#standard

In Africa, there is a birthrate trap: a higher standard of living will lead to smaller families but smaller families will not lead to a higher standard of living. ↗

— Christopher Hitchens

#birth-rate #family #socioeconomic-failure #socioeconomics #standard-of-living

Unwed white girls who became pregnant in the postwar years were considered psychologically disturbed but treatable, whereas their black counterparts were presumed to be biologically hypersexual and deviant. Historian Rickie Solinger demonstrates that in the 1950s an unwed white girl who became pregnant could go to a maternity home before her pregnancy showed, deliver the baby and give it up for adoption, and return home to her community with no one the wiser. (White parents concocted stories of their daughters being given the opportunity to study for a semester with relatives.) She could then resume the role of the "nice" girl. Unwed pregnant black girls, on the other hand, were barred from maternity homes; they were threatened with jail or termination of welfare; and they were accused of using their sexuality in order to be eligible for larger welfare checks. Politicians regarded unwed pregnant black girls as a societal problem, declaring--as they continue to declare today--that they did not want taxpayers to support black illegitimate babies, and sought to control black female sexuality through sterilization legislation. ↗

— Leora Tanenbaum

#double-standard #history #politics #racism #segregation

Does a rake deserve to possess anything of worth, since he chases everything in skirts and then imagines he can successfully hide his shame by slandering [women in general]? ↗

— Christine de Pizan

#double-standards #gender #hypocrisy #immorality #men

When a man gives his opinion, he's a man. When a woman gives her opinion, she's a bitch. ↗

— Bette Davis

#double-standards #empowerment #feminism #gender #hypocrisy

For the powerful, crimes are those that others commit. ↗

— Noam Chomsky

#double-standards #hypocrisy #politics #power #war-crimes

[T]he infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists. That is why they invented Hell. ↗

— Bertrand Russell

#cruelty #dishonesty #double-standards #hell #morality

It does not have to be that the greatest generation is behind us. It does not have to be that our children will have a lower standard of living. It will be that way if we choose to believe that. I choose not to believe that. ↗

— Glenn Beck

#believe #children #choose #does #generation

Those who plead their cause in the absence of an opponent can invent to their heart's content, can pontificate without taking into account the opposite point of view and keep the best arguments for themselves, for aggressors are always quick to attack those who have no means of defence. ↗

— Christine de Pizan

#deceit #defenselessness #double-standards #falsehood #hypocrisy

God is the only being who is good, and the standards are set by Him. Because God hates sin, He has to punish those guilty of sin. Maybe that's not an appealing standard. But to put it bluntly, when you get your own universe, you can make your own standards. ↗

— Francis Chan

#crazy-love #francis-chan #sin #standards #love

The Lord of the Rings movie set an entirely new standard for fantasy in the movies. ↗

— Sarah Zettel

#fantasy #lord #lord of the rings #movie #movie set