The system of patriarchy is a historic construct; it has a beginning; it will have an end. Its time seems to have nearly run its course—it no longer serves the needs of men or women and in its inextricable linkage… — Gerda Lerner Copy Share
Autonomy means women defining themselves and the values by which they will live, and beginning to think of institutional arrangements which will order their environment in line with their needs… Autonomy means moving out from a world in which one is born to marginality, to a past without meaning, and a future determined by others--into a world in which one… — Gerda Lerner Copy Share
Black people cannot and will not become integrated into American society on any terms but those of self-determination and autonomy. — Gerda Lerner Copy Share Image
The system of patriarchy is a historic construct; it has a beginning; it will have an end. Its time seems to have nearly run its course—it no longer serves the needs of men or women and in its inextricable linkage to militarism, hierarchy, and racism it threatens the very existence of life on earth. What will come after, what kind… — Gerda Lerner Copy Share
Women's history is women's right-an essential, indispensable heritage from which we can draw pride, comfort, courage, and long range vision. — Gerda Lerner Copy Share Image
We can learn from history how past generations thought and acted, how they responded to the demands of their time and how they solved their problems. We can learn by analogy, not by example, for our circumstances will always be different than theirs were. The main thing history can teach us is that human actions have consequences and that certain… — Gerda Lerner Copy Share
When I started working on women's history about thirty years ago, the field did not exist. People didn't think that women had a history… — Gerda Lerner Copy Share Image
The effect on men has been very bad, too, of the omission of women's history, because men have been given the impression that they're much more important in the world than they actually are. It has fostered illusions of grandeur in every man that are unwarranted. If you can think as a man that everything great in the world and… — Gerda Lerner Copy Share
“perhaps the greatest challenge to thinking women is the challenge to move from the desire for safety and approval to the most "unfeminine" quality… — Gerda Lerner Copy Share Image
The main thing history can teach us is that human actions have consequences, and that certain choices, once made, cannot be undone. — Gerda Lerner Copy Share Image
Everything that explains the world has in fact explained a world that does not exist, a world in which men are at the center… — Gerda Lerner Copy Share Image
Men develop ideas and systems of explanation by absorbing past knowledge and critiquing and superseding it. Women, ignorant of their own history [do] not… — Gerda Lerner Copy Share Image
Long-term commitment to an intimate relationship with one person of whatever sex is an essential need that people have in order to breed the… — Gerda Lerner Copy Share Image
![“Men develop ideas and systems of explanation by absorbing past knowledge and critiquing and superseding it. Women, ignorant of their own history [do] not know what women before them had thought and taught. So generation after generation, they [struggle] for insights others had already had before…” quote by Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/01f/gerda-lerner-28685_constant_men-develop-ideas-and-systems-of-explana_1757578.jpg)
