Able Quote by Leslie Jamison
“We don't want to be wounds ("No, you're the wound!") but we should be allowed to have them, to speak about having them, to be something more than just another girl who has one. We should be able to do these things without failing the feminism of our mothers, and we should be able to represent women who hurt without walking backward into a voyeuristic rehashing of the old cultural models.”
About This Quote
Source Essay: The Empathy Exams, Leslie Jamison, 2014
The quote urges acceptance of personal wounds while refusing to be defined solely by them, advocating for broader representation of women's pain.
In simple terms: Accept wounds but don't let them define you; represent women's pain fully.
Key Takeaway
Embrace vulnerability and broaden representation.
Themes
feminism
identity
vulnerability
Mood
empathetic
critical
Type
personal
social.
When to use this quote
- therapy groups
- creative writing
- activism
- support networks
Key Concepts
intersectionality
self‑acceptance
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we honor pain without being consumed by it?
- What narratives can expand women's representation?
A Different Perspective
Risk of focusing on trauma may eclipse empowerment.
![“Were we to still be circumcising the hood of the female clitoris, we would not have difficulty considering this a continuation of our tradition to keep girls sexually repressed. America's reflexive continuation of [male] circumcision-without-research reflects the continuation of our tradition to…” quote by Warren Farrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/749/warren-farrell-1187_america_were-we-to-still-be-circumcising-the-hoo_255459.jpg)
