The strength and determination to do something even when it's difficult or you don't feel like it.
Compound of 'will' (determination, intention) and 'power' (strength). The concept became popular in 19th-century psychology as scientists began studying self-discipline and motivation.
Modern neuroscience shows that willpower is more like a muscle that gets tired—when you resist one temptation, you actually have less willpower left for the next one, which is why the word's combination of 'will' and 'power' is so literally accurate.
Emerged in 19th-century self-help discourse coded as masculine virtue; women discouraged from demonstrating autonomous will, labeled 'headstrong' instead.
Use freely without gendered framing; acknowledge willpower equally in all people.
Women's historical agency and self-determination were actively erased despite demonstrable willpower in resistance, labor, and intellectual work.
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