A Haunted History of Invisible Women Quotes

“Rage is an emotion women are typically forbidden to express, and it is repressed until it becomes unleashed in ways that seem supernatural to those who cannot fathom how it feels to be so violated.”
― Leanna Renee Hieber, A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America's Ghosts

“Few people are denied agency as much as a teenage girl: She is dismissed, belittled, cut down to size at every turn. Her pleas for help are derided as 'attention seeking," and Heaven help her should she dare come forward with stories of abuse at the hands of someone who has power over her – namely, nearly everyone. Cutting, eating disorders, and other types of self-harm are some of the more earthbound cries for help, and at the other, extreme end of the spectrum
dwells the poltergeist.”
― Leanna Renee Hieber, A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America's Ghosts

“The symbolic meaning is far more interesting than the literal meaning.”
― Leanna Renee Hieber, A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America's Ghosts

“The power of the name is the same across all people.”
― Leanna Renee Hieber, A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America's Ghosts

“Idealization is not reality; it is a dream, an expectation, and a projection that does not need a woman to be alive to still be beholden to its trappings.”
― Leanna Renee Hieber, A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America's Ghosts

“History, and ghost stories, function for us as a kind of mediumship. We humbly ask questions of the dead to see the deeper meaning in their stories. We seek out the facts of their stories to the absolute best of our ability, as much as historical research allows. We come to inquire, to reveal, to listen, and to share these women's often forgotten, sometimes misrepresented stories. We are glad you are here on this journey with us. And to you we say the same thing we say to the ghosts who allow us to share these stories: Thank you.”
― Leanna Renee Hieber, A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America's Ghosts

“By understanding our ghosts, we may better understand ourselves, both past and present, and how female-identifying individuals are represented in the (margins of) historical record.”
― Leanna Renee Hieber, A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America's Ghosts

“While it's easy to dismiss and belittle a living woman who dares to be vocally critical or angry, it is much harder to silence a ghost: She has remarkable staying power.”
― Leanna Renee Hieber, A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America's Ghosts

“The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Women are profoundly entwined with ghosts and ghost stories. There are several notions in Western culture that connect the intrinsically "female" with death. Of course, the very notion of gender is culturally constructed, just as ghosts are culturally constructed. Edith Wharton once asked, "What in the world constitutes a ghost except the fact of its being known for one." Ghosts and gender both require naming and performing, and are not at all uncomplicated, innate, or inherent things. Part of this constructed identity has to do with the cultural roles of women in the United States in the last two centuries.”
― Leanna Renee Hieber, A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America's Ghosts