The Mad Women's Ball
Victoria Mas
Top 10 Best Quotes
“Truth to be told, whether free or incarcerated, women were not safe anywhere. Since the dawn of time, they had been the victims of decisions that were taken without their consent.”
“Although madness in men is not the same as that in women: men use it against others; women turn it in on themselves.”
“The Salpêtriére is a dumping ground for women who disturb the peace. An asylum for those whose sensitivities do not tally what is expected of them. A prison for women guilty of possessing an opinion.”
“Dreams are dangerous things, Louise. Especially when they depend on someone else.”
“Few things are more painful than watching one's parents grow old; witnessing the strength ebb from a person one once believed immortal, seeing it replaced by an irrevocable fragility.”
“A doctor invariably believes he knows better than a patient, and a man invariably believes he knows better than a woman; it is the prospect of this scrutiny that makes the young women nervous as they wait to be examined.”
“Those who meet here are not equals: the doctor announces the fate of the patient; the patient takes him at his word. For the doctor, what is at stake is his career; for the patient, it is life itself. This rift is all the more pronounced when a woman enters the consulting room.”
“ The people who judged her, the people who have judged me. . . their judgement stems from their own beliefs. Unswerving faith in any idea inevitably leads to prejudice. Have I told you how calm I feel since I began to doubt? What is important is not to have beliefs, but to be able to doubt, to question anything, everything, even oneself.”
“They are no longer wives or mothers or adolescent girls, they are no longer women to be considered or contemplated, they will never be women who are desired or loved; they are patients. Lunatics. Nobodies.”
“The sole purpose of the corset was clearly to immobilize a woman's body in a posture considered desirable - it was certainly not intended to allow her free movement. As if intellectual contraints were not sufficent, women had to be hobbled physically. One might almost think that, in imposing such restrictions, men did not so much scorn women as fear them.”
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Book Keywords:
gender-inequality, beliefs, doubt, parents-and-children, prejudice, women-empowerment, women-s-strength, women-s-rights, dying
