Marilyn French

“All men are rapists and that's all they are. They rape us with their eyes, their laws, and their codes.”

“The first act of violence that patriarchy demands of males is not violence against women. Instead patriarchy demands of all males that they engage in acts of psychic self-mutilation, that they kill off the emotional parts of themselves.”

“Patriarchy is a system of male dominance, a system in which men hold power and women are largely excluded from it.”

“My goal in life is to change the entire social and economic structure of Western civilization, to make it a feminist world.”

“When you are a member of an out-group, and you challenge others with whom you share this outsider position, you are messing with their fantasy of utopia.”

“In the end, we are all alone, and no one can save you but yourself.”

“Whatever happens, I will not let my heart be destroyed.”

“This is what it is to be a woman in this world.”

“A woman's greatest enemy is her own submission.”

“The only way to be happy is to be free. The only way to be free is to be your own master.”

“For the first time in my life I feel truly free, truly myself. I have no expectations of anyone, and I don’t think anyone has any of me. I have no roles to play. I am just me.”

“Men who want to support women in our struggle for freedom and justice should understand that it is not terrifically important to us that they learn to cry; it is important to us that they stop the murders.”