Jessica Benjamin takes an intersubjective approach to Freud’s original theory of power and domination; which inherently focused on authority and dominance not being an innate human necessity, but rather an extension of human relationships. The foundation of these flaws comes from the binary view of “do-er” and “done to” or “good” and “bad.” To truly change social flaws, it is necessary to realize that in these dominant relationships, the submissive or “bad” role also participates in the neverending cycle. To fix these flawed relationships, a mutual understanding and recognition of the other party is necessary, however, Benjamin understands that our society is inherently built on these roles from when infants first begin to realize their own sense of self.

I have realized that after reading and analyzing Benjamin’s theory, I subconsciously have begun to apply her own theory of mutual recognition to my analysis of the different stories we read in AP Literature.

For example, mutual recognition could be a solution to the conflict the characters have in “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere” by ZZ Packer. The story is full of different “good” and “bad” binaries despite there only being a few characters shown throughout the majority of the story. Dina, the main character, and narrator of the story tends to have a very “narrow-minded” worldview in which she is constantly putting herself into either a dominant(good) role or a submissive(bad) role with every person she interacts with. This worldview seems to stem from Dina’s insecurity about herself, which results in the failure of her relationship with Heidi, a girl who seems to have embraced mutual recognition in some ways by the end of the story. If both girls were to have truly embraced Benjamins’ theory of mutual recognition, I believe they both would have possibly had a happy ending to their relationship, rather than ending with a lack of closure.