Whenever you bring up women's internal workings, guys want to change the subject. Unless, of course, they're trying to change the laws.
Gail CollinsRead
When I started giving talks about women's history, one of the things that bothered me was the tendency to say, 'Well, everybody was totally oppressed and suddenly in 1964 we rose up, got our freedom, and here we are.' It dismisses the women who fought for rights for several hundred years of our history up to that point.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of recognizing the long struggle for women's rights before 1964.
Gail Collins highlights that the narrative of women's rights often oversimplifies the timeline by implying that the fight for equality began and ended in a specific moment. She advocates for acknowledging the efforts of countless women who struggled for rights over centuries, rather than suggesting that freedom was achieved overnight.
Themes
WomenHistoryRightsStruggleFreedom
In practice
Example use cases
In a history class discussing women's suffrage.
More from Gail Collins
All quotes →For years I've been hearing 20-somethings say they don't expect Social Security to be around when they hit 65. Eventually, I came to realize that they really mean that they just don't expect to be 65. Or 40. Neither did I, when I was 22.
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You hear younger women say, 'I don't believe I'm a feminist. I believe women should have equal right and I believe in fighting for the rights of other women, but I'm certainly not a feminist. No, no, not that!' It's just a word. If you called it 'Fred' would it be better?
Gail CollinsRead
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