“When we say men, man, manly, manhood, and all the other masculine derivatives, we have in the background of our minds a huge vague crowded picture of the world and all its activities. […] That vast background is full of marching columns of men, of changing lines of men, of long processions of men; of men steering their ships into new seas, exploring unknown mountains, breaking horses, herding cattle, ploughing and sowing and reaping, toiling at the forge and furnace, digging in the mine, building roads and bridges and high cathedrals, managing great businesses, teaching in all the colleges, preaching in all the churches; of men everywhere, doing everything – ‘the world.’

“And when we say women, we think female – the sex.”

– Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Herland

View from a 100 years ago.

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. Herland. Edited by Kathy Casey. Mineola, NY: Dover, 1998 [originally published 1915], p. 116.

(This quote comes from my 21 new-to-me SFF authors reading project. Note: A free e-version is available on Project Gutenberg.)

This post has been edited for clarity.

Serving exactly what it sounds like, the Quotes feature excerpts other people’s thoughts.