--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Women's liberation and empowerment are…" description: "\"“Women's liberation and empowerment are terms feminists started using to talk about casting off the limitations imposed upon women and demanding equali..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/55d/ariel-levy-7405_feminism_women-s-liberation-and-empowerment-are-t_2620561.jpg" --- # Women's liberation and empowerment are terms feminists… ![“Women's liberation and empowerment are terms feminists started using to talk about casting off the limitations imposed upon women and demanding equality. We have perverted these words. The freedom to be sexually provocative or promiscuous is not enough freedom; it is not the only 'women's issue'…” quote by Ariel Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/55d/ariel-levy-7405_feminism_women-s-liberation-and-empowerment-are-t_2620561.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/55d/ariel-levy-7405_feminism_women-s-liberation-and-empowerment-are-t_2620561.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/55d/ariel-levy-7405_feminism_women-s-liberation-and-empowerment-are-t_2620561.jpg) > ““Women's liberation and empowerment are terms feminists started using to talk about casting off the limitations imposed upon women and demanding equality. We have perverted these words. The freedom to be sexually provocative or promiscuous is not enough freedom; it is not the only 'women's issue' worth paying attention to. And we are not even free in the sexual arena. We have simply adopted a new norm, a new role to play: lusty, busty exhibitionist. There are other choices. If we are really going to be sexually liberated, we need to make room for a range of options as wide as the variety of human desire. We need to allow ourselves the freedom to figure out what we internally want from sex instead of mimicking whatever popular culture holds up to us as sexy. That would be liberation.”” [Ariel Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-levy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True sexual freedom requires diverse choices, not just provocative norms; empowerment means honoring personal desire over cultural scripts. **In simple terms:** Freedom means many options, not just one. Key Takeaway Respect individual sexual agency. Themes gender sexuality empowerment Mood thoughtful hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - relationships - media representation - education policy - personal development - activism Key Concepts feminism culture choice Questions to Reflect On - What personal desires are you suppressing? - How can society support varied sexual expressions? A Different Perspective Simplistic norms can restrict genuine liberation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Freedom Sexually](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom-sexually-2106583/) [Liberation Empowerment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberation-empowerment-2106582/) [Paying Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paying-attention/) [Popular culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/popular-culture/) [Sexually Liberated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sexually-liberated-734452/) [Sexy Liberation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sexy-liberation-2106581/) [Women Liberation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women-liberation/) ## Related quotes > [The religions of the world must be assessed, not on the basis of their convoluted theologies, but in terms of the extent to which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnivesh/the-religions-of-the-world-must-be-assessed-not-on-the-basis-of-their/) [Agnivesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnivesh/) > [“Without a doubt there are some women who feel their most sexual with their vaginas waxed, their labia trimmed, their breasts enlarged, and their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-levy/without-a-doubt-there-are-some-women-who-feel-their-most-sexual-with/) [Ariel Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-levy/) > [“If half this country feels so threatened by two people of the same gender being in love and having sex (and, incidentally, enjoying equal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-levy/if-half-this-country-feels-so-threatened-by-two-people-of-the-same/) [Ariel Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-levy/) > [“We skipped over the part where we just accept and respect that some women like to seem exhibitionistic and lickerish, and decided instead that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-levy/we-skipped-over-the-part-where-we-just-accept-and-respect-that-some/) [Ariel Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-levy/) > [I'm a sexually liberated woman that earned that liberation. I am very proud of the fact that I feel comfortable in certain forums discussing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennifer-flowers/i-m-a-sexually-liberated-woman-that-earned-that-liberation-i-am-very/) [Gennifer Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennifer-flowers/) > [I like to have fun. I'm definitely sexually liberated and all that good stuff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cee-lo-green/i-like-to-have-fun-i-m-definitely-sexually-liberated-and-all-that/) [Cee Lo Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cee-lo-green/) > [“What's the use of being sexually liberated, if no one else wants you?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-valentine/what-s-the-use-of-being-sexually-liberated-if-no-one-else-wants-you/) [John Valentine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-valentine/) > [I like aggressive and sexually liberated women. It's hot to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cee-lo-green/i-like-aggressive-and-sexually-liberated-women-it-s-hot-to-me/) [Cee Lo Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cee-lo-green/) > [I think the fallacy is to think that Women's Liberation meant that men and women would become interchangeable. That has not happened, and most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-hoff-sommers/i-think-the-fallacy-is-to-think-that-women-s-liberation-meant-that/) [Christina Hoff Sommers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-hoff-sommers/) > [The point of women's liberation is not to stand at the door of the male world, beating our fists, and crying, 'Let me in,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivian-gornick/the-point-of-women-s-liberation-is-not-to-stand-at-the-door-of-the/) [Vivian Gornick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivian-gornick/) > [Women's liberation, if not the most extreme then certainly the most influential neo-Marxist movement in America, has done to the American home what communism…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-wisse/women-s-liberation-if-not-the-most-extreme-then-certainly-the-most/) [Ruth Wisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-wisse/) > [It's all up to you, girls. You have to be strong. These are the days of post-women's liberation. You have grown up by now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-acker/it-s-all-up-to-you-girls-you-have-to-be-strong-these-are-the-days-of/) [Kathy Acker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-acker/) > [I know black women in Tennessee who have worked all their lives, from the time they were twelve years old to the day they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilma-rudolph/i-know-black-women-in-tennessee-who-have-worked-all-their-lives-from/) [Wilma Rudolph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilma-rudolph/) > [Women's Liberation calls it enslavement but the real truth about the sexual revolution is that it has made of sex an almost chaotically limitless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/midge-decter/women-s-liberation-calls-it-enslavement-but-the-real-truth-about-the/) [Midge Decter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/midge-decter/) > [“My story is the story of a life shaped by and devoted to the movement for women’s liberation” would be cheered, not jeered. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-rodham-clinton/my-story-is-the-story-of-a-life-shaped-by-and-devoted-to-the-movement/) [Hillary Rodham Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-rodham-clinton/) ## More by Ariel Levy > [This thinking that you can have every single thing you want in life is not the thinking of a feminist. It's the thinking of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-levy/this-thinking-that-you-can-have-every-single-thing-you-want-in-life/) [Ariel Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-levy/) > [No one could save me from the grief of losing my child or losing my first marriage. I had to do that on my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-levy/no-one-could-save-me-from-the-grief-of-losing-my-child-or-losing-my/) [Ariel Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-levy/) > [“chest—I could hear him denigrating Obama at the top of his lungs, which seemed to make Mary only slightly less uncomfortable than it made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-levy/chest-i-could-hear-him-denigrating-obama-at-the-top-of-his-lungs/) [Ariel Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-levy/) > [“A real editor isn't just someone you work with; he's your guide.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-levy/a-real-editor-isn-t-just-someone-you-work-with-he-s-your-guide/) [Ariel Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-levy/) > [“Death comes for us. You may get ten minutes on this earth or you may get eighty years but nobody gets out alive. Accepting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-levy/death-comes-for-us-you-may-get-ten-minutes-on-this-earth-or-you-may/) [Ariel Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-levy/) > [“Writing was the solution to every problem—financial, emotional, intellectual. It had kept me company when I was a lonely child. It gave me an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-levy/writing-was-the-solution-to-every-problem-financial-emotional/) [Ariel Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-levy/) > [“These are not stories about girls getting what they want sexually, they are stories about girls gaining acclaim socially, for which their sexuality is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-levy/these-are-not-stories-about-girls-getting-what-they-want-sexually/) [Ariel Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-levy/) > [“We want a mate who feels like family and a lover who is exotic, surprising.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-levy/we-want-a-mate-who-feels-like-family-and-a-lover-who-is-exotic/) [Ariel Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-levy/) > [“Life is uncooperative, impartial, incontestable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-levy/life-is-uncooperative-impartial-incontestable/) [Ariel Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-levy/) > [A wedding, a great wedding, is just a blast. A celebration of romance and community and love... What is unfun about that? Nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-levy/a-wedding-a-great-wedding-is-just-a-blast-a-celebration-of-romance/) [Ariel Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-levy/) > [“Instead of trying to reform other people's - or her own - perception of feminist, the FCP likes to position herself as something outside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-levy/instead-of-trying-to-reform-other-people-s-or-her-own-perception-of/) [Ariel Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-levy/) > [For 10 minutes, I was somebody's mother, and that was both the most traumatic and also the most transcendent experience of my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-levy/for-10-minutes-i-was-somebody-s-mother-and-that-was-both-the-most/) [Ariel Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-levy/) > [“We shared an explosive enthusiasm that we blasted out of our bodies with alcohol. It was almost a sport. We tore through sobriety together,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-levy/we-shared-an-explosive-enthusiasm-that-we-blasted-out-of-our-bodies/) [Ariel Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-levy/) > [I haven't really rebelled. I just think my parents were right. I never disagreed with anything that I was brought up with, in terms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-levy/i-haven-t-really-rebelled-i-just-think-my-parents-were-right-i-never/) [Ariel Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-levy/) > [“Sex is one of the most interesting things we as humans have to play with, and we've reduced it to polyester underpants and implants.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-levy/sex-is-one-of-the-most-interesting-things-we-as-humans-have-to-play/) [Ariel Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-levy/) [Explore all 91 Ariel Levy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-levy/) ## More Feminism quotes > [“But benevolent patriarchy is still patriarchy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/but-benevolent-patriarchy-is-still-patriarchy/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [“This story is not at all an uncommon one in tech circles, including gaming. The popular notion is that women who get ahead must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bailey-poland/this-story-is-not-at-all-an-uncommon-one-in-tech-circles-including/) [Bailey Poland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bailey-poland/) > [Without meaning to sound anti-men, ghastly women are the closest you get to a male role.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-burke/without-meaning-to-sound-anti-men-ghastly-women-are-the-closest-you/) [Kathy Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-burke/) > [If the women in the factories stopped work for twenty minutes, the Allies would lose the war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joffre/if-the-women-in-the-factories-stopped-work-for-twenty-minutes-the/) [Joseph Joffre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joffre/) > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [“If attempting to make the world a civilized one, makes you a bad woman in the eyes of the dumb patriarchal society, then, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/if-attempting-to-make-the-world-a-civilized-one-makes-you-a-bad-woman/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“there was something of the women molded into the great, stalwart frame of Hollingsworth; nor was he ashamed of it; as men often are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/there-was-something-of-the-women-molded-into-the-great-stalwart-frame/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [Women rule the world. 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Why? The “integrated” agency will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoram-wind/women-will-be-at-least-50-percent-of-the-communications-community/) [Yoram Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoram-wind/) [Browse all 15,705 Feminism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Women's liberation and empowerment are terms feminists started using to talk about casting off the limitations imposed upon women and demanding equality. We have perverted these words. The freedom to be sexually provocative or promiscuous is not enough freedom; it is not the only 'women's issue' worth paying attention to. And we are not even free in the sexual arena. We have simply adopted a new norm, a new role to play: lusty, busty exhibitionist. There are other choices. If we are really going to be sexually liberated, we need to make room for a range of options as wide as the variety of human desire. 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