"Men's economic privilege, their social value, the prestige of marriage, the usefulness of masculine support-all these encourage women to ardently want to please men. They are on the whole still in a state of serfdom. It follows that woman knows and chooses herself not as she exists for herself but as man defines her. She thus has to be described first as men dream of her since her being-for-men is one of the essential factors of her concrete condition."

Society, Gender, Identity, Social, Equality

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"Men's economic privilege, their social value, the prestige of marriage, the usefulness of masculine support-all these encourage women to ardently want to please men. They are on the whole still in a state of serfdom. It follows that woman knows and chooses herself not as she exists for herself but as man defines her. She thus has to be described first as men dream of her since her being-for-men is one of the essential factors of her concrete condition."

Exlpore more Society quotes

"It takes all sorts of people to make a world, as I've often heard, but I think there are some who could be spared,' Anne told her reflection in the east gable mirror that night."

L. M. Montgomery, Canadian Author

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"Most peoples are prisoners of other people's thoughts."

Debasish Mridha, American Author

Society, People, Prisoners, Thoughts, Others

"Show me a man or a woman alone and I'll show you a saint. Give me two and they'll fall in love. Give me three and they'll invent the charming thing we call 'society'. Give me four and they'll build a pyramid. Give me five and they'll make one an outcast. Give me six and they'll reinvent prejudice. Give me seven and in seven years they'll reinvent warfare. Man may have been made in the image of God, but human society was made in the image of His opposite number, and is always trying to get back home."

Stephen King, American Author

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"Your water is in the bottles, and my water is in the bucket, but we are brothers? I am collecting garbage, and you are in the bed, but we are sisters? My fingers are broken, and your hands are so soft, but we are family? Your God is like an angel, and my God is like an evil, but we are equal? My stomach is empty, and your stomach is so big, but we are humans?"

M.F. Moonzajer, Afghan Author

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"PLEASE and THANK YOU...two polite phrases which are slowly disappearing from our vocabulary."

Anthony T. Hincks, British Writer

Society, Politeness, Language, Culture, Respect

"With false names, on the right nets, they could be anybody. Old men, middle-aged women, anybody, as long as they were careful about the way they wrote. All that anyone would see were the words, their ideas. Every citizen started equal, on the nets."

Orson Scott Card, American Writer

Society, Identity, Freedom, Equality, Expression

"We...advance toward a state of society in which not only each man but every impulse in each man claims carte blanche."

C. S. Lewis, British Author

Society, Freedom, Power, Individual

"It is ever so much easier to be good if your clothes are fashionable."

L. M. Montgomery, Canadian Author

Society, Fashion, Morality, Appearance, Judgment

"Women who don't like the rules change the rules."

Toni Sorenson, American Author

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"Large families are communities unto their own."

Kilroy J. Oldster, American Author

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Explore more quotes by Simone de Beauvoir

"Man is defined as a human being and a woman as a female - whenever she behaves as a human being she is said to imitate the male."

Being, Man, Woman

"One is not born a woman, but becomes one."

Woman,

"Retirement may be looked upon either as a prolonged holiday or as a rejection, a being thrown on to the scrap-heap."

Being, Holiday, May, Rejection

"What is an adult? A child blown up by age."

Age,

"I tore myself away from the safe comfort of certainties through my love for truth - and truth rewarded me."

Love, Truth, Comfort

"Defending the truth is not something one does out of a sense of duty or to allay guilt complexes, but is a reward in itself."

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"To catch a husband is an art; to hold him is a job."

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"Capabilities are clearly manifested only when they have been realized."

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"The relation of woman to husband, of daughter to father, of sister to brother, is a relation of vassalage."

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"Buying is a profound pleasure."

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