‘Blindly Conforming’ pg 32
‘Gender had comprehensively informed routines and practices’ pg 44
‘Societally, girls rejecting feminine gender norms are tarred with ‘tomboy” pg 41
‘Desire comes from that space between your belly button and genitals’ pg 69
‘Od course, by its nature – rooted in theatre. cabaret and comedy – drag is an extreme take on gender norms. It’s a (usually) harmless spoof of femininity and masculinity alike’ – pg 135
”Gender Performace is often a stick used to clobber trans people. The criticism is that trans people are ‘playing dress-up’ rather than ‘becoming’ or ‘being’ men or women. On the contrary, feminist writer Judith Butler, who first coined the term in the 1980s, said in a 2017 interview: ‘I know that some people believe that I see gender as a “choice” rather than as an essential and firmly fixed sense of self. My view is actually not that. No matter whether one feels one’s gendered and sexed reality to be firmly fixed or less so, every person should have the right to determine the legal and linguistic terms of their embodied lives. SO whether one wants to be free to live out a “hard-wired” sense of sex or a more fluid sense of gender, is less important than the right to be free to live it out, without discrimination, harassment, injury, pathologization or criminalisation – and with full institutional and community support. This is most important in my view.” pg 135-136
”Kimberle Crenshaw coined the phrase “intersectionality”, which explains that gender, race, class and economic background are inseparable within the experience of black feminism,’ writer Bola Ayonrinde tells me.’ pg 204
‘The whole practice occurs because of gender. Expectations of what woman should be or do are at the heart of FGM. There is a direct correlation between prevalence of FGM and the belief that it will improve a woman’s ‘marriage-ability’. Often the procedure is carried out to protect a girl’s modesty; to ensure virginity or prevent infidelity. It is thought in some regions that the clitoris is unclean or even male and must be removed to protect the girl’s virtue.’ pg 322
‘Women exhausted from being patronised, harassed and overlooked; men weary from the weight of masculine expectation’ pg 338
‘Right-wing politicians and right-wing press found an ember of dissatisfaction and fanned it until it caught fire. So much easier to blame a minority group than it is to blame decades of systematic corruption, inequality, financial waste, a failing education system, arms deals, toxic debt and unnecessary military action’ pg 341
‘Intersectionality – Term coined by Kimberle Crensjaw to describe how the impact of multiple identities cannot be examined in isolation. Gender, skin colour, religion, class and disabilities will ALL impact on a person’s life and status.’ pg 353 (Glossary)