--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I saw my gender - and myself - as…" description: "\"I saw my gender - and myself - as something of a construct. Like anyone who read one too many women studies' books in the 1990s, I aspired to both 'do'..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f6/alissa-quart-6857_construct_i-saw-my-gender-and-myself-as-something_2325215.jpg" --- # I saw my gender - and myself - as something of a… ![“I saw my gender - and myself - as something of a construct. Like anyone who read one too many women studies' books in the 1990s, I aspired to both 'do' and undo my sex.” quote by Alissa Quart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f6/alissa-quart-6857_construct_i-saw-my-gender-and-myself-as-something_2325215.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f6/alissa-quart-6857_construct_i-saw-my-gender-and-myself-as-something_2325215.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f6/alissa-quart-6857_construct_i-saw-my-gender-and-myself-as-something_2325215.jpg) > “I saw my gender - and myself - as something of a construct. Like anyone who read one too many women studies' books in the 1990s, I aspired to both 'do' and undo my sex.” [Alissa Quart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-quart/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She viewed gender as a construct, aiming to both embody and dismantle it. **In simple terms:** Gender seen as a construct to be both lived and challenged. Key Takeaway Question and reshape gender norms. Themes gender identity social construct empowerment Mood critical empowering Type theoretical inspirational When to use this quote - activism - writing - personal reflection Key Concepts Feminist theory sociology psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does gender affect your daily choices? - What steps can you take to challenge norms? A Different Perspective Constructs are deeply ingrained, change can be slow. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Construct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/construct/) [Construct Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/construct-like-5573336/) [Gender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gender/) [Gender Construct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gender-construct-230643/) [Myself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myself/) [Saw Gender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saw-gender-1040505/) [Sex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sex/) [Something](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/something/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) ## Related quotes > [“Eventually you can't help but figure out that, while gender is a construct, so is a traffic light, and if you ignore either of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imogen-binnie/eventually-you-can-t-help-but-figure-out-that-while-gender-is-a/) [Imogen Binnie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/imogen-binnie/) > [Let me very proudly say that as a television actor, I never, ever saw any gender bias.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/smriti-irani/let-me-very-proudly-say-that-as-a-television-actor-i-never-ever-saw/) [Smriti Irani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/smriti-irani/) > [You have your assigned sex but gender is more of a construct and I think one that is incredibly disillusioning and I think when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esme-creed-miles/you-have-your-assigned-sex-but-gender-is-more-of-a-construct-and-i/) [Esme Creed-Miles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esme-creed-miles/) > [I never saw gender as a barrier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-mcmahon/i-never-saw-gender-as-a-barrier/) [Stephanie McMahon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-mcmahon/) > [“With my own hands, I had to construct this thing I called ‘I’ –or, rather, make the things that constituted me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/with-my-own-hands-i-had-to-construct-this-thing-i-called-i-or-rather/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Every great building once begun as a building plan. That means, sitting in that building plan on the table is a mighty structure not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/every-great-building-once-begun-as-a-building-plan-that-means-sitting/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [I studied screenwriting at film school and was constantly learning how to construct three-act dramas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-lindholm/i-studied-screenwriting-at-film-school-and-was-constantly-learning/) [Tobias Lindholm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-lindholm/) > [It certainly is possible to construct a moon base in such a way that crews could stay for extended periods of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-duke/it-certainly-is-possible-to-construct-a-moon-base-in-such-a-way-that/) [Charles Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-duke/) > [I construct myself and do things how I want to do them, because your artistry is a very precious thing - it's ultimately your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tash-sultana/i-construct-myself-and-do-things-how-i-want-to-do-them-because-your/) [Tash Sultana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tash-sultana/) > [“Success will locate and visit you even if you are static wherever you are... But remember you are responsible for constructing the roads... Go,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/success-will-locate-and-visit-you-even-if-you-are-static-wherever-you/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [“GOD IS A CONSTRUCT, CREATED TO CARRY ALL”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-seiler/god-is-a-construct-created-to-carry-all/) [Elaine Seiler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-seiler/) > [Inevitably we construct ourselves. Let me explain. I enter this house and immediately I become what I have to become, what I can become:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luigi-pirandello/inevitably-we-construct-ourselves-let-me-explain-i-enter-this-house/) [Luigi Pirandello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luigi-pirandello/) > [I'm proposing a change: love thy worker-bee. Celebrate the ones who toil without complaint, play on a team, construct the hive, produce the honey...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-lublin/i-m-proposing-a-change-love-thy-worker-bee-celebrate-the-ones-who/) [Nancy Lublin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-lublin/) > [There is no better way of elevating the novel than by making it into a construct which contains ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-mann/there-is-no-better-way-of-elevating-the-novel-than-by-making-it-into/) [Heinrich Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-mann/) > [“Societies everywhere have a tendency to construct a genealogically useful past for themselves in which desirable versions of their history are favored and unwanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tudor-parfitt/societies-everywhere-have-a-tendency-to-construct-a-genealogically/) [Tudor Parfitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tudor-parfitt/) ## More by Alissa Quart > [In the local state school I attended in England, I saw and heard far more awareness of where a person stood in the social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-quart/in-the-local-state-school-i-attended-in-england-i-saw-and-heard-far/) [Alissa Quart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-quart/) > [Low-cost gear can make restless people like myself feel marginally happier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-quart/low-cost-gear-can-make-restless-people-like-myself-feel-marginally/) [Alissa Quart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-quart/) > ['Middle class' used to mean having two children and sending them to high-quality public schools, or even occasionally to private schools. It meant new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-quart/middle-class-used-to-mean-having-two-children-and-sending-them-to/) [Alissa Quart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-quart/) > [I think our families or parents were trying to do best by us by telling us, 'Do what you love.' On an existential level,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-quart/i-think-our-families-or-parents-were-trying-to-do-best-by-us-by/) [Alissa Quart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-quart/) > [When I was doing my research for 'Branded,' I'd meet groups of teenagers and preteenagers or tweens, and they would laugh at a magazine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-quart/when-i-was-doing-my-research-for-branded-i-d-meet-groups-of-teenagers/) [Alissa Quart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-quart/) > [To be 'squeezed' is to be bound by a very American psychological and socio-economic predicament. Being squeezed involves one's finances, one's social status, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-quart/to-be-squeezed-is-to-be-bound-by-a-very-american-psychological-and/) [Alissa Quart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-quart/) > [Americans overall may live better than medieval aristocrats could dream of, but that means nothing when oligarchs live in the neighborhood next door, flaunting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-quart/americans-overall-may-live-better-than-medieval-aristocrats-could/) [Alissa Quart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-quart/) > [A lot of the things that bore adults don't bore children, and people forget that. In some ways, boredom is a projection of adults…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-quart/a-lot-of-the-things-that-bore-adults-don-t-bore-children-and-people/) [Alissa Quart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-quart/) > [Part of why daycare is so poorly paid is because the sense that they're prisoners of love, that daycare workers love their work so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-quart/part-of-why-daycare-is-so-poorly-paid-is-because-the-sense-that-they/) [Alissa Quart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-quart/) > [Sometimes I think that the public's lack of criticism of the rich - and how they seek their pleasure - might derive from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-quart/sometimes-i-think-that-the-public-s-lack-of-criticism-of-the-rich-and/) [Alissa Quart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-quart/) > [Piercing minds go mute around poetry. It is imagined to be overly technical, like advanced arithmetic; otherworldly, priestess-like; suffocatingly personal; excessively decorative; exhaustingly bourgeois…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-quart/piercing-minds-go-mute-around-poetry-it-is-imagined-to-be-overly/) [Alissa Quart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-quart/) > [Our social fabric is sundered. GoFundMe and the other crowdfunding sites that have proliferated since 2010 are an example of what has sprung up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-quart/our-social-fabric-is-sundered-gofundme-and-the-other-crowdfunding/) [Alissa Quart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-quart/) > [Parenting makes us better in so many regards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-quart/parenting-makes-us-better-in-so-many-regards/) [Alissa Quart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-quart/) > [There are caste systems in American cities: Many are marginalized to the edges of urban centers due to real estate costs; price tags seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-quart/there-are-caste-systems-in-american-cities-many-are-marginalized-to/) [Alissa Quart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-quart/) > [Uber is hardly the first company to exploit the financial vulnerability of teachers - and the desperation of public schools more broadly - to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alissa-quart/uber-is-hardly-the-first-company-to-exploit-the-financial/) [Alissa Quart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-quart/) [Explore all 97 Alissa Quart quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alissa-quart/) ## More Construct quotes > [“Societies everywhere have a tendency to construct a genealogically useful past for themselves in which desirable versions of their history are favored and unwanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tudor-parfitt/societies-everywhere-have-a-tendency-to-construct-a-genealogically/) [Tudor Parfitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tudor-parfitt/) > [There is no better way of elevating the novel than by making it into a construct which contains ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-mann/there-is-no-better-way-of-elevating-the-novel-than-by-making-it-into/) [Heinrich Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-mann/) > [I'm proposing a change: love thy worker-bee. Celebrate the ones who toil without complaint, play on a team, construct the hive, produce the honey...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-lublin/i-m-proposing-a-change-love-thy-worker-bee-celebrate-the-ones-who/) [Nancy Lublin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-lublin/) > [Inevitably we construct ourselves. Let me explain. I enter this house and immediately I become what I have to become, what I can become:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luigi-pirandello/inevitably-we-construct-ourselves-let-me-explain-i-enter-this-house/) [Luigi Pirandello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luigi-pirandello/) > [“GOD IS A CONSTRUCT, CREATED TO CARRY ALL”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-seiler/god-is-a-construct-created-to-carry-all/) [Elaine Seiler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-seiler/) > [“Success will locate and visit you even if you are static wherever you are... But remember you are responsible for constructing the roads... Go,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/success-will-locate-and-visit-you-even-if-you-are-static-wherever-you/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [I construct myself and do things how I want to do them, because your artistry is a very precious thing - it's ultimately your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tash-sultana/i-construct-myself-and-do-things-how-i-want-to-do-them-because-your/) [Tash Sultana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tash-sultana/) > [It certainly is possible to construct a moon base in such a way that crews could stay for extended periods of time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-duke/it-certainly-is-possible-to-construct-a-moon-base-in-such-a-way-that/) [Charles Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-duke/) > [I studied screenwriting at film school and was constantly learning how to construct three-act dramas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-lindholm/i-studied-screenwriting-at-film-school-and-was-constantly-learning/) [Tobias Lindholm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-lindholm/) > [“Every great building once begun as a building plan. That means, sitting in that building plan on the table is a mighty structure not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/every-great-building-once-begun-as-a-building-plan-that-means-sitting/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [“With my own hands, I had to construct this thing I called ‘I’ –or, rather, make the things that constituted me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/with-my-own-hands-i-had-to-construct-this-thing-i-called-i-or-rather/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If I were going to construct a God I would furnish him with some ways and qualities and characteristics which the Present One lacks...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-i-were-going-to-construct-a-god-i-would-furnish-him-with-some-ways/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [We can make life in the computer. Granted, it's limited, but we have learned what it takes in order to actually construct it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-adami/we-can-make-life-in-the-computer-granted-it-s-limited-but-we-have/) [Chris Adami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-adami/) > [Everyones opinion is a social construct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/everyones-opinion-is-a-social-construct/) [Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/) > [Sound public finances are the essential foundation on which to construct a better-balanced economy from the wreckage of Labour's boom and bust. But it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-hammond/sound-public-finances-are-the-essential-foundation-on-which-to/) [Philip Hammond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-hammond/) [Browse all 106 Construct quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/construct/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I saw my gender - and myself - as something of a construct. 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