In comparison to other women in the world, perhaps I'm seen as smaller. But I've never had a problem thinking of myself as a large woman.
My son smelled like a cinnamon bun, and that smell entered into my biological being, and it became an imperative that I keep him alive at all costs, so then there's this monster - this tiger or lion - that comes forward in you to protect them. And it doesn't stop. It doesn't matter if they become men or women.
Interpretation
What this quote means
A parent's instinct to protect their children is an innate and powerful force that persists throughout their lives.
In this quote, Frances McDormand captures the deep emotional bond between a parent and their child, describing how the very essence of a child's being, likened to the comforting smell of a cinnamon bun, invokes a primal instinct for protection. This instinct transforms the parent into a fierce guardian, driven by an imperative to safeguard their child, regardless of their growth into adulthood. The lasting nature of this protective urge signifies the unbreakable connection inherent in the parent-child relationship.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech at a parenting workshop, one could use this quote to highlight the instinctual nature of parental love.
More from Frances Mcdormand
All quotes →It's a scary thing going into the workforce with a $50,000 debt and you've been trained as a classical theatre actor. There's always a depression in the theatre.
That's another great thing about getting older. Your life is written on your face.
There's only two givens with choosing acting as a profession: one is you will always be unemployed, always, and it doesn't matter how much money you make, you're still always going to be unemployed; and that you have no power.
Female characters in literature are full. They're messy: they've got runny noses and burp and belch. Unfortunately, in film, female characters don't often have that kind of richness.
My feminist training was that this was your goal, to be a self-sufficient woman, but that is a miscalculation. It's just not the way we work. We work in dialogue with the community.
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A father may turn his back on his child, brothers and sisters may become inveterate enemies, husbands may desert their wives, wives their husbands. But a mother's love endures through all.
The fact is, there is no foundation, no secure ground, upon which people may stand today if it isn't the family.
One thing I can say about the Motown acts is that we were a family. That's not a myth