Everything that explains the world has in fact explained a world that does not exist, a world in which men are at the center of the human enterprise and women are at the margin "helping' them. Such a world does not exist - never has.
Interpretation
The quote critiques the historical narrative that centers men while relegating women to a marginal role, asserting that this skewed perspective misrepresents reality.
Gerda Lerner's quote challenges the traditional narratives that have historically depicted men as the primary actors in the human story, while portraying women as peripheral figures. She argues that this outlook not only distorts the true fabric of society but also ignores the significant contributions women have made throughout history. By emphasizing that a world where women are merely 'helpers' to men never truly existed, Lerner calls for a re-evaluation of historical accounts to include the full participation and influence of women.
In practice
In a discussion about gender roles in history, this quote can emphasize the need for a broader representation of women's contributions.
Men develop ideas and systems of explanation by absorbing past knowledge and critiquing and superseding it. Women, ignorant of their own history [do] not know what women before them had thought and taught. So generation after generation, they [struggle] for insights others had already had before them, [resulting in] the constant inventing of the wheel.
When I started working on women's history about thirty years ago, the field did not exist. People didn't think that women had a history worth knowing.
Women must tell men always that they are the strong ones. They are the big, the strong, the wonderful. In truth, women are the strong ones. It is just my opinion, I am not a professor.
What works for a man, still does not work for a woman - both in terms of how they see themselves and how we see them.
In fact, there is perhaps only one human being in a thousand who is passionately interested in his job for the job's sake. The difference is that if that one person in a thousand is a man, we say, simply, that he is passionately keen on his job; if she is a woman, we say she is a freak.
If you're a girl and you don't fit the very specific vision of what a girl should be, which is always from a man's perspective, then you're a little bit at a loss.
There's an unconscious bias in our society: girls are wonderful; boys are terrible. And to be a boy, or young man, growing up, having to listen to all this, it must be painful.
I have been envious of male characteristics, if not the men themselves. I'm jealous of the ease with which they seem to inhabit their professional pursuits: the lack of apologizing, of bending over backward to make sure the people around them are comfortable with what they're trying to do. The fact that they are so often free of the people-pleasing instincts I have considered to be a curse of my female existence.
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