Male dominance in society always means that out of public sight, in the private, ahistorical world of men with women, men are sexually dominating women.
Andrea DworkinRead
Romantic love, in pornography as in life, is the mythic celebration of female negation. For a woman, love is defined as her willingness to submit to her own annihilation.... The proof of love is that she is willing to be destroyed by the one whom she loves, for his sake. For the woman, love is always self-sacrifice, the sacrifice of identity, will, and bodily integrity, in order to fulfill and redeem the masculinity of her lover.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote explores the concept of romantic love as a self-sacrificial act for women, often leading to the loss of their identity.
Andrea Dworkin's quote critiques the social constructs of romantic love, particularly how it is depicted in society and pornography. She suggests that for women, love often entails a profound sacrifice of their own identity, autonomy, and even existence, for the sake of their partner's masculinity. This perspective raises important questions about the dynamics of power, gender roles, and the nature of love itself, proposing that the idealization of love may sometimes come at the cost of female selfhood and integrity.
Themes
LoveSacrificeIdentityFemininityMasculinity
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about gender roles in relationships.
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In her heart she is a mourner for those who have not survived. In her soul she is a warrior for those who are now as she was then. In her life she is both celebrant and proof of women's capacity and will to survive, to become, to act, to change self and society. And each year she is stronger and there are more of her.
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Being stigmatied by sex is being marked by its meaning in a human life of loneliness and imperfection, where some pain is indelible.
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