--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If women allow themselves to be consoled…" description: "\"“If women allow themselves to be consoled for their culturally determined lack of access to the modes of intellectual debate by the invocation of hypot..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80b/angela-carter-1237_first-place_if-women-allow-themselves-to-be-consoled_1825487.jpg" --- # If women allow themselves to be consoled for their… ![“If women allow themselves to be consoled for their culturally determined lack of access to the modes of intellectual debate by the invocation of hypothetical great goddesses, they are simply flattering themselves into submission (a technique often used on them by men). All the mythic versions of…” quote by Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80b/angela-carter-1237_first-place_if-women-allow-themselves-to-be-consoled_1825487.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80b/angela-carter-1237_first-place_if-women-allow-themselves-to-be-consoled_1825487.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/80b/angela-carter-1237_first-place_if-women-allow-themselves-to-be-consoled_1825487.jpg) > ““If women allow themselves to be consoled for their culturally determined lack of access to the modes of intellectual debate by the invocation of hypothetical great goddesses, they are simply flattering themselves into submission (a technique often used on them by men). All the mythic versions of women, from the myth of the redeeming purity of the virgin to that of the healing, reconciliatory mother, are consolatory nonsenses; and consolatory nonsense seems to me a fair definition of myth, anyway. Mother goddesses are just as silly a notion as father gods. If a revival of the myths gives women emotional satisfaction, it does so at the price of obscuring the real conditions of life. This is why they were invented in the first place.”” [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques how mythic idealizations of women serve to pacify and distract from real social inequities, turning empowerment into passive acceptance. **In simple terms:** Myths about women keep them passive and hide real problems. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge comforting myths that limit freedom. Themes feminism myth critique gender politics empowerment Mood critical defiant analytical Type philosophical political feminist When to use this quote - activism - education - policy reform - personal reflection - media analysis Key Concepts Patriarchal narrative mythical archetypes social conditioning Questions to Reflect On - How do comforting myths shape your view of gender roles? - What alternatives can replace mythic narratives with realistic empowerment? A Different Perspective Myths can provide emotional comfort, making them hard to reject even when harmful. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [First place](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-place/) [Mother Goddess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother-goddess/) [Myth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myth/) ## Related quotes > [“Mother goddesses are just as silly a notion as father gods. 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We cannot grasp nature's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/the-moral-ambivalence-of-the-great-mother-goddesses-has-been/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [“You know about the Mother Goddess - the first female god, a fat woman with a lion on one side and a child between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ahmet-mit/you-know-about-the-mother-goddess-the-first-female-god-a-fat-woman/) [Ahmet Ümit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ahmet-mit/) > [“ISIS Like Osiris, Isis was privy to the mysteries of perpetual birth. We know her image: a mother goddess breastfeeding her son Horus, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/isis-like-osiris-isis-was-privy-to-the-mysteries-of-perpetual-birth/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > [In a child's eyes, a mother is a goddess. She can be glorious or terrible, benevolent or filled with wrath, but she commands love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin/in-a-child-s-eyes-a-mother-is-a-goddess-she-can-be-glorious-or/) [N.K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin/) > [The long sleep of Mother Goddess is ended. May She awaken in each of our hearts - Merry meet, merry part, and blessed be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/starhawk/the-long-sleep-of-mother-goddess-is-ended-may-she-awaken-in-each-of/) [Starhawk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/starhawk/) > [“A DOZEN PHALLACIES WOMEN BUY Phallacy 2. I need a man to feel whole. Truth You don't need a man as much as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/a-dozen-phallacies-women-buy-phallacy-2-i-need-a-man-to-feel-whole/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [“The child starts out by being attached to his mother as "the ground of all being." He feels helpless and needs the all-enveloping love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-child-starts-out-by-being-attached-to-his-mother-as-the-ground-of/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [“A spinning stash is much more complex than a knitting stash. It is like the first mother goddess. Everything comes from it, and nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jillian-moreno/a-spinning-stash-is-much-more-complex-than-a-knitting-stash-it-is/) Jillian Moreno > [ “To whom does Mataji (Mother Goddess) appear? It is to the one who becomes natural and spontaneous \[sahaj swabhavi\]. Mataji is said to have… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/to-whom-does-mataji-mother-goddess-appear-it-is-to-the-one-who/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [“Because here's something else that's weird but true: in the day-to day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/because-here-s-something-else-that-s-weird-but-true-in-the-day-to-day/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Of all the human figurines discovered so far from 30,000-3,000BC, 92% are of the female form. This is not to say there was any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bettany-hughes/of-all-the-human-figurines-discovered-so-far-from-30-000-3-000bc-92/) [Bettany Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bettany-hughes/) > [ “\[The Christian story\] amounts to a refusal to affirm life. In the biblical tradition we have inherited, life is corrupt, and every natural impulse… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-christian-story-amounts-to-a-refusal-to-affirm-life-in-the/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [“Because here's something else that's weird but true: in the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/because-here-s-something-else-that-s-weird-but-true-in-the-day-to-day-2/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) ## More by Angela Carter > [He was a lovely man in many ways. But he kept on insisting on forgiving me when there was nothing to forgive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/he-was-a-lovely-man-in-many-ways-but-he-kept-on-insisting-on/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/reading-a-book-is-like-re-writing-it-for-yourself/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Losing their names, these things underwent a process of uncreation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/losing-their-names-these-things-underwent-a-process-of-uncreation/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [I know that whenever a group of women are gathered together, the grandmother always makes a phantom appearance, hovering above them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/i-know-that-whenever-a-group-of-women-are-gathered-together-the/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“She herself is a haunted house. 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And yet it fools everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/is-not-this-whole-world-an-illusion-and-yet-it-fools-everybody/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [My paternal grandmother would not light a fire on the Sabbath and piled all Sunday's washing-up in a bucket, to be dealt with on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/my-paternal-grandmother-would-not-light-a-fire-on-the-sabbath-and/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“Mother goddesses are just as silly a notion as father gods. If a revival of the myths of these cults gives woman emotional satisfaction,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/mother-goddesses-are-just-as-silly-a-notion-as-father-gods-if-a/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Out of the frying pan into the fire! What is marriage but prostitution to one man instead of many? No different!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/out-of-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire-what-is-marriage-but-prostitution/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [And each stroke of his tongue ripped off skin after successive skin, all the skins of a life in the world, and left behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/and-each-stroke-of-his-tongue-ripped-off-skin-after-successive-skin/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [In a secular age, an authentic miracle must purport to be a hoax, in order to gain credit in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/in-a-secular-age-an-authentic-miracle-must-purport-to-be-a-hoax-in/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [We do not go to bed in single pairs; even if we choose not to refer to them, we still drag there with us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/we-do-not-go-to-bed-in-single-pairs-even-if-we-choose-not-to-refer-to/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [I see her as a series of marvellous shapes formed at random in the kaleidoscope of desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/i-see-her-as-a-series-of-marvellous-shapes-formed-at-random-in-the/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“Women do not normally fuck in the active sense. They are fucked in the passive tense and hence automatically fucked-up, done over, undone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/women-do-not-normally-fuck-in-the-active-sense-they-are-fucked-in-the/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) [Explore all 263 Angela Carter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) ## More First place quotes > [“But the process should not be confused with science. When tests are used as selections devices, they're not a neutral tool; they become a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-whyte/but-the-process-should-not-be-confused-with-science-when-tests-are/) [William H. Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-whyte/) > [The whole concept of stage fright is fascinating. 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