"Most significant of all the impediments toward developing group consciousness for women was the absence of a tradition which would reaffirm the independence and autonomy of women at any period in the past. There had never been any woman or group of women who had lived without male protection, as far as most women knew. There had never been any group of persons like them who had done anything significant for themselves. Women had no history—so they were told; so they believed. Thus, ultimately, it was men's hegemony over the symbol system which most decisively disadvantaged women."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
HumanistsWomen academics from the United StatesFeminists from the United StatesMarxists from the United StatesWomen academics from Austria
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gerda_Lerner
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Gerda Lerner
Gerda Lerner (30 April 1920 – 2 January 2013) was an Austrian-born American feminist, historian, author, and advocate of Women's History.
40 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Gerda Lerner →
Related Quotes
"In U.S. historiography, as in American popular culture, historians have tended to over-emphasize the role of the indi…"
"Men have been writing the history of the world from their point of view, and according to their sets of values, for o…"
"Patriarchy has not only invented itself and usurped a central place, but it has usurped intellectually, a kind of leg…"
"I have documented 700 years of feminist bible criticism prior to 1870, and every woman who engaged in that feminist b…"
"I believe myself that appointing women with their history is the single most important thing we can do to raise femin…"
"In the final analysis, after a lifetime spent as a writer and as a historian, I must take a stand in my own right. Hi…"
"Among equals there is no category of "Otherness." The act of categorizing another implies oppression."
"I have sometimes been asked, "How has your being Jewish influenced your work in Women's History?" The simplest way I …"
"What I learned from that comfortable, sheltered life I led in a country in which Catholicism was the state religion a…"
"We are living at a very wonderful moment. A moment that I believe is more important than a renaissance, a moment that…"