I would have girls regard themselves not as adjectives but as nouns.

Stanton’s grammatical metaphor argues that girls and women should understand themselves as complete, self-determining persons (“nouns”) rather than as modifiers of men’s lives (“adjectives”)—ornaments, helpers, or dependents whose value is defined relationally. The line condenses a core theme of nineteenth-century U.S. feminism: the demand for women’s individual rights, education, and civic identity independent of marriage or domestic roles. By invoking parts of speech, Stanton makes a complex political claim accessible and memorable: personhood should be primary, not derivative. The quote also critiques socialization that trains girls to prioritize pleasing, supporting, or enhancing others over cultivating their own agency and ambitions.