"If girls could do nothing else in this world, they were supposed to be able to keep their blood from showing."

“There's something spectacularly freeing about acknowledging that one has both resources and limitations, and that both of these give shape to one's life.”

“Women are brought up to depend on a man and to feel naked and frightened without one. We have been taught to believe that as females we cannot stand alone, that we are too fragile, too delicate, too needful of protection.”

“were not trained for freedom at all, but for its categorical opposite—dependency.”

“Lack of confidence leads us into the dark waters of envy. We see men are functioning without hang-ups—and like girls who envy the unfettered freedom of older brothers, we find it easier to focus on how "lucky" the men are and how "unlucky" we are. Sequestered in an unfair situation, we don't have to do anything about achieving the competence and self-esteem we so admire in others.”

“Males are educated for independence from the day they are born.”

“Only after she begins to disengage from her belief in her own helplessness can she break out of the vicious cycle of dependency and its brutal effect in her life.”