Ann Oakley

“Families are nothing other than the idolatry of duty.”

“Being a good mother does not call for the same qualities as being a good housewife; a dedication to keeping children clean and tidy may override an interest in their separate development as individuals.”

“Housework is work directly opposed to the possibility of human self-actualization.”

“Clearly, society has a tremendous stake in insisting on a woman's natural fitness for the career of mother: the alternatives are all too expensive.”

“There are always women who will take men on their own terms. If I were a man I wouldn't bother to change while there are women like that around.”

“If love means that one person absorbs the other, then no real relationship exists any more. Love evaporates; there is nothing left to love. The integrity of self is gone.”