Al

“... your midthirties...is the age that women usually start to feel confident. Having finally left behind the...awfulness of your twenties...your thirties are the point where the good stuff kicks in...How odd, then, that as your face and body finally begin to display the signs (lines, softening, gray hairs) that you've entered the zone of kick-ass eminence and intolerance of dullards, there should be pressure for you to...totally remove them. Give the impression that, actually, you are still a bit gullible and incompetent, and totally open to being screwed over by someone a bit cleverer and older than you... Lines and grayness are nature's way of telling you not to fuck with someone--the equivalent of the yellow-and-black banding on a wasp...Lines are your weapons against the idiots. Lines are your 'KEEP AWAY FROM THE WISE INTOLERANT WOMAN' sign.”
― Caitlin Moran, How to Be a Woman

“In short, how can you tell when some sexism is happening to you? Well, in this matter, what ultimately aids us is to simply apply this question to the issues: Is this polite? If we--the entire population of the earth, male and female alike--are just, essentially, 'the guys,' then was one of the guys just...uncouth to a fellow guy? Don't call it sexism. Call it 'manners' instead. When a woman blinks a little, shakes her head like Columbo, and says, 'I'm sorry, but that sounded a little...uncivil.' a man is apt to apologize. Because even the most rampant bigot on earth has no defense against a charge of simply being rude.”
― Caitlin Moran, How to Be a Woman

“I have a rule of thumb that allows me to judge-when time is pressing and one needs to make a snap judgment-whether some sexist bullshit is afoot. Obviously it's not 100 percent infallible but, but by and large, it definitely points you in the right direction. And it's asking this question: 'Are the men doing it? Are the men worrying about this as well? Is this taking up the men's time?”
― Caitlin Moran, How to Be a Woman

“But in another book by J. M. Barrie called The Little White Bird … he writes …” He started flipping through a small book on the podium until he found the page he was looking for, and then he put on his reading glasses. “ ‘Shall we make a new rule of life … always to try to be a little kinder than is necessary?’ ” Here Mr. Tushman looked up at the audience. “Kinder than is necessary,” he repeated. “What a marvelous line, isn’t it? Kinder than is necessary. Because it’s not enough to be kind. One should be kinder than needed.”
― R.J. Palacio, Wonder