Naomi Alderman Quotes

Girls can wear jeans, cut their hair short, wear shirts and boots, 'cause it's okay to be a boy, but for a boy to look like a girl is degrading.

In this society, if a man is called a woman, that's the biggest insult he could get. Is that because women are considered something less?

As a female, you are often being asked by directors to be warmer, softer, flirt more, smile more etc... None of those things are bad, and obviously we are capable of a variety of human behavior, but it gets really old having to play into somebody's stereotype or ideal.

I think that there's a tendency for actors who play strong women to have them take on all the worst characteristics of men, to become cold and detached and hardened.

The most mediocre of males feels himself a demigod as compared with women.

Because if you say men and women are the same and if male behaviour is the norm, and women are always expected to act like men, we will never be as good at being men as men are.

If we have a situation where a man is particularly graceful in a sport that rewards grace - say, for example, figure skating - why is it that we don't say to the man, 'Well, you're too feminine to compete?'... I don't understand why we don't find it offensive also to say to a women who's very strong, 'You're too masculine to compete.'

Masculine and feminine roles are not biologically fixed but socially constructed.

Many societies have educated their male children on the simple device of teaching them not to be women.

I'm not denyin' the women are foolish. God Almighty made 'em to match the men.

The word 'excess' has no meaning for a male.

'Man up' is a sexist term that should be retired along with all the other gender-based imperious imperatives.

The anger that appears to be building up between the sexes becomes more virulent with every day that passes. And far from women taking the blame... the fact is that men are invariably portrayed as the bad guys. Being a good man is like being a good Nazi.

A woman can laugh and cry in three seconds and it's not weird. But if a man does it, it's very disturbing. The way I'd describe it is like this: I have been allowed inside the house of womanhood, but I feel that they wouldn't let me in any of the interesting rooms.

When a woman behaves like a man why doesn't she behave like a nice man?

A man is as good as he has to be, and a woman as bad as she dares.

On the whole, I have quite a low opinion of men.

Most men are very attached to the idea of being male, and usually experience a lot of fear and insecurity around the idea of being a man. Most women are very identified with their gender, and also experience a tremendous amount of fear and insecurity.

No, feminism isn't 'over.' We need it not only to challenge injustice but because the whole gender expectations thing is bad for men, too.

Women cannot complain about men until they start gettting better taste in them.

I've definitely had my struggles with the male species, as I'm sure most girls have.

If you're told to 'Man up,' you're essentially being told that being feminine is lesser.

What I find weird is that the term 'chick lit' is used to encompass literally anything a woman writes about relationships. It's the assumption that because you're female, you must write in a certain way. I don't understand why that is - it is a bit demeaning.

One woman can be written off by a culture always looking to judge and blame women.

The demands of having to be 'masculine' are as damaging to men as the demands of having to be 'feminine' are to women. I wish we could all agree just to wash it all away. Begin again.