Ladylike Quotes

“If there is a word that should be retired from use in the service of women's expression, health, well-being, and equality, it is appropriate - a sloppy, mushy word that purports to convey some important moral essence but in reality is just a policing term used to regulate our language, appearance and demands. It's a control word.

We are done with control.”
― Soraya Chemaly, Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger

“I'll be a lady tomorrow”
― L.A. Meyer, Mississippi Jack: Being an Account of the Further Waterborne Adventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman, Fine Lady, and Lily of the West

“Cursing numbs pain. The relationship between pain and cursing is not one-way (for example, stubbing your toe and letting out a stream of expletives in rage). Those expletives, in turn, affect our perceptions of pain. Through a series of creative experiments, scientists have found that the stronger the curse words people use while experiencing pain the higher their tolerance for that pain. Byrne notes, depressingly, that women who curse when in pain, however, are less well cared for by those around them.”
― Soraya Chemaly, Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger

“It's funny, you know, they're always telling me to be a man, take it like a man, act like a man, like they're afraid if they don't keep reminding me I'll grow up to be a centaur or a dining room table, like they know, somehow, that I'm not a man, like it's a spell they can cast, if they say it enough I'll be tricked into being a man forever."
..."Yes." Tamburlaine nodded. "They always say: be a lady, speak like a lady, behave like a little lady, that's not very ladylike, is it, dear?"
"Well, I won't be a man, or take anything like one or act like one!" The troll inside him rubbed his hands gleefully, crackling with anticipation.
"Come on, then... Don't let's be men, or ladies either. Don't let's act like them or behave like them or speak like them!”
― Catherynne M. Valente, The Boy Who Lost Fairyland

“We do not serve spirits to the ladies.'
'As you have probably guessed, I am not a lady”
― M.R.C. Kasasian, Death Descends on Saturn Villa

“The Goddess ethos is: living for love, light, and legacy.”
― Emma Mildon, Evolution of Goddess: A Modern Girl's Guide to Activating Your Feminine Superpowers

“Thecla Haldane is a freelance photographer, […] flying around the world in jet aircraft covering news events and wars along with thousands male photographers. […] Her formula is, 'Conduct yourself like a lady, and you’re always treated like one.' She’s never 'one of the boys.”
― Joan Crawford, My Way of Life

“Women should occupy their time with things that suit their sex; cooking, cleaning, knitting, and beauty tips. Countless are those times when a woman is denounced for doing something for the mere reason that it is not for the ladies to do; says who? I got no memo detailing who does what and why.”
― Fatima Mohammed, Tear the Veil 1: 19 Extraordinary Visionaries Help Other Women Break their Silence by Sharing their Stories and Reclaiming their Legacy!

“I take it they're given to vulgarity in front of ladies in New York, too."

He grinned. "Oh, there are no ladies in New York."

"Then they can keep their indoor toilets because I'd rather have my dignity.”
― Allie Ray, Holler

“Living a Deliciously Dazzling, Wildly Effervescent, Kick-Ass Life”
― Cara Alwill Leyba, Sparkle: The Girl's Guide to Living a Deliciously Dazzling, Wildly Effervescent, Kick-Ass Life

“You’re not the type of lady inclined to blindly conform to societal norms.”
― Neda Aria, Bella Donna