I know that some endeavor to throw the mantle of romance over the subject and treat woman like some ideal existence, not liable to the ills of life. Let those deal in fancy who have nothing better to deal in; we have to do with sober, sad realities, with stubborn facts.

Mistress of herself: speeches and letters of Ernestine L. Rose, early women's rights leader (ed. The Feminist Press at CUNY, 2008)