The public response to feminism has been ferociously defensive precisely because feminism touches such a deep nerve of truth and the denial that keeps us from it. If feminism were truly ridiculous, it would be ignored. But it isn’t ridiculous, and so provokes a vigorous backlash.

If we are serious about change, we have to dig – preferably with plenty of company and with a full appreciation of the fact that although we did not start the fire, it belongs to us now.

The odds are loaded toward a path of least resistance in several ways. We often choose a path because it is the only one we see. When I get on an elevator, for example, I turn and face front along with everyone else. It rarely occurs to me to do it any other way, such as facing the rear. If I did, I’d soon feel how some paths bring on more social resistance than others.

There is no such thing as doing nothing. There is no such thing as neutral or uninvolved. At every moment, social life involves all of us.

As a system, patriarchy encourages men to accept male privilege and perpetuate women’s oppression, if only through silence.

Women’s potential to disrupt patriarchy and make men vulnerable is why it’s so easy for women to make men feel foolish or emasculated through the mildest humor that focuses on maleness and hints at women’s power to stop going along with the status quo.

The odds are loaded toward a path of least resistance in several ways. We often choose a path because it is the only one we see. When I get on an elevator, for example, I turn and face front along with everyone else. It rarely occurs to me to do it any other way, such as facing the rear. If I did, I'd soon feel how some paths bring on more social resistance than others.

No woman (or man) becomes a corporate manager, gets tenure at a university, or is elected to public office by showing their capacity for cooperation, sharing, emotional sensitivity, and nurturing.

If we are serious about change, we have to dig - preferably with plenty of company and with a full appreciation of the fact that although we did not start the fire, it belongs to us now.

subordinate groups are often pitted against one another in ways that draw attention away from the system of privilege that hurts them all.