--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Women's history is the primary tool for…" description: "\"Women's history is the primary tool for women's emancipation.\" — Gerda Lerner" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9f/gerda-lerner-28685_emancipation_women-s-history-is-the-primary-tool-for_2333533.jpg" --- # Women's history is the primary tool for women's… ![“Women's history is the primary tool for women's emancipation.” quote by Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9f/gerda-lerner-28685_emancipation_women-s-history-is-the-primary-tool-for_2333533.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9f/gerda-lerner-28685_emancipation_women-s-history-is-the-primary-tool-for_2333533.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9f/gerda-lerner-28685_emancipation_women-s-history-is-the-primary-tool-for_2333533.jpg) > “Women's history is the primary tool for women's emancipation.” [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Studying women's history is essential for achieving women's freedom and equality. **In simple terms:** Women's history helps women gain emancipation. Key Takeaway Use history to empower women today. Themes history emancipation gender equality Mood reflective inspirational Type educational motivational When to use this quote - curriculum design - activism - policy making - public discourse Key Concepts feminism social change education Questions to Reflect On - How can we ensure inclusive histories? - What lessons do past struggles teach? A Different Perspective Historical narratives can be selective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Emancipation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emancipation/) [Feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [History Primary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-primary-3105678/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Primaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/primaries/) [Tool Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tool-women-5622309/) [Tools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tools/) [Women Emancipation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women-emancipation-1270389/) [Women History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women-history/) [Women'S History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women-s-history/) ## Related quotes > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/the-effect-on-men-has-been-very-bad-too-of-the-omission-of-women-s/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) > [Women's history is women's right-an essential, indispensable heritage from which we can draw pride, comfort, courage, and long range vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/women-s-history-is-women-s-right-an-essential-indispensable-heritage/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/when-i-started-working-on-women-s-history-about-thirty-years-ago-the/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) > [“The bible and the church have been the greatest stumbling block in the way of women's emancipation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-cady-stanton/the-bible-and-the-church-have-been-the-greatest-stumbling-block-in/) [Elizabeth Cady Stanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-cady-stanton/) > [The revolution and women's liberation go together. We do not talk of women's emancipation as an act of charity or out of a surge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sankara/the-revolution-and-women-s-liberation-go-together-we-do-not-talk-of/) [Thomas Sankara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sankara/) > [The Bible and the Church have been the greatest stumbling blocks in the way of women's emancipation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-cady-stanton/the-bible-and-the-church-have-been-the-greatest-stumbling-blocks-in/) [Elizabeth Cady Stanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-cady-stanton/) > [The male clerk with his quill pen and copper-plate handwriting had gone for good. The female short-hand typist took his place. It was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-p-taylor/the-male-clerk-with-his-quill-pen-and-copper-plate-handwriting-had/) [A. J. P. Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-p-taylor/) > [“Because I write women’s history I rarely have the luxury of a full and fair biography to study. Until about 1960 there were very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippa-gregory/because-i-write-women-s-history-i-rarely-have-the-luxury-of-a-full/) [Philippa Gregory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippa-gregory/) > [I'm slightly obsessed with women's history, so I'd love to talk to Emily Dickinson or Louisa May Alcott.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandi-toksvig/i-m-slightly-obsessed-with-women-s-history-so-i-d-love-to-talk-to/) [Sandi Toksvig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandi-toksvig/) > [History is no longer just a chronicle of kings and statesmen, of people who wielded power, but of ordinary women and men engaged in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toshiko-kishida/history-is-no-longer-just-a-chronicle-of-kings-and-statesmen-of/) [Toshiko Kishida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toshiko-kishida/) > [In 1975, which was the height of the women's movement, I thought I'd write a book on women's history. But in searching for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-coontz/in-1975-which-was-the-height-of-the-women-s-movement-i-thought-i-d/) [Stephanie Coontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-coontz/) > [I think there has been a great deal of valuable revisionism in women's history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonia-fraser/i-think-there-has-been-a-great-deal-of-valuable-revisionism-in-women/) [Antonia Fraser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonia-fraser/) > [“Yet some would say, why women's history at all? Surely men and women have always shared a world, and suffered together all its rights…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosalind-miles/yet-some-would-say-why-women-s-history-at-all-surely-men-and-women/) [Rosalind Miles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosalind-miles/) > [It's a shame for women's history to be all about men--first boys, then other boys, then men men men. It reminds me of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/it-s-a-shame-for-women-s-history-to-be-all-about-men-first-boys-then/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) > [Like their personal lives, women's history is fragmented, interrupted; a shadow history of human beings whose existence has been shaped by the efforts and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-janeway/like-their-personal-lives-women-s-history-is-fragmented-interrupted-a/) [Elizabeth Janeway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-janeway/) ## More by Gerda Lerner > [Autonomy means women defining themselves and the values by which they will live, and beginning to think of institutional arrangements which will order their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/autonomy-means-women-defining-themselves-and-the-values-by-which-they/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) > [Black people cannot and will not become integrated into American society on any terms but those of self-determination and autonomy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/black-people-cannot-and-will-not-become-integrated-into-american/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) > [The system of patriarchy is a historic construct; it has a beginning; it will have an end. Its time seems to have nearly run…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/the-system-of-patriarchy-is-a-historic-construct-it-has-a-beginning/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) > [Women's history is women's right-an essential, indispensable heritage from which we can draw pride, comfort, courage, and long range vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/women-s-history-is-women-s-right-an-essential-indispensable-heritage/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) > [We can learn from history how past generations thought and acted, how they responded to the demands of their time and how they solved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/we-can-learn-from-history-how-past-generations-thought-and-acted-how/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/when-i-started-working-on-women-s-history-about-thirty-years-ago-the/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/the-effect-on-men-has-been-very-bad-too-of-the-omission-of-women-s/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) > [“perhaps the greatest challenge to thinking women is the challenge to move from the desire for safety and approval to the most "unfeminine" quality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/perhaps-the-greatest-challenge-to-thinking-women-is-the-challenge-to/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) > [The main thing history can teach us is that human actions have consequences, and that certain choices, once made, cannot be undone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/the-main-thing-history-can-teach-us-is-that-human-actions-have/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) > [Everything that explains the world has in fact explained a world that does not exist, a world in which men are at the center…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/everything-that-explains-the-world-has-in-fact-explained-a-world-that/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) > [ Men develop ideas and systems of explanation by absorbing past knowledge and critiquing and superseding it. Women, ignorant of their own history \[do\] not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/men-develop-ideas-and-systems-of-explanation-by-absorbing-past/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/long-term-commitment-to-an-intimate-relationship-with-one-person-of/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) > [. . . black women . . . are trained from childhood to become workers, and expect to be financially self-supporting for most of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/black-women-are-trained-from-childhood-to-become-workers-and-expect/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) > [The appeal of the New Right is simply that it seems to promise that nothing will change in the domestic realm. People are terrified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/the-appeal-of-the-new-right-is-simply-that-it-seems-to-promise-that/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) > [nursing was regarded as simply an extension of the unpaid services performed by the housewife - a characteristic attitude that haunts the profession to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/nursing-was-regarded-as-simply-an-extension-of-the-unpaid-services/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) [Explore all 18 Gerda Lerner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) ## More Emancipation quotes > [Throughout the last century there were multiple attempts at giving Afghan women more autonomy, to change marriage laws, to abolish the practice of bride…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/throughout-the-last-century-there-were-multiple-attempts-at-giving/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [The strongest reason for giving woman all the opportunities of higher education, for the full development of her faculties, forces of mind and body;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-cady-stanton/the-strongest-reason-for-giving-woman-all-the-opportunities-of-higher/) [Elizabeth Cady Stanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-cady-stanton/) > [The history of woman is the history of the continued and universal oppression of one sex by the other. The emancipation of woman is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-celeste-claflin/the-history-of-woman-is-the-history-of-the-continued-and-universal/) [Tennessee Celeste Claflin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-celeste-claflin/) > [And with iPods and iPads, and Xboxes and PlayStations - none of which I know how to work - information becomes a distraction, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/and-with-ipods-and-ipads-and-xboxes-and-playstations-none-of-which-i/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [In emancipation from the fears that beset the slave of circumstance he will experience a profound joy, and through all the vicissitudes of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/in-emancipation-from-the-fears-that-beset-the-slave-of-circumstance/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Before and after emancipation, the Negro, in self-defense, was propelled toward the white employer. The endowments of wealthy white men have developed great institutions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois/before-and-after-emancipation-the-negro-in-self-defense-was-propelled/) [W. E. B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois/) > [Wherever capitalism appears, in pursuit of its mission of exploitation, there will Socialism, fertilized by misery, watered by tears, and vitalized by agitation be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-v-debs/wherever-capitalism-appears-in-pursuit-of-its-mission-of-exploitation/) [Eugene V. Debs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-v-debs/) > [“Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/bringing-the-gifts-that-my-ancestors-gave-i-am-the-dream-and-the-hope/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Abstraction allows man to see with his mind what he cannot physically see with his eyes... Abstract art enables the artist to perceive beyond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arshile-gorky/abstraction-allows-man-to-see-with-his-mind-what-he-cannot-physically/) [Arshile Gorky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arshile-gorky/) > [Abraham Lincoln would have been happy to have solved the slavery problem by compensation - in fact, drew up a gradual, compensated emancipation plan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-c-guelzo/abraham-lincoln-would-have-been-happy-to-have-solved-the-slavery/) [Allen C. Guelzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-c-guelzo/) > [The Emancipation Proclamation is predicated upon the idea that the President may so annul the constitutions and laws of sovereign states, overthrow their domestic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melville-fuller/the-emancipation-proclamation-is-predicated-upon-the-idea-that-the/) [Melville Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melville-fuller/) > [“The discourse of work as pure emancipation depends on blocking out class and age constantly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-power/the-discourse-of-work-as-pure-emancipation-depends-on-blocking-out/) [Nina Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-power/) > [The truth alone has never set anyone free. It is only DOUBT which will bring about mental emancipation. Without the wonderful element of doubt,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-szandor-lavey/the-truth-alone-has-never-set-anyone-free-it-is-only-doubt-which-will/) [Anton Szandor LaVey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-szandor-lavey/) > [He will see himself and life and the world as truly as our human limitations will permit; realizing the brevity and minuteness of human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/he-will-see-himself-and-life-and-the-world-as-truly-as-our-human/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [You point out that war is only a symptom of the whole horrid business of human behavior, and cannot be isolated. And that, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-macaulay/you-point-out-that-war-is-only-a-symptom-of-the-whole-horrid-business/) [Rose Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-macaulay/) [Browse all 302 Emancipation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emancipation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Women's history is the primary tool for women's emancipation.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerda Lerner" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/women-s-history-is-the-primary-tool-for-women-s-emancipation/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Emancipation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/women-s-history-is-the-primary-tool-for-women-s-emancipation/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9f/gerda-lerner-28685_emancipation_women-s-history-is-the-primary-tool-for_2333533.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9f/gerda-lerner-28685_emancipation_women-s-history-is-the-primary-tool-for_2333533.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f9f/gerda-lerner-28685_emancipation_women-s-history-is-the-primary-tool-for_2333533.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Women's history is the primary tool for women's emancipation.” — Gerda Lerner", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gerda Lerner", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Women's history is the primary tool...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/women-s-history-is-the-primary-tool-for-women-s-emancipation/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/women-s-history-is-the-primary-tool-for-women-s-emancipation/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```