--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We can't handle violence in women…" description: "\"We can't handle violence in women characters but we CAN handle what's done to women in our present tense every second of the day worldwide? Or next doo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fda/lidia-yuknavitch-3991_character_we-can-t-handle-violence-in-women-charac_679639.jpg" --- # We can't handle violence in women characters but we CAN… ![“We can't handle violence in women characters but we CAN handle what's done to women in our present tense every second of the day worldwide? Or next door? Or in political or medical discourse? Please. That idea just makes me want to crap on a table at a very fancy restaurant.” quote by Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fda/lidia-yuknavitch-3991_character_we-can-t-handle-violence-in-women-charac_679639.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fda/lidia-yuknavitch-3991_character_we-can-t-handle-violence-in-women-charac_679639.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fda/lidia-yuknavitch-3991_character_we-can-t-handle-violence-in-women-charac_679639.jpg) > “We can't handle violence in women characters but we CAN handle what's done to women in our present tense every second of the day worldwide? Or next door? Or in political or medical discourse? Please. That idea just makes me want to crap on a table at a very fancy restaurant.” [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Critiques societal double standards that tolerate violence against women while condemning women’s aggression, highlighting pervasive misogyny. **In simple terms:** Society tolerates violence toward women but condemns women’s aggression. Key Takeaway Challenge double standards in media and discourse. Themes gender violence media double standards Mood frustrated critical Type political social commentary When to use this quote - news commentary - social media - political debate Key Concepts misogyny social critique feminist theory Questions to Reflect On - What examples show this double standard? - How can discourse become more balanced? A Different Perspective Some may view the critique as overgeneralizing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Discourse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discourse/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Medical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medical/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Present tense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-tense/) [Violence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violence/) ## Related quotes > [“So you couldn’t handle fucking, but you can handle violence”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-frank/so-you-couldn-t-handle-fucking-but-you-can-handle-violence/) [Ella Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-frank/) > [I think American audiences are quite interesting in that they can handle almost any amount of violence, but the moment the violence becomes sexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-millar/i-think-american-audiences-are-quite-interesting-in-that-they-can/) [Mark Millar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-millar/) > [“It was one of those moments in which I become very uncomfortable. One of those times when nothing you say can be right, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/it-was-one-of-those-moments-in-which-i-become-very-uncomfortable-one/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [I know how to handle women who act like ladies, but my landlady ain't no lady. Sometimes I even wish I was living with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/langston-hughes/i-know-how-to-handle-women-who-act-like-ladies-but-my-landlady-ain-t/) [Langston Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/langston-hughes/) > [I'm not Superman. I can't handle all of these women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-lee/i-m-not-superman-i-can-t-handle-all-of-these-women/) [Tommy Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-lee/) > [If a man cant handle a women in sweat pants he shouldnt have her](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenzie-ann/if-a-man-cant-handle-a-women-in-sweat-pants-he-shouldnt-have-her/) [Kenzie-ann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenzie-ann/) > [The best way to handle women is to keep them pregnant and barefoot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-riggs/the-best-way-to-handle-women-is-to-keep-them-pregnant-and-barefoot/) [Bobby Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-riggs/) > [My father was a pimp before he became a deacon or something. These people know how to handle women. I'm the worst guy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/my-father-was-a-pimp-before-he-became-a-deacon-or-something-these/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [To be honest, we live in an exciting time where form is concerned. My sincerest hope is that more people will notice this and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/to-be-honest-we-live-in-an-exciting-time-where-form-is-concerned-my/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [And the first till last alshemist wrote over every square inch of the only foolscap available, his own body, till by its corrosive sublimation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/and-the-first-till-last-alshemist-wrote-over-every-square-inch-of-the/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Life is like a grammar lesson. You find the past perfect and the present tense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/life-is-like-a-grammar-lesson-you-find-the-past-perfect-and-the/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [“Middlemarch is a novel that is diminished by being put on the screen. It can't help but be, because so much of what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/middlemarch-is-a-novel-that-is-diminished-by-being-put-on-the-screen/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“At the kitchen table she examined the glass of ice. Each cube was rounded by room temperature, dissolving in its own remains, and belatedly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-marra/at-the-kitchen-table-she-examined-the-glass-of-ice-each-cube-was/) [Anthony Marra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-marra/) > [“That’s probably the worst thing about death. Is turns into was. Everything that was once present tense is now in the past.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caleb-reese/that-s-probably-the-worst-thing-about-death-is-turns-into-was/) [Caleb Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caleb-reese/) > [My last defense / Is the present tense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/my-last-defense-is-the-present-tense/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) ## More by Lidia Yuknavitch > [I'm kind of still down with Virg Woolf on this one: "women must kill the aesthetic ideal through which they themselves have been 'killed'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/i-m-kind-of-still-down-with-virg-woolf-on-this-one-women-must-kill/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [“This man was gorgeous. I'm mentioning this because women live their lives secretly waiting for their lives to become movies. We act like men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/this-man-was-gorgeous-i-m-mentioning-this-because-women-live-their/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [“We'd cry great waves of love and rage for this young woman, whose resistance made our own lives look empty as nadless ball sacks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/we-d-cry-great-waves-of-love-and-rage-for-this-young-woman-whose/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [“We consumer and become exactly what we create. In all times.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/we-consumer-and-become-exactly-what-we-create-in-all-times/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [The WRITER of memoir gets incoming weirdness in very odd ways. I was recently talking to a memoir writer whose work just went meteoric…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/the-writer-of-memoir-gets-incoming-weirdness-in-very-odd-ways-i-was/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [I just want my stories to be mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/i-just-want-my-stories-to-be-mine/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [“Everyone’s last wish turned out to be love: may I be consumed by the simplicity and purity of a love story, any love, base…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/everyone-s-last-wish-turned-out-to-be-love-may-i-be-consumed-by-the/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [Birth is of course violent. Menstruation is violent. Trust me, if men's penises opened up once a month and shot blood, we'd be hearing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/birth-is-of-course-violent-menstruation-is-violent-trust-me-if-men-s/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [“Words from my whole body, my entire life, or the lives of women and girls whose stories got stuck in their throats came gushing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/words-from-my-whole-body-my-entire-life-or-the-lives-of-women-and/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [“We are what happens when the seemingly unthinkable celebrity rises to power. Our existence makes my eyes hurt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/we-are-what-happens-when-the-seemingly-unthinkable-celebrity-rises-to/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [Worse, the bodies of women, minorities, children, disenfranchised bodies (prisoners, so-called nut cases, etc...) and their truths don't "count" as either present and important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/worse-the-bodies-of-women-minorities-children-disenfranchised-bodies/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [It may be true too that I would not have encountered the most important books and art and ideas of my life had I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/it-may-be-true-too-that-i-would-not-have-encountered-the-most/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [I might think that equality has been achieved, there is no power relation going on in terms of class, race, or gender, I might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/i-might-think-that-equality-has-been-achieved-there-is-no-power/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [“That image of Joan of Arc burning up in a fire burned inside me like a new religion. Her face skyward. Her faith muscled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/that-image-of-joan-of-arc-burning-up-in-a-fire-burned-inside-me-like/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [This is something I know: damaged women? We don't think we deserve kindness. IN fact, when kindness happens to us, we go a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/this-is-something-i-know-damaged-women-we-don-t-think-we-deserve/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) [Explore all 111 Lidia Yuknavitch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) ## More Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I'm often moved by the circumstances around some of my characters, but I don't think I've actually cried watching myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-winslet/i-m-often-moved-by-the-circumstances-around-some-of-my-characters-but/) [Kate Winslet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-winslet/) > [When you're on a daytime drama you get one page, you better damn well know your character. You better know what she would do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hudgins/when-you-re-on-a-daytime-drama-you-get-one-page-you-better-damn-well/) David Hudgins > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) > [In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/semir-zeki/in-the-fight-between-biology-and-morality-biology-has-commonly-won-in/) [Semir Zeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/semir-zeki/) > [Your looks don't make you pretty, it's the person inside who makes you pretty!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-chan/your-looks-don-t-make-you-pretty-it-s-the-person-inside-who-makes-you/) [Aaron Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-chan/) > [I'm not a huge social media kind of guy, so I don't really know, I don't really ever get... at least in real life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-stroma/i-m-not-a-huge-social-media-kind-of-guy-so-i-don-t-really-know-i-don/) [Freddie Stroma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-stroma/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. 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