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"When women gain their economic freedom they will cease being playthings and utilities for men," she wrote in 1912 […] "The first step toward getting life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for any woman is her decision whether or not she shall become a mother. Enforced motherhood is the most complete denial of a woman's right to life and liberty." (Of Margaret Sanger)

When [Mary Edward’s Walker] was captured by Confederate troops after crossing enemy lines to aid in an amputation, a Confederate captain wrote of being "both amused and disgusted" by the sight of her in full uniform: "not good looking and of course had tongue enough for a regiment of men."

"It became very important that I perform in a way that wouldn't provide some reason or cause not to have more women in the future.” - Sandra Day O’Connor, the First Woman of the Supreme Court of the USA

The horrors of that place felt powerless in comparison to my longing for memory.

This was said with a smile, as if the fact of finding in your family tree an innocent woman murdered on grounds of delusional allegations were a cute little anecdote for dinner-party gossip. And it begs the question: which other mass crime, even one long-past, is it possible to speak of like this—with a smile?

he listed the names of dozens of the city's women who were burned as witches in the public square. "Many of Bruges' inhabitants still bear these surnames and, before visiting the exhibition, they had no idea they could have an ancestor accused of witchcraft," the museum's director commented in the documentary Dans le sillage des sorcières de Bruegel.

It hurts
to see how i’ve
betrayed myself
trying to save
the souls of men
who do not want
to be saved
it hurts to see
how my legacy
will only rest
in the space
between my legs

• the book of mary magdalene

J’ai déjà pleuré deux fois 😭

'So you're his wife?' the man said, moving his eyes up and down her body as though
he were trying to guess her worth.

She said that I was also the person who double-cleaned the coffee machine. I protested that no one cleaned it properly, and she laughed and said that I was both chaos and order.

And then she heard [Zeus’] hated voice, telling her she could not escape him. She already knew what she had to do to make the pain stop. Submit to
another pain. Beaten at last, she gave in and reverted to her original form.
As Zeus raped her, she thought of being an eagle.

If anyone had thought to ask her why, she might have said that the pleasure she took in his attention was always slightly tainted by the feeling she had that in addition to his charm, which was always on show to her, he was capable of devastating cruelty.

Hera found herself in the upsetting position of being worried about her husband. She had no experience of this: the greatest threat to Zeus’s wellbeing was usually her.

Medusa looked back at [Athene’s] statue. 'I wonder what she'd say about you [Poseidon],' she said.
I'm sure she would say that I am handsome and charming and that you should stop wondering if you could reach the door before I reached you, because you already know the answer is no?'

Two fires informed me, […]
left charred marks now around which I try to grow