--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Women are the only exploited group in…" description: "\"Women are the only exploited group in history to have been idealized into powerlessness.\" — Erica Jong" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/027/erica-jong-445_equality_women-are-the-only-exploited-group-in-hi_1338920.jpg" --- # Women are the only exploited group in history to have been… ![“Women are the only exploited group in history to have been idealized into powerlessness.” quote by Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/027/erica-jong-445_equality_women-are-the-only-exploited-group-in-hi_1338920.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/027/erica-jong-445_equality_women-are-the-only-exploited-group-in-hi_1338920.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/027/erica-jong-445_equality_women-are-the-only-exploited-group-in-hi_1338920.jpg) > “Women are the only exploited group in history to have been idealized into powerlessness.” [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Women have historically been idealized as powerless, yet this narrative exploits them by denying agency. **In simple terms:** Idealized powerlessness exploits women. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge limiting narratives. Themes gender power exploitation history Mood critical empowering Type feminist social commentary When to use this quote - workplace - media representation - education - policy making Key Concepts feminism social construct Questions to Reflect On - How does idealization affect women's self‑perception? - What steps can counteract this exploitation? A Different Perspective Some may argue women have agency in many contexts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Equality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equality/) [Feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Powerlessness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/powerlessness/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) ## Related quotes > [“women are the only group in history to be idealized into powerlessness”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/women-are-the-only-group-in-history-to-be-idealized-into-powerlessness/) [erica jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [There was a period of time where people felt like women in the show were being exploited a little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathalie-emmanuel/there-was-a-period-of-time-where-people-felt-like-women-in-the-show/) [Nathalie Emmanuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathalie-emmanuel/) > [“Women are the only exploited…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/women-are-the-only-exploited/) [erica jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [You need not give others a chance to exploit you always. We should know what kind of exploitation is taking place. I cannot create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sreenivasan/you-need-not-give-others-a-chance-to-exploit-you-always-we-should/) [Sreenivasan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sreenivasan/) > [“Careful who you stake your life – and national security – on. Women have exploited men for centuries. Arrogance is our biggest weakness. Well,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/careful-who-you-stake-your-life-and-national-security-on-women-have/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [“illiterate. Al Qaeda recruiters make use of their poverty, despair, resentment, and eagerness to take revenge against the American troops to recruit them.53 The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mia-bloom/illiterate-al-qaeda-recruiters-make-use-of-their-poverty-despair/) [Mia Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mia-bloom/) > [At times it is strangely sedative to know the extent of your own powerlessness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/at-times-it-is-strangely-sedative-to-know-the-extent-of-your-own/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [All natural disasters are comforting because they reaffirm our impotence, in which, otherwise, we might stop believing. At times it is strangely sedative to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/all-natural-disasters-are-comforting-because-they-reaffirm-our/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [If the world is presented as resources to be exploited, then, more than likely, you're going to exploit the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/if-the-world-is-presented-as-resources-to-be-exploited-then-more-than/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [“The earth gets tired of being exploited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/the-earth-gets-tired-of-being-exploited/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [We Muslims believe that the white race, which is guilty of having oppressed and exploited and enslaved our people here in America, should and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/we-muslims-believe-that-the-white-race-which-is-guilty-of-having/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [I do have a very, very big problem with someone who saw me coming and exploited me as a mascot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stella-vine/i-do-have-a-very-very-big-problem-with-someone-who-saw-me-coming-and/) [Stella Vine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stella-vine/) > [It's a terrible thing to be a worker exploited in the capitalist system. The only worse thing is to be a worker unable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/it-s-a-terrible-thing-to-be-a-worker-exploited-in-the-capitalist/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [“When you fear nothing, you have nothing to fear”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-f-chandler/when-you-fear-nothing-you-have-nothing-to-fear/) S.F. Chandler > [“There was no such thing as a fair fight. All vulnerabilities must be exploited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cary-caffrey/there-was-no-such-thing-as-a-fair-fight-all-vulnerabilities-must-be/) Cary Caffrey ## More by Erica Jong > [“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/) > [Will you ever? I dont think you will ever fully understand how you've touched my life and made me who I am.I don't think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/will-you-ever-i-dont-think-you-will-ever-fully-understand-how-you-ve/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Give advice to your children while they're young enough to believe you know what you're talking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/give-advice-to-your-children-while-they-re-young-enough-to-believe/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [Perhaps all artists were, in a sense, housewives: tenders of the earth household.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/perhaps-all-artists-were-in-a-sense-housewives-tenders-of-the-earth/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [I have lived my life according to this principle: If I'm afraid of it, then I must do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/i-have-lived-my-life-according-to-this-principle-if-i-m-afraid-of-it/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [I thought to spend my declining years writing poetry and teaching - but that won't pay the Bergdorf's bill. 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