“Mary, mother of Jesus, pays for her maternity by giving up her body, almost entirely: she foregoes both (hetero) sexual pleasure (Christ's birth is a virgin and "spiritual" birth) and physical prowess. She has no direct worldly power but, like… — Phyllis Chesler Copy Share Image
Only the powerless live in a money culture and know nothing about money. — Phyllis Chesler Copy Share Image
Ideal mental health, like freedom, exists for one person only if it exists for all people. — Phyllis Chesler Copy Share Image
If it were natural for father to care for their sons, they would not need so many laws commanding them to do so. — Phyllis Chesler Copy Share Image
“It is impossible for a Westerner to imagine the deadening torpor of a protected life under house arrest. Eventually, one is grateful for the… — Phyllis Chesler Copy Share Image
“The idea that women's strong attachments to each other are what make them so vulnerable is horrifying. I count my close friendships with a few girls that I know as one of the best things I have going for me right now. My love for them leaves me open to hurt, but ... all love does, or at least that's… — Phyllis Chesler Copy Share
Should or can there be a single standard of behavior for both sexes? Is there such a thing as a biologically rooted female culture that should remain separate from male culture, partly because it is different than or superior to male culture? Women must convert their love for and reliance on strength and skill in others to a love for… — Phyllis Chesler Copy Share
Perhaps only some young women, perhaps only a minority of all women, will be able to effect such changes through consciousness alone, through the… — Phyllis Chesler Copy Share Image
“Encountering gender apartheid and waged slavery shook me to my roots more than half a century ago in Afghanistan. Oh, the women of Afghanistan, the women of the Muslim world. I was no feminist -- but now, thinking back, I see how much I learned there, how clearly their condition taught me to see gender discrimination anywhere and, above all,… — Phyllis Chesler Copy Share
children need truly evolved people - not other, larger children - as parents. Therefore, don't have a child until you've forged your own identity,… — Phyllis Chesler Copy Share Image
“The chowdry, or burqa -- the Saudi, North African, and Central Asian version of the head, face, and body shroud -- is a sensory deprivation isolation chamber. It is claustrophobic, may lead to anxiety and depression, and reinforces a woman's already low self-esteem. It may also lead to vitamin D deficiency diseases such as osteoporosis and heart disease. Sensory deprivation… — Phyllis Chesler Copy Share
Most mother-women give up whatever ghost of a unique and human self they may have when they 'marry' and raise children. — Phyllis Chesler Copy Share Image
