The power and control wheel was created to explain domestic violence.

We can say that domestic violence is caused by power and control all we want, but the reality is…most of us don’t know what power and control looks like.  That’s where the power and control wheel fits in…it helps us understand all the ways someone is able to exert this onto us.

The equality wheel was the logical antithesis tot he power and control wheel. However, when we are talking about equality we should also be talking about nonviolence.

Nonviolence is simply the absence of violence. However, it’s also the absence of violent words, images, and displays. Unfortunately, we don’t often pay attention tot he rest of the violence that is around us all the time. this violence WILL influence us, change us, and recreate ideas in our mind that our society seems to think are acceptable.

A perfect example of when violence seeps into our normal speech is seen here:

wrong p and c

No doubt the creators of this equality wheel were good people and meant the very best. No doubt they would never ever hurt a single person. BUT…the normalized violence in our world influenced them to add words to the bottom that promotes domestic violence.

The word beat…unless used in a musical way…is VIOLENT!  There is no other way to see it. Even the phrase “can’t be beat” has violent origins. It’s is a statement that explains that a person can’t be “beat” because they are immune to pain or “beating”.

If we are striving to make this world a better and less violent place, we must start with our language and ourselves!