Stefan Bollmann

“Saints, even the female ones, are safe with the written word. It's the rest of us who've caused so much concern over so many years.”
― Stefan Bollmann, Women Who Read Are Dangerous

“With the ability to read, however, there developed new patterns of private behavior that were to threaten the legitimacy of both the Church and secular authorities on a permanent basis. Women who learned to read at that time were considered dangerous. For the woman who reads acquires a space to which she and no one else has access, and together with this she develops an independent sense of self-esteem; furthermore, she creates her own view of the world that does not necessarily correspond with that conveyed by tradition, or with that of men. All this does not yet signify the liberation of women from patriarchal guardianship, but it does push open the door that leads to freedom.”
― Stefan Bollmann, Women Who Read Are Dangerous