Jennifer Mathieu > Quotes

“... it occurs to me that this is what it means to be a feminist. Not a humanist or an equalist or whatever. But a feminist. It’s not a bad word. After today it might be my favorite word. Because really all it is is girls supporting each other and wanting to be treated like human beings in a world that’s always finding ways to tell them they’re not.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, Moxie

“There is one thing I've learned about people: they don't get that mean and nasty overnight. It's not human nature. But if you give people enough time, eventually they'll do the most heartbreaking stuff in the world.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, The Truth About Alice

“Making girls monitor their behavior and their appearance because boys are supposedly unable to control themselves? That is one of the oldest fucking tricks in the book.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, Moxie

“How much did it hurt? It was like a million paper cuts on my heart.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, The Truth About Alice

“It said girls are a revolutionary soul force that can change the world for real.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, Moxie

“It’s like when we read The Diary of Anne Frank in seventh grade, and I had the sneaking suspicion that I would have been a Nazi back then because I wouldn’t have had the guts to be anything else. Because I would have been too scared to not go along with the majority. Like, I would have been a passive sort of Nazi, but I still would have been a Nazi. I never said anything out loud, of course, but I remember reading that book in Ms. Peterson’s class and everyone was all, “Oh, I would’ve helped Anne. I would have rebelled. I don’t understand how people could have allowed this to happen, blah blah blah.” I mean,”
― Jennifer Mathieu, The Truth About Alice

“It’s just contributing to the narrative that girls have to monitor their bodies and behaviors, and boys have the license and freedom to act like animals. Don’t you think that’s unfair to girls? Don’t you think that’s shortchanging boys? The whole thing is just toxic.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, Moxie

“I'm frustrated with him, but I'm also frustrated with myself. That I can't find the words to explain it to him. I'm totally sure he's not doing it on purpose, but Seth is a guy, and he can't ever know what it feels like to walk down a hallway and know that you're getting judged for the size of your ass or how big your boobs are. He'll never understand what it's like to second guess everything you wear and how you sit and walk and stand in case it doesn't attract the right kind of attention, or worse, attracts the wrong kind. He'll never get how scary and crazy-making it is to feel like you belong to some big Boy Monster that decides it can grab you and touch you and rank you whenever and however it wants.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, Moxie

“It’s like when we read The Diary of Anne Frank in seventh grade, and I had the sneaking suspicion that I would have been a Nazi back then because I wouldn’t have had the guts to be anything else. I know that everyone wants to believe they would have been the brave one and they would have been the one to hide Anne in their attic and they would have killed Hitler with their own bare hands. But clearly if everybody thinks that way and in reality only a few people actually did it way back then, doesn’t that just make me the honest one?”
― Jennifer Mathieu, The Truth About Alice

“Audre Lorde quote on them. YOUR SILENCE WILL NOT PROTECT YOU.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, Moxie

“I’ve missed you, too,” I say. “And I’ve missed your vocabulary.” “Tremendously?” he says, smiling.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, The Truth About Alice

“I really can't handle talking about this for too long because it hurts too much, but I want to say that there is one thing I've learned about people they don't get that mean and nasty overnight. It's not human nature. If you give people enough time, eventually they'll do the most heartbreaking stuff in the world.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, The Truth About Alice

“This is what it means to be a feminist. Not a humanist or an equalist or whatever. But a feminist. It's not a bad word. After today it might be my favorite word. Because really all it is is girls supporting each other and wanting to be treated like human beings in a world that's always finding ways to tell them they're not.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, Moxie

“You know how there’s this whole world that exists only to teenagers, and adults never know what’s going on there?”
― Jennifer Mathieu, The Truth About Alice

“It’s ridiculous. Why should girls be responsible for what boys think and do? Like the boys aren’t able to control themselves?”
― Jennifer Mathieu, Moxie

“It’s like I’m living in a feminist fantasy,” Lucy says. “But it can’t be a complete fantasy because Roxane Gay isn’t here.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, Moxie

“And you telling me not all guys are like that doesn’t really help me feel better. Because some guys are like that. A lot of them, actually.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, Moxie

“Because I believe with my wholeheartmindbody that girls constitute a revolutionary soul force that can, and will, change the world for real.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, Moxie

“There are some things, like your eighth grade boyfriend kissing some other girl at a middle school dance, that are easy to forgive. And there are some things that are just unforgivable.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, The Truth About Alice

“Wow, so he votes Republican and he tends to sexist Neanderthals on the side. Sounds like a real winner.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, Moxie

“It felt like a way to fight back, but quietly. The only way I know how to.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, Moxie

“Some girls are dancing in the corners, moving their bodies with the freedom that comes when no boy is watching you.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, Moxie

“for my twelfth-grade Current Topics teacher for calling me a feminazi in front of the entire class. You insulted me, but you also sparked my interest in feminism, so really, the joke is on you. Revenge is best served cold, you jerk. CHAPTER ONE”
― Jennifer Mathieu, Moxie

“Ladies and Gentlemen of East Rockport, I'd like to accept this Not-A-Dick Award on behalf of all the guys out there who recognize it's gross as hell to do the bump 'n' grab. I'd like to thank my mother for raising me with the knowledge that she she would disown me if I ever did something like that, and I'd like to thank my dad for backing her up.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, Moxie

“Alice smiled her wide smile. The crooked incisor smile.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, The Truth About Alice

“I take a deep breath. How can I make him get it? He doesn’t understand that Moxie isn’t—wasn’t—just a fun thing I did to be cool or different like his old hipster friends in Austin. I sincerely wanted to change East Rockport High School. Maybe I was naïve to think I could, but deep down I believed it might happen.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, Moxie

“Brandon was like a God in Healy, and I guess I was like God's best friend.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, The Truth About Alice

“Her letters were bubbly and girlish. Her handwriting made her seem happier than she actually was.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, The Truth About Alice

“At my old school I was vice president of this club called GRIT,” Lucy tells us. “It stood for Girls Respecting and Inspiring Themselves. It was, like, a feminist club.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, Moxie

“I see no need in taking part in forced adolescent social rituals that would do nothing but stir up emotions of dread for all involved.”
― Jennifer Mathieu, The Truth About Alice