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Adrienne Rich Quotes about Son

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How we dwelt in two worlds the daughters and the mothers in the kingdom of the sons.

How we dwelt in two worlds the daughters and the mothers in the kingdom of the sons.

Adrienne Rich
Daughter, Mother, Son
Adrienne Rich (2016). “Collected Poems: 1950-2012”, p.470, W. W. Norton & Company

As her sons have seen her: the mother in patriarchy: controlling, erotic, castrating, heart-suffering, guilt-ridden, and guilt-provoking; a marble brow, a huge breast, an avid cave; between her legs snakes, swamp-grass, or teeth; on her lap a helpless infant or a martyred son. She exists for one purpose: to bear and nourish the son.

Adrienne Rich
Mother, Heart, Son

Much male fear of feminism is the fear that, in becoming whole human beings, women will cease to mother men, to provide the breast, the lullaby, the continuous attention associated by the infant with the mother. Much male fear of feminism is infantilism–the longing to remain the mother’s son, to possess a woman who exists purely for him.

Adrienne Rich
Mother, Son, Men
Adrienne Rich (1995). “On Lies, Secrets, and Silence: Selected Prose 1966-1978”, p.123, W. W. Norton & Company

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