or your MP won’t get on board with your very reasonable request for world peace by end of play tomorrow.  But behind that slightly short response to your complaint is an over worked and often underappreciated human being.  Someone who is constantly being told that they have to get it right all the time, be strong and not show weakness. We should expect our politicians to be remarkable, but we cannot expect them to be perfect.

As Christians we have a responsibility to care for our MPs and local councillors, to not just demand things from them but also encourage them in the good work that they do.

We also have a responsibility to advocate for a different kind of leadership, like the leadership shown by Jesus.  A leadership which is grounded in humility, integrity and, compassion.

Helen and Rachel admit that true strength

does not come through a superwoman pose…

True strength does not come through a superwoman pose.  Power and strength come through accepting that as people we are flawed, we mess up and we need a helping hand sometimes. A big part of leadership is being able to admit when you are wrong, saying sorry and trying better next time. When we perpetuate the myth that MPs are super humans we don’t allow them the space to do that.

So next time you write to your MP remember that they are just like you and I. They probably got involved in politics to make the world better. They are probably trying their best and they are definitely, as Archbishop Desmond Tutu says: ‘made for goodness’.

If you’re living in an area with local elections this week why not send your newly elected Councillors a welcome letter.

You could send your MP a letter thanking them for their hard work or even send them a box of chocolates.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we must all remember to continually hold our elected representatives in our prayers. Let us pray for their wellbeing, and let us pray that they might make decisions which work towards the common good.

Filed Under: Blog, Politics and Elections

Rachel Allison

Previous Post: « Good Ruddance to the hostile environment?
Next Post: Pulling the plug on the Iran deal »

Primary Sidebar

Search

Recent Posts

  • JPIT’s Review of 2022
  • What does Government Support for Asylum Seekers really provide?
  • God with Us – the Refugees of Calais and Dunkirk
  • How can we respond to COP27?
  • Statement on the conclusion of the COP27 Climate Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt
  • COP27 – what should we be looking for?
  • “He has filled the hungry with good things” – What we need from the Autumn Budget
  • What are the stories we should tell about the humanitarian crisis at Manston Airport Asylum centre?
  • How can we be sure that the products we buy are not the result of modern slavery?
  • Why I hate Warm Banks (and why my church is opening one)
  • How does our theology call us to challenge Poverty?
  • Introducing Alfie
  • Biden says nuclear risk is the highest since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
  • Churches respond to risk to benefit levels
  • Briefing on the ‘Mini Budget’ for the Enough to Live group
  • Introducing Hazel
  • Introducing Hannah
  • An energy cap announcement in three parts: the good, the absent and the ugly
  • Afghanistan and the UK – One Year On from the Fall Of Kabul
  • Inflation, interest rates and the poorest

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter

Footer

Follow us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Quick links

Stay and Pray
Politics in the Pulpit
Faith in Politics podcast
Public Issues Calendar
Useful Links

Our work

About Us
Meet the Team
Join the Team 
Internship
Our Newsletter

Contact us

25 Marylebone Road
London NW1 5JR

Tel: 020 7916 8632

enquiries@jpit.uk

Copyright © 2023 · Showcase Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in