116 Quotes by Soraya Chemaly

Women who are actively aware of discrimination and develop a comfort level in speaking about it openly are the most likely to challenge aggressions in their daily lives and report higher levels of "closure" and satisfaction than those who don't.

Shame infuses women's most intimate experiences, from menstruation to sex. Women who internalize objectified ideas about their bodies often feel intense disgust with bodily functions – even pregnancy. Objectification and self-surveillance also put women at higher risk of sexual dysfunction. Rather than enjoying sex or engaging with their partners to ensure sexual satisfaction, women, distracted by what their bodies smell, feel, and look like, become unable to think about their own pleasure.

Forgiveness is valuable and important to relationships, but if your instinct is to withhold forgiveness, it is probably a good one.

Forgive nothing until you are good and ready to, especially if there has been no indication that the behavior causing you distress has changed.

As women, we are continuously told to live in the cracks of a world shaped by and for men, without complaining or demanding. Without being angry. So we adapt, and when we do, we use familiar minimizing expressions to describe what we feel: 'It was annoying.' 'I was so frustrated.' 'I can’t believe he said that.' 'I’m so disappointed.

Women are more likely to be targeted with hateful violence simply because they are women, every day.

The "political divide" cannot be understood or closed until we acknowledge socially acceptable misogyny.

The 'political divide' cannot be understood or closed until we acknowledge socially acceptable misogyny.

Single, childless women are the only women who report that they have the time and freedom to pursue interests, ambitions, and hobbies at the same rate as married heterosexual men do.