Girls Will Be Girls Quotes

“our society is unequal, and bodily difference is used to justify that inequality.”
― Emer O'Toole, Girls Will Be Girls: Dressing Up, Playing Parts and Daring to Act Differently

“Agency refers to the individual – to the choices she makes. Structure refers to society – to the context that produced the individual, and in which she continues to act. Which of these factors most determines the person I am and the behaviours I perform?”
― Emer O'Toole, Girls Will Be Girls: Dressing Up, Playing Parts and Daring to Act Differently

“Make-up shouldn't signify frivolity any more than a closely shaved chin or a well-trimmed beard. The problem is not skirts, stilettos or other symbols of femininity; rather, it's what the symbols of femininity mean in our sexist culture.”
― Emer O'Toole, Girls Will Be Girls: Dressing Up, Playing Parts and Daring to Act Differently

“Even within our culture, there are times when breasts stop being read as bouncy sex balls: when women are breastfeeding, there's pretty wide acceptance of the fact that shouting 'phwoar' is bad form.”
― Emer O'Toole, Girls Will Be Girls: Dressing Up, Playing Parts and Daring to Act Differently

“We are not born wanting fake breasts or a work-life based on unpaid domestic labour any more than we are born wanting a can of Coke or Nike runners. In significant ways, society creates our desires and expectations for ourselves.”
― Emer O'Toole, Girls Will Be Girls: Dressing Up, Playing Parts and Daring to Act Differently

“A research team … found that lessons children were likely to learn about gender from watching cartoons include the idea that men are more important than women, the idea that men are aggressive and get into fights, and the idea that women are fearful or nurturing … A study from 2012 found … that watching TV decreased the confidence of all children of colour and female children, while it increased the self-esteem of white, male children.”
― Emer O'Toole, Girls Will Be Girls: Dressing Up, Playing Parts and Daring to Act Differently

“There are, of course, still people out there who think that the reproductive functions of women's bodies should exclude them from the public sphere. The technical term for these people is 'gobshites'.”
― Emer O'Toole, Girls Will Be Girls: Dressing Up, Playing Parts and Daring to Act Differently

“… And symbols are important - they dictate the ways that others read us, what they expect from us, and how they feel entitled to treat us.”
― Emer O'Toole, Girls Will Be Girls: Dressing Up, Playing Parts and Daring to Act Differently

“Teen magazines advised me on how to attract men, while books, TV, films and other cultural products subtly reinforced a narrative of male superiority, which was confirmed by the gendered make-up of the world around me.”
― Emer O'Toole, Girls Will Be Girls: Dressing Up, Playing Parts and Daring to Act Differently

“… She'll only go to see films in which there are at least two female characters, who actually talk to each other, about something other than a man. This has come to be known as the Bechdel test. … Only 54 per cent of films pass this ludicrously simple feminist exam.”
― Emer O'Toole, Girls Will Be Girls: Dressing Up, Playing Parts and Daring to Act Differently

“... cartoons still feature predominantly male lead characters, and there have been a number of studies into the effects of this on children. ... female characters are under-represented in cartoons, and they are typically lower status. Researchers found that ... children who noticed gender-stereotypic behaviours in cartoon characters reported more traditional job expectations for themselves and for others. This ... indicates that children can recognise gender stereotypes in the products they consume, but lack the capacity to question and critically evaluate them.”
― Emer O'Toole, Girls Will Be Girls: Dressing Up, Playing Parts and Daring to Act Differently

“...there are small innate biological differences between men and women's psychologies, which our treatment of people in male bodies and female bodies conditions into significant and oftentimes worrisome gaps.”
― Emer O'Toole, Girls Will Be Girls: Dressing Up, Playing Parts and Daring to Act Differently

“Science faculties at renowned research institutions were given two identical CVs to assess. Half the scientists received a CV with a female name, and half with a male name. The 'female' applicant was consistently rated as less competent and less hireable, and the scientists were less likely to want to mentor her. The 'male' candidate was offered a significantly higher starting salary”
― Emer O'Toole, Girls Will Be Girls: Dressing Up, Playing Parts and Daring to Act Differently