The fear of rape puts many women in their place - indoors, intimidated, dependent yet again on material barriers and protectors... I was advised to stay indoors at night, to wear baggy clothes, to cover or cut my hair, to try to look like a man, to move someplace more expensive, to take taxis, to buy a car, to move in groups, to get a man to escort meall modern versions of Greek walls and Assyrian veils, all asserting it was my responsibility to control my own and men's behavior rather than society's to ensure my freedom. I realized that many women had been so successfully socialized to know their place that they had chosen more conservative, gregarious lives without realizing why. The very desire to walk alone had been extinguished in thembut it had not in me.
About This Quote
About Rebecca Solnit
Rebecca Solnit was a contemporary American writer and activist. Rebecca Solnit is an American writer and activist. She has written on a variety of subjects, including feminism, the environment, politics, place, and art. Read more on Wikipedia →
Themes
- Nature — Appreciation for the natural world and our place within it