The World Women Live In

So, here I am.
A young woman, enrolled in a Transnational Feminisms course.
Having traveled extensively throughout the world.
Seeing how women of various cultures, languages, and traditions live.
Seeing how they are expected to live
Having studied the history of the United States
Seeing how women of color are treated
Seeing how my life, as a woman of privilege, has been different
But finding commonality in life because we continue to be defined by our sex


And yet also realizing that things are better than they used to be.
And realizing how much has changed (and continues to change) in society due to pioneers.
Pioneers and activists who have breasts AND brains.
Its a refreshing reality. A story that should be told more.
A story that also demands more chapters
For the untold stories to be told.
The unheard voices to be listened to and respected.


What does it mean to be a woman?
How does that connect me with other women worldwide?
What responsibilities come with this new knowledge? What acts of solidarity?
And what is this idea of feminism, this construction of resistance, that prompts images of bra burnings and social upheaval?


Here are some quotes I've collected to demonstrate what narratives swirl around the Feminist Mystique:


"[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians."  -Pat Robertson

The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, "It's a girl."  ~Shirley Chisholm


Women's chains have been forged by men, not by anatomy.  ~Estelle R. Ramey

I asked a Burmese why women, after centuries of following their men, now walk ahead.  He said there were many unexploded land mines since the war.  ~Robert Mueller

Why is it that men can be bastards and women must wear pearls and smile?  ~Lynn Hecht Schafren

Men weren't really the enemy - they were fellow victims suffering from an outmoded masculine mystique that made them feel unnecessarily inadequate when there were no bears to kill.  ~Betty Friedan

You don't have to be anti-man to be pro-woman.  ~Jane Galvin Lewis

Women are the only oppressed group in our society that lives in intimate association with their opressors.  ~Evelyn Cunningham

I would have girls regard themselves not as adjectives but as nouns.  ~Elizabeth Cady Stanton

To tell a woman everything she may not do is to tell her what she can do.  ~Spanish Proverb

Women are not inherently passive or peaceful.  We're not inherently anything but human.  ~Robin Morgan

I've yet to be on a campus where most women weren't worrying about some aspect of combining marriage, children, and a career.  I've yet to find one where many men were worrying about the same thing.  ~Gloria Steinem

I am working for the time when unqualified blacks, browns, and women join the unqualified men in running our government.  ~Cissy Farenthold

I do not wish women to have power over men, but over themselves.  ~Mary Wollstonecraft

There are very few jobs that actually require a penis or vagina.  All other jobs should be open to everybody.  ~Florynce Kennedy