Of the widow's countless death-duties there is really just one that matters: on the first anniversary of her husband's death the widow should think I kept myself alive.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
And that's the insult of it, how always it comes back to a woman being a "good" mother in the world's eyes or a "bad" mother, how everything in a woman's life is funneled through her body between her legs.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques societal expectations placed on women regarding motherhood and sexuality.
Joyce Carol Oates highlights the perception that a woman's worth is often evaluated through her role as a mother, subjecting her identity to societal judgment based on whether she is deemed a 'good' or 'bad' mother. This reflects a broader issue of how women's lives and choices are often scrutinized and limited by cultural norms that prioritize their reproductive roles over their individuality and autonomy.
Themes
MotherhoodSocietyJudgmentWomenIdentity
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about women's rights, this quote can illustrate the pressures mothers face.
More from Joyce Carol Oates
All quotes →I never really knew I wanted to 'be' a writer, but I was always writing from a very young age. It became more conscious as an ideal when I was in my twenties.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
I'm drawn to write about upstate New York in the way in which a dreamer might have recurring dreams. My childhood and girlhood were spent in upstate New York, in the country north of Buffalo and West of Rochester. So this part of New York state is very familiar to me and, with its economic difficulties, has become emblematic of much of American life.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
My writing is often a way of 'bearing witness' for others who lack the education and the opportunity to tell their own stories, so I hope that my writing won't be affected too much by my personal life.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
The worst cynicism: a belief in luck.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
. . . there is a wish in the heart of mankind to be distracted and confused. Truth is but one attraction, and not always the most powerful.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
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