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Quotes from Women and Madness — Phyllis Chesler

born 1940 United States

← All quotes by Phyllis Chesler

7 quotes

Women must begin to "save" themselves and their daughters before they "save" their husbands and their sons; before they "save" the whole world.

Women and Madness (1972)

To those who think I am suggesting that we have a war between the sexes, I say: but we've always had one.

Women and Madness (1972)

Perhaps only some young women, perhaps only a minority of all women, will be able to effect such changes through consciousness alone, through the strength of understanding, which, if transformed into wisdom, always means the performance of necessary actions.

Women and Madness (1972)

Women … do not have to forsake the "wisdom of the heart" and become men. They need only transfer the primary force of their supportiveness to themselves and to each other—but never to the point of self-sacrifice.

Women and Madness (1972)

Should or can there be a single standard of behavior for both sexes? Is there such a thing as a biologically rooted female culture that should remain separate from male culture, partly because it is different than or superior to male culture? Women must convert their love for and reliance on strength and skill in others to a love for all manner of strength and skill in themselves.

Women and Madness (1972)

In Amazon societies... no division of labor based on sex seems to have existed... Although Amazon leaders existed and queens were elected, the societies seem to have been...ones in which any woman could aspire to and achieve full human expression.

Women and Madness (1973)

I am not saying that a female-dominated or Amazon society based on the oppression of men is any more "just" than is a male-dominated society based on the oppression of women. I am merely pointing out in what ways it is better for women. Perhaps someday a choice between forms of injustice will not be necessary.

Women and Madness (1972)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Phyllis Chesler (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.