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Quote by Margarita Engle

Work

Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings

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Author

Margarita Engle
Margarita Engle

Margarita Engle is an American writer known for her works in children's literature and poetry. Born on September 2, 1951, she has a passion for literature and poetry from a young age. Engle's works have been highly praised by readers and critics for their rich imagination and emotional expression. more

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“Rose had enough of standing back and doing nothing. Of being told to sit still and behave and go to work and wear this and say that, of being told what to do by men, and boys, and her mother, and teachers, and bosses, and boyfriends, by the Doctor and the Nestene and everyone in between. Above her, the world was ending. In front of her, the Doctor was dying. At her feet, Mickey was blubbing. Well, to hell with that.”

“In Stanton, Mott won a devoted convert. Elizabeth recalled: 'It seemed to me like meeting a being from some larger planet, to find a woman who dared to question the opinions of Popes, Kings, Synods, Parliaments, with the same freedom she would criticize an editorial in the London Times, recognizing no higher authority than the judgment of a pure-minded, educated woman. When I first heard from the lips of Lucretia Mott that I had the same right to think for myself that Luther, Calvin, and John Knox had, and the same right to be guided by my own convictions, and would no doubt live a higher, happier life than if guided by theirs, I felt at once a new-born sense of dignity and freedom; it was like suddenly coming into the rays of the noon-day sun, after wandering with a rushlight in the caves of the earth.”

“She strode forward, steeling her tune against the terrible cries which threatened to tear her emotions from her and leave her half-conscious. Her torch was like a spear of light in the terrible shadow of the night. The men rallied about it, turning to fight the nightmares with renewed hope. Alicia stumbled on something. A sword. She bent and picked it up, and not a moment too soon.”

“All around us there are other women, seemingly not hurt, making small talk, acting normal, which means happy, not discontent, certainly not devastated. Girls are still being socialized not to identify with - feel empathy for - other females: she got hurt because she did x, y, z - I didn’t, so I didn’t get hurt; she’s at fault, I’m not; the punishment fits her crime; blame her, exonerate him. This continuing, culturally applauded socialisation of women not to empathize with other women is a malignant part of the culture of men, dead white ones or not. Women are perceived to be appalling failures when we are sad. Women are pathetic when we are angry. Women are ridiculous when we are militant. Women are unpleasant when we are bitter, no matter what the cause. Women are deranged when women want justice. Women are man-haters when women want accountability and respect from men. Women are trash when women let men do what men want Women are shrews or puritans when we do not.”