In the 1970s, girls didn't do anything. It wasn't their fault. For me and the other working-class girls I hung around with, our route was plotted - you were a secretary and a wife. I wanted to hitchhike around the world, go on motorbikes, be in bands.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the limitations placed on women in the past and the desire to break free from them.
Viv Albertine's quote illustrates the societal constraints imposed on girls in the 1970s, where traditional roles often relegated them to being secretaries and wives. It highlights a longing for freedom and adventure, representing a broader resistance against societal norms and the pursuit of personal dreams.
In practice
During a women's empowerment event, sharing this quote can inspire young women to pursue their dreams.
I was brought up to be uncompromisingly bloody-minded by my mother. She equipped me, without knowing it, to be someone who is creative rather than an entertainer. Not many girls are brought up like that, to never rely on a man. To not be a housewife, not be a mother.
Pain prompts us to change behavior that is destructive to ourselves or to others. Pain can be a highly effective instructor.
Travel agents would be wiser to ask us what we hope to change about our lives rather than simply where we wish to go.
I've been in movement work since I was 16 years old. Black Lives Matter becomes an important part of the story, but it's not the only part of the story.
We have a planetary emergency. We have to find a way to create, in the generation of those alive today, a sense of generational mission.
[A]ll change, even very large and powerful change, begins when a few people start talking with one another about something they care about.
When we, as a nation, put our minds to something, when we truly choose to care about something, change always happens.
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