Women History Month 2021: These 6 powerful quotes by female authors smash patriarchy

New Delhi: The month of March is celebrated as Women History Month and is used to recognize and honour the role played by women in shaping up the social, political and cultural landscape. We have dedicated an entire month to do so, as sadly, despite all the progress that we have made, our society is still largely patriarchal, where women labour and contribution are unseen and unrecognized by society at large.

The progress that women have made today is a result of the constant struggle and fight that women before them fought. The battle fought by those touch bearers of feminism had to be for as basic a right as vote and education.

Below are quotes from six female authors, who have vastly write about female experiences and subjectivities, bringing powerful female stories out to the world, that we all still cherish.

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)

“I am only resolved to act in that manner, which will, in my own opinion, constitute my happiness, without reference to you, or to any person so wholly unconnected with me.”

2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (1847)

“I can live alone, if self-respect, and circumstances require me so to do. I need not sell my soul to buy bliss. I have an inward treasure born with me, which can keep me alive if all extraneous delights should be withheld, or offered only at a price I cannot afford to give.”

3. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf (1929)

“I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman.”

4. Jazz by Toni Morrison (1992)

"Don't ever think I fell for you, or fell over you. I didn't fall in love, I rose in it.”

5. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (1963)

“I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am.”

6. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2013)

“You must never behave as if your life belongs to a man. Do you hear me?” Aunty Ifeka said. “Your life belongs to you and you alone.”