Ugh

“Misogyny is not just hatred enacted on women, but the means of defending stories about what women are in order to entrench male dominance.”
― Victoria Smith, Hags: The Demonisation of Middle-Aged Women

“You may need to witness several false dawns fully to understand that all women are, in patriarchal terms, the losers. That is our role; it is baked into patriarchal understandings of history, progress, success, failure, creativity, genius, what really matters, what doesn’t. Insisting yours is the cohort of women who will finally smash the patriarchy, whereas the one that preceded it represents its last stand, is itself patriarchal.”
― Victoria Smith, Hags: The Demonisation of Middle-Aged Women

“When you are a woman, the things you like get used against you. Or, alternatively, the things that get used against you have all been prefigured as things you should like. Sexual availability falls into this category. So does basic kindness, and generosity. Wanting to look good—taking pleasure in trying to look good—does, too.”
― Jia Tolentino, Trick Mirror

“Hope, to me, is a belief that the future will be brighter, which I continue not to set much store in. But the idea of fighting for a better world—and, equally importantly, fighting against backsliding—is not a belief; it’s a political commitment that I can get on board with.”
― Kate Manne, Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women