Jeannette Walls Quotes

I guess I'm a bit of a tomboy and can be quite resourceful.

When I was born, my mother was very disappointed. She wanted a son. I knew that from a very early age. So I was a tomboy.

My mom had a job, and she also took care of us, and she also took care of Dad - I always saw her pulling triple duty, doing more than I ever felt like she needed to. I made a promise to myself that it would be more of a team effort in my family someday. And because of that, I became more independent.

I am very resourceful, as any woman would be.

Some people are used to having things done for them by her parents, I am not. I can do it myself.

Being the only man in the household with my mom definitely helped me grow up fast.

Well, my mom is single and we've both been single at the same time over the last ten years, so I really related to the bond between my character and Diane's.

I grew up in a home where I was literally told from a young age, 'No daughter of mine will ever wash a man's socks,' and I am pleased to say I never have. It was made clear that whatever I wanted to do I should aspire to, regardless of my gender.

As a kid, I was always mad - just noticing the women at Thanksgiving, running around the kitchen, while the men were watching football. For one, I don't want to cook, and for two, I hate football. I was stuck in the middle.

Even though I would love a little girl for me, personally, I love being a mom to boys.

I like a woman that's capable and at the same time feminine. I admire tomboy qualities but with a feminine touch.

My mom always had a softer spot for boys, as a lot of Irish women do. If you were a girl, you'd have to sing or wear a pretty dress. But boys could just sit there and be brilliant for sitting there and being boys. It makes you that little bit more forward. Pushy. I was singing, always.

I can look after myself and my own.

It's crazy that, as women, we are taught to be cute and nice and polite when we should learn to be less nice sometimes.

I have learned that you can't be high-maintenance on the road. I've groomed myself to not be high-maintenance. You have to maintain and be a girl and not become a dude.

Stern and critical, my father couldn't accept how feminine and dainty I was in comparison to my rough-and-tumble brother.

Some people just wait for someone to take them under their wings but they should just find someones wings to grab onto.

I remember my mother would get upset with me 'cause she said I walked like my dad. But I think it was more like, there's something about you that's not quite ladylike and femme. And then when I got older - once I came out, my mom and grandma were horrified and just kind of like, where did we go wrong?

The impulse of the American woman to geld her husband and castrate her sons is very strong.

If one hasn't a horse, one is one's own horse.

Are you woman enough to be my man?

The sanctity of womanhood is incompatible with social liberty and social claims; and for a woman emancipation means corruption.

My main goal was to not tell my mom anything or anyone anything. Even within our family, we like to do it ourselves, we like to be our own boss, and we don't like asking for help.