116 Quotes by Soraya Chemaly

There is not a woman alive who does not understand that women’s anger is openly reviled.

It is hard to overstate how problematic the transfer of anger, as a resource, from girls to boys and from women to men is – not only to us as individuals but to our society. This transfer is critical to maintaining white supremacy and patriarchy. Anger remains the emotion that is least acceptable for girls and women because it is the first line of defense against injustice.

Improving maternal outcomes means valuing women not only as reproductive engines but also as human beings – something that is still, quite apparently, a problem.

We are so busy teaching girls to be likeable that we often forget to teach them, as we do boys, that they should be respected.

Harassment and the ever-present suggestions of violence at this scale constantly reminds women and girls of their place. For the most part, girls’ and women’s experiences with harassment are still cloaked in silence, and we continue, as a global society, to peddle dangerous advice to girls about “staying safe.” This isn’t about safety. If it were, we’d teach boys, who are also subject to childhood molestation and risk, the same lessons, but we don’t. It’s about social control.

Women’s anticipation of negative responses is why so many women remain silent about what they need, want, and feel, and why so many men can easily choose ignorance and dominance over intimacy.

Women are just as motivated by the desire for power as men; it’s just that our cultural ideas about power don’t associate it with femininity.

The core issue is that, no matter where you may live in the world, dominant norms of masculinity are actively constructed out of women’s vulnerabilities.

Researchers found “significant, but very small gender differences” in boys’ and girls’ expression and experience of emotions, but significant differences in how their emotions were treated by others.