Internalized Misogyny Quotes

“Every time you rolled your eyes and every little smart remark you made about how silly it was for girls to care about their looks. You refused to let me--or anyone!--like books and silks. Outdoors and cosmetics. You stopped taking me seriously when I stopped being the kind of woman you thought I had to be to be considered intelligent and strong. All those things you say make men take women less seriously--I don't think it's men; it's you. You're not better than any other woman because you like philosophy better than parties and don't give a fig about the company of gentlemen, or because you wear boots instead of heels and don't set your hair in curls.”
― Mackenzi Lee, The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy

“Being a victim is supposed to set you free; it acquits you of any agency, any sense of responsibility to the person who did you harm. It's not your fault, they say. Leave him, they say. Nobody ever tells you what to do if leaving isn't an option.

They just call you stupid. A dumb bitch.

Sympathy is only meted out if you follow all of
society's rules for how a victim is supposed to behave.”
― Nenia Campbell, Cease and Desist

“A simple creature unlettyrde. Julian of Norwich called herself.

The most unlearned and uninformed female who ever dared to be an authoress. Echoed Jane Austen—four hundred years afterward.”
― David Markson, The Last Novel

“At that age I looked at women with brutal and emotionless judgement. Assessing the slope of their breasts, imagining how they would look in very crude positions.”
― Emma Cline, The Girls

“You would think women would want to stick together when there weren’t that many of them, but they never did. It was as if being a woman was a disease that you didn’t wish to catch. As long as you didn’t associate with the other women, you could imply to the majority, the men: I’m not like those other ones.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“I spoke on a panel once with a famous new age author/guru in leather pants and she said that the problem with women is that we don't "speak from our power," but from a place of victimization. As if the traumas forced upon us could be shaken off with a steady voice- as if we had actual power to speak from.”
― Jessica Valenti, Sex Object: A Memoir

“It’s an interesting idea, but I would challenge you to decide: Do you hate girls? Or do you hate the expectations put on girls by society?”
― Liz Prince, Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir

“It hadn't felt necessary to learn more about my mother outside of her existence on the periphery of my life. She cleaned our clothes and bought us groceries. Made our meals, mopped and dusted, trimmed the tree. My father was the one I'd admired. He was the one I'd wanted to be like.”
― Kristen Arnett, Mostly Dead Things

“The mainstreaming of porn is tremendously affecting what’s expected of them. They’re learning sex through porn. What it means to have sex, a lot of the time, is to mimic what they see in pornography.”
(Donna Freitas quote from book)”
― Nancy Jo Sales, American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers

“It was true: I was starting to hate girls. Not that I was into the machismo of being a “manly-man.” It was just that, for boys, there seemed to be more options available: there were more ways to be a boy and still be accepted, whereas the popular girls all appeared to be cut from the same cloth. Or they were clones or something.”
― Liz Prince, Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir

“The fact is, however, that in those early days we were not as emancipated as I would like to remember. There was discrimination although at the time few of us were aware of it. I had to unlearn what men in our society are brainwashed throughout our lives to believe, the myth that men are stud football players who bring in the money and women are supposed to stay home and wash dishes! There is sexism among gay males and lesbians just as there is sexism in the non-gay population - because we are all conceived and nurtured by a heterosexual society whose prejudices are reflected in us. We are the children.”
― Troy D. Perry, Don't Be Afraid Anymore: The Story of Reverend Troy D. Perry and the Metropolitan Community Churches

“When a man speaks assertively, people trust him: he’s confident. When a woman does it, men dislike her : she’s a bitch. It’s outrageous that women have to restrain themselves and act small for the benefit of protecting the fragile egos of chauvinists. As a matter of fact though, outspoken and bold women will only rise and win at Life no matter what.”
― Adam Grant

“I knew that girls made fun of each other, but talking about someone’s body like that seemed so wrong. You can’t choose your body! I was suddenly aware that I was under-performing in ways I didn’t even know existed. From then on I always showered in my swimsuit, changed clothes in the outhouse (which defeated the purpose of showering), and worst of all, I developed the habit of swimming in a t-shirt.”
― Liz Prince, Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir

“...and Athena, it must be admitted, has never been much of a friend to her fellow women. The war-like goddess of wisdom, who wasn't even gestated by a women (she sprang fully grown from her father's head), is the original "not-like-the-other-girls" girl.”
― Jess Zimmerman, Women and Other Monsters: Building a New Mythology

“...and Athena, it must be admitted, has never been much of a friend to her fellow women. The war-like goddess of wisdom, who wasn't even gestated by a woman (she sprang fully grown from her father's head), is the original "not-like-the-other-girls" girl.”
― Jess Zimmerman, Women and Other Monsters: Building a New Mythology

“When a man speaks assertively, people trusts him: he’s confident. When a woman does it, men dislike her : she’s a bitch. It’s outrageous that women have to restrain themselves and act small for the benefit of protecting the fragile egos of male chauvinists. As a matter of fact though, outspoken and bold women will only rise and win at Life no matter what.”
― Adam Grant