--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A man can be called ruthless if he bombs…" description: "\"A man can be called ruthless if he bombs a country to oblivion. A woman can be called ruthless if she puts you on hold.\" — Gloria Steinem" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c8/gloria-steinem-277_bombs_a-man-can-be-called-ruthless-if-he-bombs_2778706.jpg" --- # A man can be called ruthless if he bombs a country to… ![“A man can be called ruthless if he bombs a country to oblivion. A woman can be called ruthless if she puts you on hold.” quote by Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c8/gloria-steinem-277_bombs_a-man-can-be-called-ruthless-if-he-bombs_2778706.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c8/gloria-steinem-277_bombs_a-man-can-be-called-ruthless-if-he-bombs_2778706.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c8/gloria-steinem-277_bombs_a-man-can-be-called-ruthless-if-he-bombs_2778706.jpg) > “A man can be called ruthless if he bombs a country to oblivion. A woman can be called ruthless if she puts you on hold.” [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ruthlessness is judged by context: extreme violence for men, petty inconvenience for women. **In simple terms:** People label similar behavior differently based on gender and scale. Key Takeaway Recognize double standards in moral judgments. Themes gender bias power morality communication Mood critical reflective Type analytical observational When to use this quote - political decisions - customer service - personal relationships Key Concepts double standards social perception gender roles Questions to Reflect On - How do societal expectations shape our view of ruthlessness? - When does a small act become morally significant? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bombs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bombs/) [Bombs Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bombs-country-3294584/) [Called Ruthless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/called-ruthless-961025/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Irony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/irony/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Oblivion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oblivion/) [Ruthless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruthless/) [Ruthless Bombs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruthless-bombs-3294583/) [Ruthless Puts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruthless-puts-3294585/) ## Related quotes > [A man has to be Joe McCarthy to be called ruthless. All a woman has to do is put you on hold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlo-thomas/a-man-has-to-be-joe-mccarthy-to-be-called-ruthless-all-a-woman-has-to/) [Marlo Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlo-thomas/) > [When you drop bombs on the enemy, you drop those same bombs on yourself, your own country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/when-you-drop-bombs-on-the-enemy-you-drop-those-same-bombs-on/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [“The media called us ruthless terrorists. We're not. We're just fighting for what's right. Being born a nought shouldn't automatically slam shut myriad doors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malorie-blackman/the-media-called-us-ruthless-terrorists-we-re-not-we-re-just-fighting/) [Malorie Blackman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malorie-blackman/) > [“She can't catch on to slumber, the relief of oblivion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikki-gemmell/she-can-t-catch-on-to-slumber-the-relief-of-oblivion/) [Nikki Gemmell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikki-gemmell/) > [Then there are the addicts, the hunger addicts, the rage addicts, the poverty addicts , and power addicts, and the pure addicts who are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeet-thayil/then-there-are-the-addicts-the-hunger-addicts-the-rage-addicts-the/) [Jeet Thayil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeet-thayil/) > [“Oblivion and significance/brush our bones, leave us weeping for strangers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-adamshick/oblivion-and-significance-brush-our-bones-leave-us-weeping-for/) [Carl Adamshick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-adamshick/) > [Gabriel pulled her over his body to lie on the bed beside him. His kisses pressed her down into the oblivion of the mattress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annette-curtis-klause/gabriel-pulled-her-over-his-body-to-lie-on-the-bed-beside-him-his/) [Annette Curtis Klause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annette-curtis-klause/) > [“Unless death is made a lesson for the living, the life lived is wasted. Why should life come into existence only to be destroyed?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-lewis/unless-death-is-made-a-lesson-for-the-living-the-life-lived-is-wasted/) [Joseph Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-lewis/) > [Time's stern tide, with cold Oblivion's wave, Shall soon dissolve each fair, each fading charm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-seward/time-s-stern-tide-with-cold-oblivion-s-wave-shall-soon-dissolve-each/) [Anna Seward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-seward/) > [Now it is autumn and the falling fruit and the long journey towards oblivion. The apples falling like great drops of dew to bruise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/now-it-is-autumn-and-the-falling-fruit-and-the-long-journey-towards/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Among our crimes oblivion may be set.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/among-our-crimes-oblivion-may-be-set/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Winning a competition in architecture is a ticket to oblivion. It's just an idea. Ninety-nine per cent never get built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-libeskind/winning-a-competition-in-architecture-is-a-ticket-to-oblivion-it-s/) [Daniel Libeskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-libeskind/) > [“What matters is at the end of life, when you're about to pass into oblivion, that you've at least scratched 'Kilroy was here,' on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/what-matters-is-at-the-end-of-life-when-you-re-about-to-pass-into/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“I just tried to put myself in her place and figure out what would be the scariest thing. If I thought I might be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-gaffney/i-just-tried-to-put-myself-in-her-place-and-figure-out-what-would-be/) [Patricia Gaffney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-gaffney/) > [Ignorance is not bliss — it is oblivion. Determined ignorance is the hastiest kind of oblivion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-wylie/ignorance-is-not-bliss-it-is-oblivion-determined-ignorance-is-the/) [Philip Wylie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-wylie/) ## More by Gloria Steinem > [People waste more time waiting for someone to take charge of their lives than they do in any other pursuit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/people-waste-more-time-waiting-for-someone-to-take-charge-of-their/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Nothing will happen automatically. Change depends on what you and I do every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/nothing-will-happen-automatically-change-depends-on-what-you-and-i-do/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Women are never again going to be mindless coffee-makers or mindless policy-makers in politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/women-are-never-again-going-to-be-mindless-coffee-makers-or-mindless/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [The state of female artists is very good. But the very definition of art has been biased in that 'art' was what men did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-state-of-female-artists-is-very-good-but-the-very-definition-of/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [We will live to see the day that St. Patrick's Cathedral is a child-care center and the pope is no longer a disgrace to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/we-will-live-to-see-the-day-that-st-patrick-s-cathedral-is-a-child/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Just when you thought multi-nationals and crazed consumerism were too big to fight, along comes Naomi Klein with facts, spirit, and news of successful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/just-when-you-thought-multi-nationals-and-crazed-consumerism-were-too/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I don't know Beyoncé, but I have the impression that she's sincere, that she really is a feminist and wanted to put the word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-don-t-know-beyonc-but-i-have-the-impression-that-she-s-sincere-that/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I started out life as a writer, and writers write in part because they don't want to talk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-started-out-life-as-a-writer-and-writers-write-in-part-because-they/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Proust's tea cake has nothing on one hour in a college dorm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/proust-s-tea-cake-has-nothing-on-one-hour-in-a-college-dorm/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Sadomasochiasm - which we know very well doesn't exist in societies that don't have child abuse - is regarded some sort of natural sexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/sadomasochiasm-which-we-know-very-well-doesn-t-exist-in-societies/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Behave like everything you do matters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/behave-like-everything-you-do-matters/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“Part of traveling over years means coming back to the same place and knowing it for the first time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/part-of-traveling-over-years-means-coming-back-to-the-same-place-and/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [If you say, I'm for equal pay, that's a reform. But if you say. I'm a feminist, that's a transformation of society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/if-you-say-i-m-for-equal-pay-that-s-a-reform-but-if-you-say-i-m-a/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I think that part of everybody's success is due to their looks, but it just works in different ways. If you're whatever society calls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-think-that-part-of-everybody-s-success-is-due-to-their-looks-but-it/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Of course, we can change. We're very adaptable. But it takes a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/of-course-we-can-change-we-re-very-adaptable-but-it-takes-a-while/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) [Explore all 766 Gloria Steinem quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) ## More Bombs quotes > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... 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Theoretical physics forces atomic energy on us; the successful production of the fission bomb forces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-pace-of-science-forces-the-pace-of-technique-theoretical-physics/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [We're not going to cure terrorism and spread peace and goodwill in the Middle East by killing innocent people, or I'm not even saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-sheehan/we-re-not-going-to-cure-terrorism-and-spread-peace-and-goodwill-in/) [Cindy Sheehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-sheehan/) > [I call on the Iranian people: it is not too late to replace the corrupt regime and return to your glorious Persian heritage, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shimon-peres/i-call-on-the-iranian-people-it-is-not-too-late-to-replace-the/) [Shimon Peres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shimon-peres/) > [My God! The English language is a form of communication! 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