I have me brave women who are exploring the outer edge of human possibility, with no history to guide them, and with a courage to make themselves vulnerable that I find moving beyond words.
Gloria SteinemRead
If women are supposed to be less rational and more emotional at the beginning of our menstrual cycle when the female hormone is at its lowest level, then why isn't it logical to say that, in those few days, women behave the most like the way men behave all month long?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote challenges stereotypes about women's emotional rationality during their menstrual cycle by comparing it to men's behavior.
Gloria Steinem's quote critiques the societal notion that women are inherently more emotional than men, particularly during their menstrual cycles. It suggests that if women are perceived as less rational during this time, it is only logical to consider that men may exhibit similar emotional behaviors more consistently throughout the month, thus questioning the validity of such gendered assumptions about emotionality and rationality.
Themes
GenderEmotionRationalityStereotypesBehavior
In practice
Example use cases
During a panel discussion on gender roles, you might reference this quote to illustrate how gender stereotypes are often flawed.
More from Gloria Steinem
All quotes →Age brings a freedom. When you're young, you're much more subject to the idea of what feminine is or how you should look or how you should behave.
Gloria SteinemRead
All those chemicals that create empathy only work when you are in a room together.
Gloria SteinemRead
Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.
Gloria SteinemRead
Obviously, there is much similarity among the challenges of transgender people and all women - from health care to harassment to discrimination in the workplace.
Gloria SteinemRead
I'm lucky I don't make my living in front of the camera.
Gloria SteinemRead
Similar quotes
Everything that explains the world has in fact explained a world that does not exist, a world in which men are at the center of the human enterprise and women are at the margin "helping' them. Such a world does not exist - never has.
Gerda LernerRead
They say that women talk too much. If you have worked in Congress you know that the filibuster was invented by men.
Clare Boothe LuceRead
Women must tell men always that they are the strong ones. They are the big, the strong, the wonderful. In truth, women are the strong ones. It is just my opinion, I am not a professor.
Coco ChanelRead
Patriarchy appears to be everywhere. Even outer space and the future have been colonized. As a rule, even the more imaginative science-fiction writers (allegedly the most foretelling futurists) cannot/will not create a space and time in which women get far beyond the role of space stewardess.
Mary DalyRead
Women want mediocre men, and men are working to be as mediocre as possible.
Margaret MeadRead
If you're a girl and you don't fit the very specific vision of what a girl should be, which is always from a man's perspective, then you're a little bit at a loss.
Ellen PageRead