Quotes from The Female of the Species

“But boys will be boys, our favorite phrase that excuses so many things, while the only thing we have for the opposite gender is women, said with disdain and punctuated with an eye roll.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“You see it in all animals - the female of the species is more deadly than the male.'

'Except humans.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“You can love someone down to their core and they can love you right back just as hard, and if you traded diaries you’d learn things you never suspected. There’s a part of everyone deep down inside of them not meant for you. And the sooner you learn that, the easier your life is gonna be.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“Anger makes you tired, but guilt keeps you from falling asleep.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“I live in a world where not being molested as a child is considered luck.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“Everyone thinks if you fix a male dog it will lower his aggression, but most of the biters are female. It’s basic instinct to protect their womb. You see it in all animals - the female of the species is more deadly than the male.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“I’ll keep doing it even though she’s not here to defend.
Because there are others like him still. Tonight they used words they know, words that don’t bother people anymore. They said bitch. They told another girl they would put their dicks in her mouth. No one protested because this is our language now. But then I used my words, strung in phrases that cut deep, and people paid attention; people gasped. People didn’t know what to think.
My language is shocking.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“There are laws in place that stop us from doing things. This is what we tell ourselves. In truth we stop ourselves; the law is a guideline for how to punish someone who is caught.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“Why me, then?” I ask. “Why not Branley? She’s way hotter and was just as drunk as I was.”
Alex shakes her head as she sits back down. “Physical attractiveness has nothing to do with it. You were alone, isolated, and weak. The three of them had been watching girls all night, waiting for someone to separate from a group. It happened to be you, but it could’ve been anyone else. Opportunity is what matters, nothing else. […] I’m telling you, Claire. It doesn’t matter. What you were wearing. What you look like. Nothing. Watch the nature channel. Predators go for the easy prey.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“When the pain originates with someone who is gone, it’s your own memory that hurts you.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“It’s not the sheep that call to me, but the other wolves. I want to run with them, so that I may tear out their throats when they threaten my flock. But I can’t return to the sheep with blood on my breath; they will shy away from me.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“The books didn't help me find a word for myself; my father refused to accept the weight of it. And so I made my own.
I am vengeance.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“You shouldn’t be that way about her,” Alex says. “I hear what people say and I bet half of it isn’t even true. And even if it is—fine. She’s no different from you and me; she wants to have sex. So let her.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“When animals make a stupid mistake, you laugh at them. A cat misjudges a leap. A dog looks overly quizzical about a simple object. These are funny things. But when a person doesn’t understand something, if they miscalculate and hit the brakes too late, blame is assigned. They are stupid. They are wrong. Teachers and cops are there to sort it out, with a trail of paperwork to illustrate the stupidity. The faults. The evidence and incidents of these things. We have entire systems in place to help decide who is what.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“It's easier to like animals than people.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“And so I’m waiting for another rejection, another affirmation that I don’t belong among these people. That it’s not safe for me to be here.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“There are parts of yourself that you hate; parts that you know other people wouldn't understand.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“Ray Parsons, you have no soul”, she says, her voice gaining volume as she speaks. “You are a bag of skin. You are a pile of bones. Every cell that has ever split inside of you was a waste of energy. Where you walk you leave a vacuum. Your existence should cease.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“When animals make a stupid mistake, you laugh at them. A cat misjudges a leap. A dog looks overly quizzical about a simple object. These are funny things. But when a person doesn’t understand something, if they miscalculate and hit the brakes too late, blame is assigned. They are stupid. They are wrong. Teachers and cops are there to sort it out, with a trail of paperwork to illustrate the stupidity. The faults. The evidence and incidents of these things. We have entire systems in place to help decide who is what. Sometimes the systems don’t work. Families spend their weekend afternoons at animal shelters, even when they’re not looking for a pet. They come to see the unwanted and unloved. The cats and dogs who don’t understand why they are these things. They are petted and combed, walked and fed, cooed over and kissed. Then they go back in their cages and sometimes tears are shed. Fuzzy faces peering through bars can be unbearable for many. Change the face to a human one and the reaction changes. The reason why is because people should know better. But our logic is skewed in this respect. A dog that bites is a dead dog. First day at the shelter and I already saw one put to sleep, which in itself is a misleading phrase. Sleep implies that you have the option of waking up. Once their bodies pass unconsciousness to something deeper where systems start to fail, they revolt a little bit, put up a fight on a molecular level. They kick. They cry. They don’t want to go. And this happens because their jaws closed over a human hand, ever so briefly. Maybe even just the once. But people, they get chances. They get the benefit of the doubt. Even though they have the higher logic functioning and they knew when they did it THEY KNEW it was a bad thing.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“I am a wolf that my sister kept in a cage, until her hand was removed.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“Anna told me I would understand about boys one day.
She said that everything would change and I would look at them differently, assess their bodies and their words, the way their eyes moved when they talked to me. She said I’d not only want to answer them but that I’d learn how, knowing which words to use, how to give meaning to a pause.
Then a man took her.
A man took her before I learned any of these things. He took her and kept her for a while, put things inside of her. Of course the obvious thing, but also some others, like he was curious if they’d fit. Then he got bored. Then he got creative.
Then my sister was gone and I thought: I understand about boys now.
And she was right. Everything did change. I look at them differently and I assess their bodies and watch their eyes and weigh their words.
But not in the way she meant.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“I use my markers as I go from place to place. Seeing evidence of my small rebellions, spots where my death was allowed to vent and has impacted the world around me, no longer safely encapsulated inside. My life is made of these tiny maps, my paths always steady as I move inside a constricted area, the only one I should ever be allowed to know.
My violence is everywhere here.
And I like it.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“Who is your supervisor?” she asks, glancing around the room as if suddenly realizing she’s the only adult here.
“God,” I say.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“But boys will be boys, our favorite phrase that excuses so many things, while the only thing we have for the opposite gender is women, said with disdain and punctuated with an eye roll.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“Sometimes I forget for one second and it hurts.
It’s a different kind of pain than the constant, the weight that hangs from my heart. It swings from twine embedded so deeply that my aorta has grown around it. Blood pulses past rope in the chambers of my heart, dragging away tiny fibers until my whole body is suffused and pain is all I am and ever can be.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“A puppy feels like life and love. Their entire bodies are soft—fur, skin, the pads of their feet new and delicate. They radiate warmth in the way science can explain, but it goes further than that. The heat of affection pours out of their eyes and makes their little butts wiggle like crazy as soon as they see a person—they don’t even care who. They’re love, encapsulated.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“If either one of you is ever in a situation you’re not entirely comfortable with—call me. I don’t care what time it is. I don’t care who is there or what is going on. You call me and I will come get you.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“Once I asked my dad how you know when you're in love. He said you just know, and that if you have to ask the question then you haven't been in love yet. And he's right. Because there aren't words for this. No combination of letters could ever represent what she is to me.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“There are parts of yourself that you hate; parts that you know other people wouldn’t understand. And he knew his own worst elements had been passed on to me, this unwieldy wrath that burns through my brain, turning reason to ash. So I can’t be angry with him for leaving when I understand too well the reason.”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

“Do no harm. Be nice. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
But what if I don’t want to catch the flies? What if I’d rather see them swatted?”
― Mindy McGinnis, quote from The Female of the Species

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