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Quote by Susan Faludi

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Backlash: the undeclared war against American women

This book delves into the various issues and obstacles encountered by women in America, exploring the historical and contemporary context of gender inequality. more

Author

Susan Faludi
Susan Faludi

Susan Faludi is an American journalist and author known for her profound analysis of gender, cultural, and political issues. Born on April 18, 1959, she graduated from Columbia University and worked as a journalist for publications such as The New Yorker and Time Magazine. Her works include 'Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man' and 'The Breakdown of American Family: The Decline of the American Dream', the latter of which won the Pulitzer Prize. more

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“Here's what I think, Mr. Wind-Up Bird," said May Kasahara. "Everybody's born with some different thing at the core of their existence. And that thing, whatever it is, becomes like a heat source that runs each person from the inside. I have one too, of course. Like everybody else. But sometimes it gets out of hand. It swells or shrinks inside me, and it shakes me up. What I'd really like to do is find a way to communicate that feeling to another person. But I can't seem to do it. They just don't get it. Of course, the problem could be that I'm not explaining it very well, but I think it's because they're not listening very well. They pretend to be listening, but they're not, really. So I get worked up sometimes, and I do some crazy things.”

“I'd like to take what I know and just hand it over. But there is always a problem for a woman: being believed. How can I think I know something? How can I think that what I know might matter? Why would I think that anything I think might make a difference to anyone, anywhere?”

“We’ve lived long enough in the dark. We have an equal right to daylight, an equal right to learn and teach reason, science, art, and all the rest. Women, come on up out of the basement and the kitchen and the kids’ room; this whole house is our house. And men, it’s time you learned to live in that dark basement that you seem to be so afraid of, and the kitchen and the kids’ room too. And when you’ve done that, come on, let’s talk, all of us, around the hearth, in the living room of our shared house. We have a lot to tell each other, a lot to learn.”

“ভারতের সর্বত্রই মেয়েদেরকে প্ররোচিত করা হয়েছে মাতৃকাশক্তির সঙ্গে নিজেদেরকে আইডেন্টিফাই করতে। কিন্তু দেবী হবার লোভ একটা বিরাট লোভ, একটা দুর্দান্ত নাগপাশ। এই লোভ যখন ভিতর থেকে মেয়েদেরকে একবার পেয়ে বসে, তখন তাদের বাইরের ইডিওলজি আর ভিতরের ইল্যুশন একেবারে একাকার হয়ে যায়। তখন তারা যাবতীয় অবিচার ও অত্যাচার সহ্য করতে পারে, সবরকমের আশাভঙ্গ ও ক্ষতিবোধকে সাবলিমেট করতে পারে, মেগালোমেনিয়াক দুঃসাহসে আগুনে পর্যন্ত ঝাঁপ দিতে পারে। এই দেবীবিলাস বাঙালী হিন্দু মেয়েদের সর্বনাশ করেছে : সিঁথির সিঁদুর আর কবজির শাঁখা থেকে পায়ের আলতা পর্যন্ত মাঙ্গলিক চিহ্ন ধারণ করে, গৃহের অধিষ্ঠাত্রী দেবী তথা পুরুষের গৃহলক্ষ্মী হয়ে, নিজেরা সাক্ষাৎ মা লক্ষ্মী সেজে, লক্ষ্মীপ্রতিমার সামনে গড় হয়ে পেন্নাম করে নিজেদের মনুষ্যত্বকে তারা জলাঞ্জলি দিয়েছে।”

“Must we relearn everything you were ever taught about biology and history? Clownfish are the answer. Intersex people are cited to prove that you can change sex. But you know that your child isn’t a clownfish and is not intersex. You learn that your child was “assigned” a sex at birth. The nurses and doctors just decided for reasons unknown and possibly nefarious, what gender your child was. The DNA tests and ultrasounds are wrong as well, as science no longer exists. You learn there are forty-seven genders and that genders can change all the time. Sex is dead. It has no meaning and is just used as an excuse to discriminate against trans people and all the other-gendered people. You soon discover that yes, even the Holocaust was the source of suffering for no, not the Jewish people, but primarily transgender people. And of course, you are probably a Nazi yourself if you think differently. Historical figures, mostly women, it seems, are also now being reclaimed with their rightful trans identity. Joan of Arc and Louisa May Alcott were not feminist heroes but trans men. Trans women are literally women, you learn. That’s it. A fact. Women now have penises. Women are now committing rape and murder at higher rates than ever recorded throughout history. Trans women are also miraculously better at sports than natal women for reasons no one can discern. When competing against women, now known as uterus havers, trans women win all the competitions and titles. Any “cis” women objecting to this are just sore losers. “Cis” is the new label you must go by if you don’t despise the body you were born with and want to alter it. You are told this is a great privilege to be “cis” and that trans women suffer much more than any cis woman ever could or ever will, no matter what has happened to you as a “cis” woman. You go underground. You join groups that vet members. Here you can speak freely because all members know what you are going through and share your horror of the gender party.”