--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What stunned me was the regular assertion…" description: "\"What stunned me was the regular assertion that feminists were \"anti-family.\" . . . It was motherhood that got me into the movementin the first place. I..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/343/mary-blakely-18888_activist_what-stunned-me-was-the-regular-assertio_1535918.jpg" --- # What stunned me was the regular assertion that feminists… ![“What stunned me was the regular assertion that feminists were "anti-family." . . . It was motherhood that got me into the movementin the first place. I became an activist after recognizing how excruciatingly personal the political was to me and my sons. It was the women's movement that put…” quote by Mary Blakely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/343/mary-blakely-18888_activist_what-stunned-me-was-the-regular-assertio_1535918.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/343/mary-blakely-18888_activist_what-stunned-me-was-the-regular-assertio_1535918.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/343/mary-blakely-18888_activist_what-stunned-me-was-the-regular-assertio_1535918.jpg) > “What stunned me was the regular assertion that feminists were "anti-family." . . . It was motherhood that got me into the movementin the first place. I became an activist after recognizing how excruciatingly personal the political was to me and my sons. It was the women's movement that put self-esteem back into "just a housewife," rescuing our intelligence from the junk pile of "instinct" and making it human, deliberate, powerful.” [Mary Blakely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-blakely/) ## 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 highlights how personal experience and motherhood motivated the speaker to join feminism, transforming traditional roles into empowered, deliberate identity. **In simple terms:** Motherhood sparked feminist activism and empowerment. Key Takeaway Recognize personal stakes in political movements. Themes feminism identity empowerment family gender roles Mood reflective determined hopeful Type personal political inspirational When to use this quote - activism - parenting - career choices - public speaking Key Concepts personal narrative social critique self‑esteem Questions to Reflect On - How does personal experience shape political views? - What challenges arise when redefining traditional roles? 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There's an absurd expectation that the women's movement must be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-blakely/we-are-expected-somehow-not-to-offend-anyone-on-our-way-to-liberation/) [Mary Blakely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-blakely/) > [Superwoman is the adversary of the women's movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/superwoman-is-the-adversary-of-the-women-s-movement/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [The women's movement will present a growing threat to patriarchal religion less by attacking it than by simply leaving it behind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-p-christ/the-women-s-movement-will-present-a-growing-threat-to-patriarchal/) [Carol P. Christ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-p-christ/) > [I am a feminist because I feel endangered, psychically and physically, by this society and because I believe that the women's movement is saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/i-am-a-feminist-because-i-feel-endangered-psychically-and-physically/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [Feminism is dead. The movement is absolutely dead. The women's movement tried to suppress dissident voices for way too long. There's no room for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/feminism-is-dead-the-movement-is-absolutely-dead-the-women-s-movement/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [The women's movement was just coming into being, and I got involved with Gloria Steinem and Bella Abzug and all these great women. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maxine-waters/the-women-s-movement-was-just-coming-into-being-and-i-got-involved/) [Maxine Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maxine-waters/) > [The women's movement is filled with tyrants, just as men's political movements are equally filled.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/the-women-s-movement-is-filled-with-tyrants-just-as-men-s-political/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [The one thing I feel is very hopeful, however, is the overwhelming participation of women in the movement for change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-suzuki/the-one-thing-i-feel-is-very-hopeful-however-is-the-overwhelming/) [David Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-suzuki/) > [I think I would have died if there hadn't been the women's movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/i-think-i-would-have-died-if-there-hadn-t-been-the-women-s-movement-2/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [They sign a bunch of women, and they call it a movement. I don't like the way women in music have been identified as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/they-sign-a-bunch-of-women-and-they-call-it-a-movement-i-don-t-like/) [Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) > [I think I would have died if there hadn't been the women's movement. It gave me a vision that I could do something different,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/i-think-i-would-have-died-if-there-hadn-t-been-the-women-s-movement/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [The women's movement was coming, but I didn't know it in 1956-1957, when I began to write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-paley/the-women-s-movement-was-coming-but-i-didn-t-know-it-in-1956-1957/) [Grace Paley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-paley/) > [The women's movement appeared at a very crucial moment in my life. There was a whole political movement asking such questions and others I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-women-s-movement-appeared-at-a-very-crucial-moment-in-my-life/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [The movement across Canada to fight toxic chemicals is a women's movement. It's a concern about health; it's very intimate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-may/the-movement-across-canada-to-fight-toxic-chemicals-is-a-women-s/) [Elizabeth May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-may/) ## More by Mary Blakely > [The truth invariably arrives several years after you need it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-blakely/the-truth-invariably-arrives-several-years-after-you-need-it/) [Mary Blakely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-blakely/) > [However diligent she may be, however dedicated, no mother can escape the larger influences of culture, biology,fate . . . until we can actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-blakely/however-diligent-she-may-be-however-dedicated-no-mother-can-escape/) [Mary Blakely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-blakely/) > [In motherhood, where seemingly opposite realities can be simultaneously true, the role of nurturer invariably conflicts with the role of socializer. 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Exhausted is what looks normal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-blakely/families-don-t-always-realize-that-mother-is-exhausted-because-mother/) [Mary Blakely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-blakely/) > [If my sons are to become the kind of men our daughters would be pleased to live among, attention to domestic details is critical.The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-blakely/if-my-sons-are-to-become-the-kind-of-men-our-daughters-would-be/) [Mary Blakely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-blakely/) > [After I discovered the real life of mothers bore little resemblance to the plot outlined in most of the books and articles I'd read,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-blakely/after-i-discovered-the-real-life-of-mothers-bore-little-resemblance/) [Mary Blakely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-blakely/) > [A "snapshot" feature in USA Today listed the five greatest concerns parents and teachers had about children in the '50s: talking out of turn,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-blakely/a-snapshot-feature-in-usa-today-listed-the-five-greatest-concerns/) [Mary Blakely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-blakely/) > [Most literature on the culture of adolescence focuses on peer pressure as a negative force. 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