Only Girls Bleed

Dr. Elaine Lawless has devoted her career to ethnographic research in the fields of folklore, religion, and women’s and gender studies.

Dr. Elaine Lawless has devoted her career to ethnographic research in the fields of folklore, religion, and women’s and gender studies.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any

form, or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this

publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The truth is, when Molly was six, or seven, somewhere around there, she just stopped walking.

In the uneasy quiet, I breathe in the darkness that settles on the cavernous room where I live with seventy-five other caged women.