#use

When a stranger on the street makes a sexual comment, he is making a private assessment of me public. And though I’ve never been seriously worried that I would be attacked, it does make me feel unguarded, unprotected. Regardless of his motive, the stranger on the street makes an assumption based on my physique: He presumes I might be receptive to his unpoetic, unsolicited comments. (Would he allow a friend to say “Nice tits” to his mother? His sister? His daughter?) And although I should know better, I, too, equate my body with my soul and the result, at least sometimes, is a deep shame of both. Rape is a thousand times worse: The ultimate theft of self-control, it often leads to a breakdown in the victim’s sense of self-worth. Girls who are molested, for instance, often go on to engage in risky behavior—having intercourse at an early age, not using contraception, smoking, drinking, and doing drugs. This behavior, it seems to me, is at least in part because their self-perception as autonomous, worthy human beings in control of their environment has been taken from them. ↗

— Leora Tanenbaum

#culture #entitlement #harassment #hypersexualization #rape

We each own one car, and we have a reasonable house. It's a lovely place to be, but it's not extravagant. ↗

— Reese Witherspoon

#each #extravagant #house #lovely #own

Sometimes I even now feel like a stranger in my country. But I knew there would be problems because I had seen the world as a skater. And now? A lot of people in eastern Germany have lost jobs, rents went up, food costs went up, unemployment went to 20 percent. Freedom is good, but it is not easy. ↗

— Katarina Witt

#costs #country #eastern #easy #even

That, for me, is a very important test of a young writer's commitment because most of them are going to have to continue doing that when they've finished the program. ↗

— Tobias Wolff

#commitment #continue #doing #finished #going

You know, acting is very fascinating. But being an actress is not, because you become so concentrated on yourself. ↗

— Beatrice Wood

#actress #because #become #being #concentrated

Sometimes, I feel I am really blessed to be blind because I probably would not last a minute if I were able to see things. ↗

— Stevie Wonder

#am #because #blessed #blind #feel

Having that amount of nominations makes me a little nervous, because you feel that the bar is really high, the expectations are really high, but it also feels great. ↗

— Lee Ann Womack

#amount #bar #because #expectations #feel

You know, I always when people ask me, like, what is my most favorite song, I quote Duke Ellington, when they would ask him, what's his favorite composition? And I say, I haven't written it yet. Because, you know, there are different songs for different occasions. ↗

— Stevie Wonder

#ask #because #composition #different #duke

The second time I was there I met Marcel Duchamp, and we immediately fell for each other. Which doesn't mean a thing because I think anybody who met Marcel fell for him. ↗

— Beatrice Wood

#because #duchamp #each #fell #him

I used to love Woody Allen but feel he's become a hack as a director. 'Bullets Over Broadway' is the only film of his I've enjoyed in the last 10 years. ↗

— Douglas Wood

#become #broadway #bullets #director #enjoyed