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.
That beautiful mild woman for whose sake There's many a one shall find out all heartache On finding that her voice is sweet and low Replied, 'To be born a woman is to know- Although they do not talk of it at school - That we must labor to be beautiful.
One of the things we learn in movies directed by men is what the 'fantasy woman' is. What we learn in movies directed by women is what real women are about. I don't think that men see things wrong and women right, just that we do see things differently.
Women are the only exploited group in history to have been idealized into powerlessness.
Like it or not, women are always subject to criticism if they show too much feeling in public.
Girls are taught to view their bodies as unending projects to work on, whereas boys from a young age, are taught to view their bodies as tools to master their environment
...a box where she was expected to be sweet and sensitive (but not oversensitive); a box for young and pretty girls who were not as bright or powerful as their boyfriends. A box for people who were not forces to be reckoned with.
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