--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I've always wondered, like, what is so…" description: "\"I've always wondered, like, what is so masculine about abstraction? How did men get the ownership over this?\" — Cecily Brown" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/176/cecily-brown-44932_abstraction_i-ve-always-wondered-like-what-is-so-mas_2207116.jpg" --- # I've always wondered, like, what is so masculine about… ![“I've always wondered, like, what is so masculine about abstraction? How did men get the ownership over this?” quote by Cecily Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/176/cecily-brown-44932_abstraction_i-ve-always-wondered-like-what-is-so-mas_2207116.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/176/cecily-brown-44932_abstraction_i-ve-always-wondered-like-what-is-so-mas_2207116.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/176/cecily-brown-44932_abstraction_i-ve-always-wondered-like-what-is-so-mas_2207116.jpg) > “I've always wondered, like, what is so masculine about abstraction? How did men get the ownership over this?” [Cecily Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecily-brown/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker questions why abstraction is seen as masculine and how men came to dominate this intellectual domain. **In simple terms:** Abstraction is viewed as male-dominated. Key Takeaway Challenge gender stereotypes in abstract fields. Themes gender abstraction power dynamics Mood reflective analytical Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - education - creative industries - leadership development Key Concepts philosophy art cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - Why do we associate abstraction with masculinity? - How can we foster inclusive abstract thinking? A Different Perspective Historical biases may persist despite progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) [Abstraction Did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction-did-4872396/) [Like Masculine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-masculine-2186441/) [Masculine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/masculine/) [Masculine Abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/masculine-abstraction-4872395/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Ownership](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ownership/) ## Related quotes > [I like very masculine smells. I like wood scents on men. I just like a man to smell great, but I don't like very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-white/i-like-very-masculine-smells-i-like-wood-scents-on-men-i-just-like-a/) [Jessica White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-white/) > [I don't like the masculine style, jeans. I like issey miyake... and black dresses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zaha-hadid/i-don-t-like-the-masculine-style-jeans-i-like-issey-miyake-and-black/) [Zaha Hadid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zaha-hadid/) > [“I like masculine aesthetics. But I also write, make art, have written poetry, and like feminine aesthetics as well. I am probably seen as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angel-millar/i-like-masculine-aesthetics-but-i-also-write-make-art-have-written-2/) [Angel Millar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angel-millar/) > [On the whole, we need to stop pretending women don't like masculine men, and women need to stop trying to convince themselves otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brett-cooper/on-the-whole-we-need-to-stop-pretending-women-don-t-like-masculine/) [Brett Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brett-cooper/) > [“I like masculine aesthetics. But I also write, make art, have written poetry, and like feminine aesthetics as well. I am probably seen as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angel-millar/i-like-masculine-aesthetics-but-i-also-write-make-art-have-written/) [Angel Millar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angel-millar/) > [Somewhere in our cultural subconscious, we crave these figures that are big and strong and unassailable, like masculine fortresses. It's like how the 9/11…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-coady/somewhere-in-our-cultural-subconscious-we-crave-these-figures-that/) [Lynn Coady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-coady/) > [Serial or sex murder, like fetishism, is a perversion of male intelligence. It is a criminal abstraction, masculine in its deranged egotism and orderliness.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/serial-or-sex-murder-like-fetishism-is-a-perversion-of-male/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [Of the many forms of false culture, a premature converse with abstractions is perhaps the most likely to prove fatal to the growth of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-boole/of-the-many-forms-of-false-culture-a-premature-converse-with/) [George Boole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-boole/) > [I often avoid using the terms 'figuration' and 'abstraction' because I've always tried to have it both ways. I want the experience of looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecily-brown/i-often-avoid-using-the-terms-figuration-and-abstraction-because-i-ve/) [Cecily Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecily-brown/) > [I like residing in abstraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sufjan-stevens/i-like-residing-in-abstraction/) [Sufjan Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sufjan-stevens/) > [Sometimes I start in a very realistic fashion, and as I go on from one painting to another of the same kind, it becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/sometimes-i-start-in-a-very-realistic-fashion-and-as-i-go-on-from-one/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [But we must not underestimate the potency of the mathematical process of abstraction. A surprising variety of things happen to have both magnitude and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banesh-hoffmann/but-we-must-not-underestimate-the-potency-of-the-mathematical-process/) [Banesh Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banesh-hoffmann/) > [Two elements are needed to form a truth - a fact and an abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/two-elements-are-needed-to-form-a-truth-a-fact-and-an-abstraction/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [The premises from which we begin are not arbitrary ones, not dogmas, but real premises from which abstraction can only be made in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/the-premises-from-which-we-begin-are-not-arbitrary-ones-not-dogmas/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/everything-in-dancing-is-style-allusion-the-essence-of-many-thoughts/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) ## More by Cecily Brown > [I'm not the kind of artist who has an idea and then carries it out; it's more like I find what the idea was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecily-brown/i-m-not-the-kind-of-artist-who-has-an-idea-and-then-carries-it-out-it/) [Cecily Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecily-brown/) > [My process is really quite organic, and starting a painting is one of the best parts for me. I always start in quite a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecily-brown/my-process-is-really-quite-organic-and-starting-a-painting-is-one-of/) [Cecily Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecily-brown/) > [I have always wanted to make paintings that are impossible to walk past, paintings that grab and hold your attention. The more you look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecily-brown/i-have-always-wanted-to-make-paintings-that-are-impossible-to-walk/) [Cecily Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecily-brown/) > [Often, I find it really hard to see what I'm doing when I'm in the thick of things. I can get too precious and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecily-brown/often-i-find-it-really-hard-to-see-what-i-m-doing-when-i-m-in-the/) [Cecily Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecily-brown/) > [When I moved to New York, I was waiting tables, painting in the daytime and working at night, and I felt it was possible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecily-brown/when-i-moved-to-new-york-i-was-waiting-tables-painting-in-the-daytime/) [Cecily Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecily-brown/) > [I often avoid using the terms 'figuration' and 'abstraction' because I've always tried to have it both ways. I want the experience of looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecily-brown/i-often-avoid-using-the-terms-figuration-and-abstraction-because-i-ve/) [Cecily Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecily-brown/) > [I love the trick of painting. You can have the movement within the still thing, but it is completely fixed. And that illusion is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecily-brown/i-love-the-trick-of-painting-you-can-have-the-movement-within-the/) [Cecily Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecily-brown/) > [I’m very interested in sublimation. I love the way Francis Bacon talked about the grin without the cat, the sensation without the boredom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecily-brown/i-m-very-interested-in-sublimation-i-love-the-way-francis-bacon/) [Cecily Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecily-brown/) [Explore all 9 Cecily Brown quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecily-brown/) ## More Abstraction quotes > [Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/everything-in-dancing-is-style-allusion-the-essence-of-many-thoughts/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [The premises from which we begin are not arbitrary ones, not dogmas, but real premises from which abstraction can only be made in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/the-premises-from-which-we-begin-are-not-arbitrary-ones-not-dogmas/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [Two elements are needed to form a truth - a fact and an abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/two-elements-are-needed-to-form-a-truth-a-fact-and-an-abstraction/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [But we must not underestimate the potency of the mathematical process of abstraction. A surprising variety of things happen to have both magnitude and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banesh-hoffmann/but-we-must-not-underestimate-the-potency-of-the-mathematical-process/) [Banesh Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banesh-hoffmann/) > [Sometimes I start in a very realistic fashion, and as I go on from one painting to another of the same kind, it becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/sometimes-i-start-in-a-very-realistic-fashion-and-as-i-go-on-from-one/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [I like residing in abstraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sufjan-stevens/i-like-residing-in-abstraction/) [Sufjan Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sufjan-stevens/) > [Cancer begins and ends with people. In the midst of scientific abstraction, it is sometimes possible to forget this one basic fact. Doctors treat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-goodfield/cancer-begins-and-ends-with-people-in-the-midst-of-scientific/) [June Goodfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-goodfield/) > [Yes, there was an element of abstraction and unreality in misfortune. But when an abstraction starts to kill you, you have to get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/yes-there-was-an-element-of-abstraction-and-unreality-in-misfortune/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Computer Science is a science of abstraction -creating the right model for a problem and devising the appropriate mechanizable techniques to solve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-aho/computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstraction-creating-the-right-model/) [Alfred Aho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-aho/) > [In 'Self Comes to Mind' I pay a lot of attention to simple creatures without brains or minds, because those 'cartooned abstractions of who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/in-self-comes-to-mind-i-pay-a-lot-of-attention-to-simple-creatures/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [Don't get stuck on the level of words. A word is no more than a means to an end. It's an abstraction. Not unlike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/don-t-get-stuck-on-the-level-of-words-a-word-is-no-more-than-a-means/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Holidays are in no sense an alternative to the congestion and bustle of the cities and work. Quite the contrary. People look to escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/holidays-are-in-no-sense-an-alternative-to-the-congestion-and-bustle/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [The pragmatist turns away from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions, from bad a priori reasons, from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-pragmatist-turns-away-from-abstraction-and-insufficiency-from/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [ I'd say that \[Louis\] Brandeis practiced a kind of a "living originalism," to use the title of Jack Balkin's great book. He said you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-rosen/i-d-say-that-louis-brandeis-practiced-a-kind-of-a-living-originalism/) [Jeffrey Rosen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-rosen/) > [When novels deal in abstractions, they generally go off the rails.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/when-novels-deal-in-abstractions-they-generally-go-off-the-rails/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) [Browse all 562 Abstraction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I've always wondered, like, what is so masculine about abstraction? 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