“Autonomy means women defining themselves and the values by which they will live, and beginning to think of institutional arrangements which will order their environment in line with their needs.... Autonomy means moving out from a world in which one is born to marginality, to a past without meaning, and a future determined by others--into a world in which one acts and chooses, aware of a meaningful past and free to shape one's future.” ThinkingWorldNeedsMeanPastMovingValuesOrderBornLinesEnvironmentShapesIndependenceDeterminedMeaningfulArrangementsAutonomyDefiningMoving Out Author:Gerda Lerner
“For boys, the family was the place from which one sprang and to which one returned for comfort and support, but the field of action was the larger world of wilderness, adventure, industry, labor, and politics. For girls, the family was to be the world, their field of action the domestic circle. He was to express himself in his work and, through it and social action, was to help transform his environment; her individual growth and choices were restricted to lead her to express herself through love, wifehood, and motherhood--through the support and nurture of others, who would act for her.” WorldHelpingActionChoicesGirlIndividualSocialGrowthBoysSupportEnvironmentFieldsAdventureIndustryComfortLaborMotherhoodCirclesWildernessNurtureSocial Action Author:Gerda Lerner