--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are many women who write as they…" description: "\"There are many women who write as they think they should write - to imitate men and make a place for themselves in literature.\" — Marguerite Duras" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc0/marguerite-duras-2040_books_there-are-many-women-who-write-as-they-t_1289361.jpg" --- # There are many women who write as they think they should… ![“There are many women who write as they think they should write - to imitate men and make a place for themselves in literature.” quote by Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc0/marguerite-duras-2040_books_there-are-many-women-who-write-as-they-t_1289361.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc0/marguerite-duras-2040_books_there-are-many-women-who-write-as-they-t_1289361.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc0/marguerite-duras-2040_books_there-are-many-women-who-write-as-they-t_1289361.jpg) > “There are many women who write as they think they should write - to imitate men and make a place for themselves in literature.” [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Women often adopt male literary styles to gain acceptance, sacrificing authentic voices. **In simple terms:** Women copy men to fit in. Key Takeaway Embrace your unique voice. Themes gender literature authenticity identity power Mood reflective critical Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - publishing - creative writing - academic critique Key Concepts feminist theory voice imitation Questions to Reflect On - How can women assert originality in a male‑dominated field? - What barriers prevent authentic expression? A Different Perspective Copying may limit innovation and reinforce patriarchal norms. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Romance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/romance/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Men like women who write. Even though they don't say so. A writer is a foreign country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/men-like-women-who-write-even-though-they-don-t-say-so-a-writer-is-a/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [Turkey is a complex country. Most readers are women, of all generations, and they are passionate about books. However, the written culture is mostly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-safak/turkey-is-a-complex-country-most-readers-are-women-of-all-generations/) [Elif Safak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-safak/) > [“Write. If you've always dreamed of being a writer, write. Even if you think what you write is crap, write. You might be surprised…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-woods/write-if-you-ve-always-dreamed-of-being-a-writer-write-even-if-you/) Stephen Woods > [I really think I write about everyday life. I don't think I'm quite as odd as others say I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gorey/i-really-think-i-write-about-everyday-life-i-don-t-think-i-m-quite-as/) [Edward Gorey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gorey/) > [I think women do write politically all the time. Margaret Atwood does; Doris Lessing does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorrie-moore/i-think-women-do-write-politically-all-the-time-margaret-atwood-does/) [Lorrie Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorrie-moore/) > [I feel like women very often do write differently than men, but women write things that men can't write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-ringwald/i-feel-like-women-very-often-do-write-differently-than-men-but-women/) [Molly Ringwald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-ringwald/) > [Paradoxically, the most constructive thing women can do is to write, for in the act of writing we deny our muteness and begin to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-spender/paradoxically-the-most-constructive-thing-women-can-do-is-to-write/) [Dale Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-spender/) > [People don't think of writers as sex objects. The women who write to me and suggest that we ought to have sex usually turn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/people-don-t-think-of-writers-as-sex-objects-the-women-who-write-to/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [Not all women write the same. But I don't understand why the model is that you're supposed to write like a man, and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-ringwald/not-all-women-write-the-same-but-i-don-t-understand-why-the-model-is/) [Molly Ringwald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-ringwald/) > [“You must go around the states lecturing to women. And the inoffensive writers who've never dared lecture anyone, let alone women-they are frightened of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-thomas/you-must-go-around-the-states-lecturing-to-women-and-the-inoffensive/) [Dylan Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-thomas/) > [Let women write horror. Let women write darkness, let women write trauma, without having to carve out their own trauma to justify it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-bardugo/let-women-write-horror-let-women-write-darkness-let-women-write/) [Leigh Bardugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-bardugo/) > [The great thing about fiction is that I don't have to settle on an answer to any troubling question, or even a solution. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-jo-campbell/the-great-thing-about-fiction-is-that-i-don-t-have-to-settle-on-an/) [Bonnie Jo Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-jo-campbell/) > [The greater part of what women write about women is mere sycophancy to man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madame-de-stael/the-greater-part-of-what-women-write-about-women-is-mere-sycophancy/) [Madame de Stael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madame-de-stael/) > [I think women write more fully and honestly than men about heart and home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prue-leith/i-think-women-write-more-fully-and-honestly-than-men-about-heart-and/) [Prue Leith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prue-leith/) > [Women must write through their bodies, they must invent the impregnable language that will wreck partitions, classes, and rhetorics, regulations and codes, they must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-ne-cixous/women-must-write-through-their-bodies-they-must-invent-the/) [Helene Cixous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-ne-cixous/) ## More by Marguerite Duras > [Alcohol doesn't console, it doesn't fill up anyone's psychological gaps, all it replaces is the lack of God. It doesn't comfort man. On the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/alcohol-doesn-t-console-it-doesn-t-fill-up-anyone-s-psychological/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [I know it's not clothes that make women beautiful or otherwise, nor beauty care, nor expensive creams, nor the distinction of costliness of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/i-know-it-s-not-clothes-that-make-women-beautiful-or-otherwise-nor/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“And modern houses don't have passages, either, for children to play and run about in, and for dogs, umbrellas, coats and satchels. And don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/and-modern-houses-don-t-have-passages-either-for-children-to-play-and/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [When a woman drinks it's as if an animal were drinking, or a child. Alcoholism is scandalous in a woman, and a female alcoholic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/when-a-woman-drinks-it-s-as-if-an-animal-were-drinking-or-a-child/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [Some people are like that - closed - they can't learn from anyone. Us, for example, we can't learn anything, neither I from you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/some-people-are-like-that-closed-they-can-t-learn-from-anyone-us-for/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [I often think of the image only I can see now, and of which I’ve never spoken. It’s always there, in the same silence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/i-often-think-of-the-image-only-i-can-see-now-and-of-which-i-ve-never/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [In love there are no vacations. No such thing. Love has to be lived fully with its boredom and all that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/in-love-there-are-no-vacations-no-such-thing-love-has-to-be-lived/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“Très vite dans ma vie il a été trop tard.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/tr-s-vite-dans-ma-vie-il-a-t-trop-tard/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“she can remember everyone admiring a rare kind of evening they spoke of as something they ought to save from oblivion to describe to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/she-can-remember-everyone-admiring-a-rare-kind-of-evening-they-spoke/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [All that remains of that minute is time in all its purity, bone-white time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/all-that-remains-of-that-minute-is-time-in-all-its-purity-bone-white/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“Paradoxically, the freedom of Paris is associated with a persistent belief that nothing ever changes. Paris, they say, is the city that changes least.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/paradoxically-the-freedom-of-paris-is-associated-with-a-persistent/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“─ No le conozco a usted. Nadie puede conocerle, ponerse en su lugar, usted no tiene lugar, no sabe dónde encontrar un lugar. Por…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/no-le-conozco-a-usted-nadie-puede-conocerle-ponerse-en-su-lugar-usted/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [She represents the un-vowed aspiration of the male human being, his potential infidelity - and infidelity of a very special kind, which would lead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/she-represents-the-un-vowed-aspiration-of-the-male-human-being-his/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“I think it was during this journey that the image became detached, removed from all the rest. It might have existed, a photograph might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/i-think-it-was-during-this-journey-that-the-image-became-detached/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [“Among all the other nights upon nights, the girl had spent that one on the boat….when it happened, the burst of Chopin…. There wasn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/among-all-the-other-nights-upon-nights-the-girl-had-spent-that-one-on/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) [Explore all 129 Marguerite Duras quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [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 have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are many women who write as they think they should write - to imitate men and make a place for themselves in literature.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marguerite Duras" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/there-are-many-women-who-write-as-they-think-they-should-write-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/there-are-many-women-who-write-as-they-think-they-should-write-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc0/marguerite-duras-2040_books_there-are-many-women-who-write-as-they-t_1289361.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc0/marguerite-duras-2040_books_there-are-many-women-who-write-as-they-t_1289361.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc0/marguerite-duras-2040_books_there-are-many-women-who-write-as-they-t_1289361.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are many women who write as they think they should write - to imitate men and make a place for…” — Marguerite Duras", "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": "Marguerite Duras", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There are many women who write...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/there-are-many-women-who-write-as-they-think-they-should-write-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/there-are-many-women-who-write-as-they-think-they-should-write-to/#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 } } ] } ```