No wonder male religious leaders so often say that humans were born in sin—because we were born to female creatures. Only by obeying the rules of the patriarchy can we be reborn through men. No wonder priests and ministers in skirts sprinkle imitation birth fluid over our heads, give us new names, and promise rebirth into everlasting life.

Feminism starts out being very simple, and it ends up being a world view that questions hierarchy altogether.

I'm completely happy not having children. I mean, everybody does not have to live in the same way. And as somebody said, "Everybody with a womb doesn't have to have a child any more than everybody with vocal cords has to be an opera singer."

It is true for me, as for so many countless others, that librarians saved my life, my internal life.

As an activist, you do find yourself directed more toward public action. But I've always tried to use stories from my own life in my writing. It has always been clear to me that the stories of each other's lives are our best textbooks.

If you follow the voice inside you, it does give you guidance.

In the late '60s, people were saying we need power to, not power over. Power to do, accomplish, create, not power over other people.