Equal pay, misogyny, sexism, privilege, mansplain, kyriarchy…

If these words get you all hot and bothered, these quotes are for you.

Feminism has been such a powerful movement for me to discover. I was raised in the South—as a Southern Baptist, at that—and there was always a part of me that wondered why things were the way that they were—why I never saw any leaders who were women. Why women were expected to look a certain way, act a certain way, smile at everyone, and pretty much just always be so damn polite.

Even at a young age, I remember being a little put off by these expectations. It wasn’t until college that I was properly introduced to feminism, as most people down in the South don’t have even the slightest grasp on what it truly means.

I was introduced to feminism, and I realized: that’s what I’ve been all along. I was born with a “if he can do it, I can do it too” attitude.

This is a collection of some of my favorite feminist quotes:

1. “I, myself, have never been able to figure out what feminism is. I only know that people call me a feminist when I express sentiments that would differentiate me from a doormat.” ~ Rebecca West

2. “I have chosen to no longer be apologetic for my femininity—and I want to be respected in all my femaleness. Because, I deserve to be.” ~ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

3. “No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her own body.” ~ Margaret Sanger

4. “Feminism isn’t about making women stronger. Women are already strong. It’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength.” ~ G.D. Anderson

5. “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change, I am changing the things I cannot accept.” ~ Angela Y. Davis

6. “For most of history, ‘Anonymous’ was a woman.” ~ Virginia Woolf

7. “I don’t want other people to decide who I am. I want to decide that for myself.” ~ Emma Watson

8. “When a man gives his opinion, he’s a man. When a woman gives her opinion, she’s a bitch.” ~ Bette Davis

9. “Though we have the courage to raise our daughters more like our sons, we’ve rarely had the courage to raise our sons like our daughters.” ~ Gloria Steinem

10. “Feminism has fought no wars. It has killed no opponents. It has set up no concentration camps, starved no enemies, practiced no cruelties. Its battles have been for education, for the vote, for better working conditions, for safety in the streets, for childcare, for social welfare, for rape crisis centers, women’s refuges, reforms in the law. If someone says, ‘Oh, I’m not a feminist,’ I ask, ‘Why? What’s your problem?'” ~ Dale Spender

11. “To all the little girls who are watching, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams.” ~ Hillary Clinton

12. “Whether I am meant to or not, I challenge assumptions about women. I do make some people uncomfortable, which I’m well aware of, but that’s just part of coming to grips with what I believe is still one of the most important pieces of unfinished business in human history—empowering women to be able to stand up for themselves.” ~ Hillary Clinton

13. “In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.” ~ Sheryl Sandberg

14. “A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men.” ~ Gloria Steinem

15. “You don’t have to be pretty. You don’t owe prettiness to anyone. Not to your boyfriend/spouse/partner, not to your co-workers, especially not to random men on the street. You don’t owe it to your mother; you don’t owe it to your children; you don’t owe it to civilization in general. Prettiness is not a rent you pay for occupying a space marked ‘female.'” ~ Erin McKean

16. “A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman.” ~ Melinda Gates

17. “Some of us are becoming the men we wanted to marry.” ~ Gloria Steinem

18. “It’s not my responsibility to be beautiful. I’m not alive for that purpose. My existence is not about how desirable you find me.” ~ Warsan Shire 

19. “Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, ‘She doesn’t have what it takes.’ They will say, ‘Women don’t have what it takes.'” ~ Clare Boothe Luce

20. “You don’t have to be anti-man to be pro-woman.” ~ Jane Galvin Lewis

21. “One of the things about equality is not just that you be treated equally to a man, but that you treat yourself equally to the way you treat a man.” ~ Marlo Thomas

 22. “Of course I am not worried about intimidating men. The type of man who will be intimidated by me is exactly the type of man I have no interest in.” ~ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

23. “Women are always saying, ‘We can do anything that men can do,’ but men should be saying, ‘We can do anything that women can do.'” ~ Gloria Steinem

24. “When there are no ceilings, the sky’s the limit. So let’s keep going—let’s keep going until every one of the 161 million women and girls across America has the opportunity she deserves to have.” ~ Hillary Clinton

25. “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” ~ Audre Lorde

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Relephant:

20 Reminders for the Feminists still Resisting.

Powerful Quotes by Women of Color to Inspire our Daily Living.

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Author: Emily Cutshaw
Image: WikiMedia Commons
Editor: Yoli Ramazzina
Copy Editor: Callie Rushton
Social Editor: Waylon Hart lewis