Ordinary women attempt to change our bodies to resemble a pornographic ideal. Ordinary women construct a false self and come to hate this self.
Interpretation
The quote discusses how societal ideals can lead women to alter their self-image and ultimately dislike themselves.
Susan Griffin's quote highlights a societal issue where ordinary women feel pressured to modify their bodies according to unrealistic and pornographic standards. This can lead to a disconnection from their true selves and foster self-hatred as they construct a false identity based on external expectations rather than embracing their authentic selves.
In practice
In a speech about body positivity, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of self-acceptance.
Every important social movement reconfigures the world in the imagination. What was obscure comes forward, lies are revealed, memory shaken, new delineations drawn over the old maps: it is from this new way of seeing the present that hope emerges for the future...Let us begin to imagine the worlds we would like to inhabit, the long lives we will share, and the many futures in our hands.
Any man's life, told truly, is a novel.
If there is a god, he is not only a wizard at leaving clues behind. More than anything, he's a master of concealment. And the world is not something that gives itself away. The heavens still keep their secrets. There is little gossip amongst the stars. But no one has forgotten the Big Bang yet. Since then, silence has reigned supreme, and every thing there is moving away. One can still come across a moon. Or a comet. Just don't expect friendly greetings. No visiting cards are printed in space.
You cannot step into the same river twice.
Ain't it just like the night to play tricks when you're tryin' to be so quiet?
Every human soul has seen, perhaps before their birth, pure forms such as justice, temperance, beauty and all the great moral qualities which we hold in honour. We are moved towards what is good by the faint memory of these forms, simple and calm and blessed, which we saw once in a pure, clear light, being pure ourselves.
What we call real estate - the solid ground to build a house on - is the broad foundation on which nearly all the guilt of this world rests.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.