Men grow up expecting to be the hero of their own story. Women grow up expecting to be the supporting actress in somebody else's I refuse to burn my energy adding extra magic and sparkle to other peopleโs lives to get them to love me. Iโm busy casting spells for myself.
Laurie PennyFemininity itself has become a brand, a narrow and shrinking formula of commoditised identity which can be sold back to women who have become alienated from their own power as living, loving, labouring beings.
Laurie PennyThe fact that โattention seekingโ is still considered a slur says much about the role of women in public life, on every scale.
Laurie PennyPublic 'career feminists' have been more concerned with getting more women into 'boardrooms,' when the problem is that there are altogether too many boardrooms, and none of them are on fire.
Laurie PennyEveryone who was ever told a fairytale knows what happens to women who do their own magic.
Laurie PennyThat's how oppression works. Thousands of otherwise decent people are persuaded to go along with an unfair system because changing it seems like too much bother. The appropriate response when somebody demands a change in that unfair system is to listen, rather than turn away or yell, as a child might, that it's not your fault. Of course it isn't your fault. I'm sure you're lovely. That doesn't mean you don't have a responsibility to do something about it.
Laurie Penny