10 Inspiring Quotes from Women Fighting the Good Fight
Not even 100 years ago, women suffragists fought and gained the right to vote. As the fight for gender equality rages on and modern women continue the work of the righteous women before them, I cannot help but stress the necessity, especially now, for all women to get involved. Whether or not you agree with the election results, what is clear is that there is video evidence of our President Elect condoning sexual harassment of women and degrading 50% of the population with vulgar words and phrases. We, as a nation, expected the glass ceiling to be shattered on November 9th, but instead were awoken to a different atmosphere. We have come so far in the fight for gender equality, we cannot afford to take steps backward in the coming years. I write this article not to qualm the nerves of women around the nation and tell them everything is going to be okay, but rather to ignite a fire within you. I want you to choose passion, not blissful ignorance. I condone peaceful protest, not ambivalence. Read these quotes and get out there and do the women who spoke them proud, they fought for you to be where you are today.
1. “I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my stand.”
-Susan B. Anthony, 19th century American social reformer and feminist activist
2. “I have chosen to no longer be apologetic for my femaleness and my femininity. And I want to be respected in all of my femaleness because I deserve to be.”
-Chimamanda Adichie, We Should All Be Feminists Nigerian novelist, MacArthur Genius Grant recipient
3. “Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It’s about making life more fair for women everywhere. It’s not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It’s about baking a new pie.”
-Gloria Steinem, 1960’s American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist
4. “Extremists have shown what frightens them most: A Girl with a Book.”
-Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate.
5. “If women want rights more than they got, why don’t they just take them, and not be talking about it.”
-Sojourner Truth, African-American abolitionist and women’s rights activist.
6. “I want men to take up this mantle so that their daughters, sisters and mothers can be free from prejudice, but also so that their sons have permission to be vulnerable and human too, reclaim those parts of themselves they abandoned and in doing so, be a more true and complete version of themselves.”
-Emma Watson, Actress and feminist ambassador
7. “There will never be a new world order until women are a part of it.”
-Alice Paul, American suffragist, feminist, and women’s rights activist
8. “Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe that you must become its soul.”
-Coretta Scott King, American author, activist, civil rights leader, and the wife of Martin Luther King
9. “Strengthen the female mind by enlarging it, and there will be an end to blind obedience.” -Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Author, primarily known for Frankenstein
10. “We need to understand that there is no formula for how women should lead their lives. That is why we must respect the choices that each woman makes for herself and her family. Every woman deserves the chance to realize her God-given potential.”
-Hillary Clinton, American politician who was the First Lady of the United States, Senator, Secretary of State.
The fight is far from over, we have just begun. Do what these women have done for so many years, do not take anything for granted. Keep fighting on.