Inspirational Feminist Quotes & Sayings

They were all slender, frail creatures with wondering Wes and soft fluttery voices. But they were all made out of thin invisible steel. — Betty Smith

i have been told many times by family, friends, colleagues and strangers that I, a black African Muslim lesbian, am not included in this vision; that my dreams are a reflection of my upbringing in a decadent, amoral Western society that has corrupted who I really am. But who am I, really? Am I allowed to speak for myself or must my desires form the battleground for causes I do not care about? My answer to that is simple: 'no one allows anyone anything.' By rejecting that notion you discover that only you can give yourself permission on how to lead your life, naysayers be damned. In the end something gives way. The earth doesn't move but something shifts. That shift is change and change is the layman's lingo for that elusive state that lovers, dreamers, prophets and politicians call 'freedom'. — Diriye Osman

But as the years went on, I realised that what I really want to be, all told, is a human. Just a productive, honest, courteously treated human. — Caitlin Moran

Whoever said dogs can't speak was never interested in learning another language. — Mark Winik

...women, brave as stars at dawn — Edwidge Danticat

It wouldn't be very ladylike to punch a guy in the balls, but it isn't very manlike to harass a woman because she has different parts and a sweet face. — Caroline George

The feminist movement taught women to see themselves as victims of an oppressive patriarchy ... Self-imposed victimhood is not a recipe for happiness. — Phyllis Schlafly

Oh, why did he slap her when she's a widow, and that annoyed her even more. She said she should not have been slapped because she is a full human being, not because she doesn't have a husband to speak for her. — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Kill the part of you that believes it can't survive without someone else. — Sade Andria Zabala

Men and boys are constantly portrayed as predatory, sexist, their sense of humour is vilified and their behaviour is regarded as unacceptable. Factor in the constant diet we are fed of men as perpetrators of rape, murder and domestic violence. Boys must wonder whether they will ever be able to do anything right. This must make it painfully difficult for young men and women to build up relations based on honesty, love and trust. — Belinda Brown

Feminism is not a one size fits all kinda thing but anyone can wear it. — Jess

A world that does not love, respect and protect its Women is doomed to perish! Because Women are Mother Earth! — Avijeet Das

To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man's superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her, man could not be. If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with woman. Who can make a more effective appeal to the heart than woman?
[To the Women of India (Young India, Oct. 4, 1930)] — Mahatma Gandhi

I've spent a lifetime in challenge. There's no way in which you can create any meaningful change unless you do that. — Bella Abzug

Don't stop now. Keep going. The next time someone makes you feel though, winning as you are, perhaps you're getting too big for your britches; say to them silently, i haven't even started yet. — Marianne Williamson

The feminism of equality, of toughness, of anti-discrimination, has been overwhelmed by one of victimhood and demands for special treatment....At a certain point, when we demand an equal ratio of men to women in certain fields, what we're criticizing is not "the system," but the choices that women themselves are making.....let's keep our eye on the question of equal opportunity and stop obsessing about equal outcomes, lest we find ourselves trying to cure society, not of sexism, but of free choice. — Elizabeth Wasserman

At some point, while you were roaming the globe, making treaties and dividing the spoils of war, I quietly declared my own independence. I am the sovereign nation of Clio now. And there will be no terms of surrender. — Tessa Dare

Some Me of Beauty

I took a good long look at myself in a full length mirror
Sometimes it's good to look in a full length mirror
And what I saw was not some soul sister poetess of the moment
But I saw just a woman
Just a woman feeling
Just a woman human
And what I felt was
What I felt was a spiritual revelation
And what I felt was a root revival of some love coming on
Coming on strong
And I knew then, looking in a full length mirror,
That many things were over
And some me of beauty was about to begin — Carolyn Rodgers

I am a feminist because in every woman I can see reflection of my mother. — Debasish Mridha