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About this quote

What does it mean?
A young girl is like a freshly picked flower, but a culpable woman is a flower that has been trodden upon.
In plain terms
Youth is fresh; wrongdoing stains a woman's reputation.
What can you take from it?
Moral judgments can diminish a woman's perceived value.

Where it applies

  • discussing gender roles
  • evaluating character

Putting it to work

  • avoiding harsh labeling
  • recognizing complexity

Questions to consider

  • What assumptions underlie this view?
  • How does language shape gender perception?

Another view

The metaphor reduces women to objects and ignores agency.

More from Honore de Balzac

  1. On amplifie egalement le malheur et le boneur, nous ne sommes jamais ni si malheureux, ni si heureux qu'on le dit.

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  2. Tuer un parent de qui l'on se plaint, c'est quelque chose; mais heriter de lui, c'est la un plaisir!

    Permalink to quote #17
  3. Lorsque les femmes nous aiment, elles nous pardonnent tout, meme nos crimes; lorsqu'elles ne nous aiment pas, elles ne nous pardonnent rien, pas meme nos vertu…

    Permalink to quote #14

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