Savannah

“While Wollen wasn’t wrong that society expects girls to swallow their sadness, sadness is still tolerated in a woman far more than anger. An angry woman is dangerous, unpredictable, uncontrollable. She must immediately be punished, shamed, or medicated back into complacency. Anger aims outward, disrupting systems and inconveniencing those in power, whereas we tend to turn our sadness inward, on ourselves—not bothering anyone or making a mess.”
― Lilly Dancyger, First Love: Essays on Friendship

“I mean that lots of people think that they’re nice because their lives are nice,” I said. “It’s nothing to be pleasant if you sleep in a warm bed, always have a full stomach, and spend your days among other pleasant people. That’s not goodness. That’s good living.”
― Anna Bright, The Hedgewitch of Foxhall

“I’m a woman. Guilt is our birthright. Guilt if we want to be mothers, guilt if we take the Pill instead or choose to abort. Guilt if we stay home with our kids or guilt if we work. Guilt if we sleep with a man, guilt if we say no. Guilt if we’re lucky enough to survive for no good reason. I’m so damned sick of it.”
― Deanna Raybourn, Killers of a Certain Age