She had grown accustomed to people's responses to her. Many of them assumed that there was a polar choice between marriage and work and that the more enthusiastically she had embraced her job, the more vigourously she must have rejected the idea of children or male partnership. Elizabeth had given up trying to explain. She had taken a job because she needed to live; she had found an interesting one in preference to a dull one; she had tried to do well rather than badly. She could not see how any of these three logical steps implied a violent rejection of men or children.
by Sebastian Faulks
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Elizabeth had become used to the misconceptions people had about her choices in life, particularly regarding the balance between work and family. Many assumed that her enthusiasm for her career meant she had decisively turned away from the idea of marriage and motherhood. Despite this common belief, she found it exhausting to justify her decisions to others.

For Elizabeth, her job was a necessity for survival, and she prioritized finding fulfilling work over mundane tasks. She strived to excel in her profession, and it puzzled her that these logical choices were interpreted as a rejection of traditional roles. Her perspective highlighted the complexity of women's identities beyond societal expectations.

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