A meme shared on Facebook in South Africa attributes some snide sexism to the late British author William Golding.
Headed “William Golding, British Novelist, Playwright & Poet”, it reads: “I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men. They are far superior and always have been. Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. If you give her sperm, she will give you a baby. If you give her a house, she will give you a home. If you give her groceries, she will give you a meal. If you give her a smile she will give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit!”
Best known for his 1954 novel Lord of the Flies, which tells of a group of schoolboys marooned on an island, Sir William Gerald Golding (1911 to 1993) was a Nobel Prize-winning writer.
While the first two sentences in the quote can be attributed to Golding, the rest were written by a more recent author.
The two sentences can be found in an audio recording of Golding’s introduction to Lord of the Flies, posted on YouTube. In it, he explains why the book featured boys, not girls.
At the 1:48 minute mark, Golding can be heard saying: “I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men. They are far superior and always have been.” He then continues to talk about the book. He does not say the rest of the quote, starting with “Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater.”
The UK website William Golding says the rest of the quote is not by Golding. “It is important to note that on occasion, lines from Erick S Gray are added to this quotation, and wrongly attributed to Golding.”
An article in the Literary Review of Canada, You Too: Selling men on gender equality, also says the rest of the quote is by Gray, a New York-based author of books such as Around the Way Girls 5 and Booty Call *69. Gray published his first novel in 2003, 10 years after Golding’s death. – Taryn Willows
Headed “William Golding, British Novelist, Playwright & Poet”, it reads: “I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men. They are far superior and always have been. Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. If you give her sperm, she will give you a baby. If you give her a house, she will give you a home. If you give her groceries, she will give you a meal. If you give her a smile she will give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit!”
Best known for his 1954 novel Lord of the Flies, which tells of a group of schoolboys marooned on an island, Sir William Gerald Golding (1911 to 1993) was a Nobel Prize-winning writer.
While the first two sentences in the quote can be attributed to Golding, the rest were written by a more recent author.
Golding explained why his book featured boys
The two sentences can be found in an audio recording of Golding’s introduction to Lord of the Flies, posted on YouTube. In it, he explains why the book featured boys, not girls.
At the 1:48 minute mark, Golding can be heard saying: “I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men. They are far superior and always have been.” He then continues to talk about the book. He does not say the rest of the quote, starting with “Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater.”
Most of quote by Erick Gray
The UK website William Golding says the rest of the quote is not by Golding. “It is important to note that on occasion, lines from Erick S Gray are added to this quotation, and wrongly attributed to Golding.”
An article in the Literary Review of Canada, You Too: Selling men on gender equality, also says the rest of the quote is by Gray, a New York-based author of books such as Around the Way Girls 5 and Booty Call *69. Gray published his first novel in 2003, 10 years after Golding’s death. – Taryn Willows
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