To love well is the task in all meaningful relationships, not just romantic bonds. - bell hooks

The idealized woman becomes property, symbol, and ornament; she is stripped of her essential human qualities. The devalued woman becomes a different kind of object; she is the spittoon in which men release their negative anti-woman feelings.

Valuing ourselves rightly means we understand love to be the only foundation of being that will sustain us in both times of lack and times of plenty

Popular escapist fiction enchants adult readers without challenging them to be educated for critical consciousness.