--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We move away from only the binary boxes…" description: "\"We move away from only the binary boxes of \"masculine\" or \"feminine\" and begin to live along the full human continuum of identity and expression.\" — Gl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/gloria-steinem-277_binary_we-move-away-from-only-the-binary-boxes_515061.jpg" --- # We move away from only the binary boxes of "masculine" or… ![“We move away from only the binary boxes of "masculine" or "feminine" and begin to live along the full human continuum of identity and expression.” quote by Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/gloria-steinem-277_binary_we-move-away-from-only-the-binary-boxes_515061.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/gloria-steinem-277_binary_we-move-away-from-only-the-binary-boxes_515061.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/gloria-steinem-277_binary_we-move-away-from-only-the-binary-boxes_515061.jpg) > “We move away from only the binary boxes of "masculine" or "feminine" and begin to live along the full human continuum of identity and expression.” [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. She calls for moving beyond gender binaries to embrace a full spectrum of identity. **In simple terms:** Beyond male/female, embrace full identity spectrum. Key Takeaway Live beyond binary gender limits. Themes gender identity expression Mood inspirational progressive Type social political When to use this quote - policy advocacy - educational curricula - media representation Key Concepts social theory fluidity human rights Questions to Reflect On - How can institutions become more inclusive? - What does a fluid identity mean to you? A Different Perspective Binary frameworks still dominate many institutions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Binary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/binary/) [Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Feminine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminine/) [Feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Masculine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/masculine/) ## Related quotes > [The original languages didn't even have he and she. They didn't have concepts of masculine and feminine. People were people. And the whole idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-original-languages-didn-t-even-have-he-and-she-they-didn-t-have/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [If you consider that the gender roles are just political, then what you come to see is that the full circle of human qualities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/if-you-consider-that-the-gender-roles-are-just-political-then-what/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Obviously there is no such thing as race, and in many ways, sex is a continuum, not a binary. So it doesn't make sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/obviously-there-is-no-such-thing-as-race-and-in-many-ways-sex-is-a/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [It's still feminine, but not in a romantic way. It's all about masculine and feminine, and being strong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miuccia-prada/it-s-still-feminine-but-not-in-a-romantic-way-it-s-all-about/) [Miuccia Prada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miuccia-prada/) > [There's something about the Strat's shape that is at once masculine and feminine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-raitt/there-s-something-about-the-strat-s-shape-that-is-at-once-masculine/) [Bonnie Raitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-raitt/) > [What is masculine and what is feminine, anyway? Why should men not show that they can be fragile or seductive? I am only happy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-gaultier/what-is-masculine-and-what-is-feminine-anyway-why-should-men-not-show/) [Jean Paul Gaultier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-gaultier/) > [I do not feel that some things are masculine and others are feminine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elvira-nabiullina/i-do-not-feel-that-some-things-are-masculine-and-others-are-feminine/) [Elvira Nabiullina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elvira-nabiullina/) > [“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 > [Perhaps both men and women in America may hunger, in our material, outward, active, masculine culture, for the supposedly feminine qualities of heart, mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/perhaps-both-men-and-women-in-america-may-hunger-in-our-material-2/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [Perhaps both men and women in America may hunger, in our material, outward, active, masculine culture, for the supposedly feminine qualities of heart, mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/perhaps-both-men-and-women-in-america-may-hunger-in-our-material/) [Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [A real woman understands that man was created to be the initiator, and she operates on that premise. This is primarily a matter of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-elliot/a-real-woman-understands-that-man-was-created-to-be-the-initiator-and/) [Elisabeth Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-elliot/) > [Androgyny refers to a specific way of joining the 'masculine' and 'feminine' aspects of a single human being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-singer/androgyny-refers-to-a-specific-way-of-joining-the-masculine-and/) [June Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-singer/) > [Ideally, people find mates with whom they can express both their masculine and feminine sides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-bakula/ideally-people-find-mates-with-whom-they-can-express-both-their/) [Scott Bakula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-bakula/) > [Masculine and feminine roles are not biologically fixed but socially constructed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/masculine-and-feminine-roles-are-not-biologically-fixed-but-socially/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [I think of masculine and feminine energy like two sides to a battery. There's a plus side and a minus side, and in order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracy-mcmillan/i-think-of-masculine-and-feminine-energy-like-two-sides-to-a-battery/) [Tracy McMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracy-mcmillan/) ## 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 Binary quotes > [I don't think there's anything unique about human intellience. All the nuerons in the brain that make up perceptions and emotions operate in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/i-don-t-think-there-s-anything-unique-about-human-intellience-all-the/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Any sufficiently crisp question can be answered by a single binary digit-0 or 1, yes or no.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/any-sufficiently-crisp-question-can-be-answered-by-a-single-binary/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“I live in a binary star system, my two suns being my two sons.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corrado-ghinamo/i-live-in-a-binary-star-system-my-two-suns-being-my-two-sons/) Corrado Ghinamo > [The simplest kind of decision is binary: that is, the question can be answered, in principle at least, by either yes or no.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-j-w-barber/the-simplest-kind-of-decision-is-binary-that-is-the-question-can-be/) [E. J. W. Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-j-w-barber/) > [Today, we've got what seems to me to be binary-choice politics: black and white, ones and zeros, either you are with me or against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-hoffman/today-we-ve-got-what-seems-to-me-to-be-binary-choice-politics-black/) [David E. Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-hoffman/) > [ Object-oriented programming aficionados think that everything is an object… this \[isn't\] so. There are things that are objects. Things that have state and change… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-stepanov/object-oriented-programming-aficionados-think-that-everything-is-an/) [Alexander Stepanov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-stepanov/) > [A lot of people still have the idea that drag goes from one end of the gender spectrum to the other end of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sasha-velour/a-lot-of-people-still-have-the-idea-that-drag-goes-from-one-end-of/) [Sasha Velour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sasha-velour/) > [When I first started going out to lesbian clubs, I felt a very binary recreation of hetero culture. There are butches and femmes, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/when-i-first-started-going-out-to-lesbian-clubs-i-felt-a-very-binary/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [I'm someone that likes to not think too binary about human qualities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tessa-thompson/i-m-someone-that-likes-to-not-think-too-binary-about-human-qualities/) [Tessa Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tessa-thompson/) > [Coming out as non-binary has honestly been the best thing ever for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-flip/coming-out-as-non-binary-has-honestly-been-the-best-thing-ever-for-me/) [G Flip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-flip/) > [For too long, history has imposed a binary condition on its black citizens: either nameless or renowned, menial or exceptional, passive recipients of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-lee-shetterly/for-too-long-history-has-imposed-a-binary-condition-on-its-black/) [Margot Lee Shetterly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-lee-shetterly/) > [I've never regretted not making Linux shareware: I really don't like the pay for use binary shareware programs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linus-torvalds/i-ve-never-regretted-not-making-linux-shareware-i-really-don-t-like/) [Linus Torvalds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linus-torvalds/) > [“Belonging is one of the things that makes life bearable, and it can be tough to look at a binary world and choose against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/belonging-is-one-of-the-things-that-makes-life-bearable-and-it-can-be/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > ['Crazy Rich Asians' has been compared to 'Black Panther,' but I feel like that's a false equivalency. The idea that there's only this film…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonoya-mizuno/crazy-rich-asians-has-been-compared-to-black-panther-but-i-feel-like/) [Sonoya Mizuno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonoya-mizuno/) > [Not all bodies are born in male or female. There is a continuum of bodies and it seems to me that trying to persuade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/not-all-bodies-are-born-in-male-or-female-there-is-a-continuum-of/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) [Browse all 135 Binary quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/binary/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We move away from only the binary boxes of \"masculine\" or \"feminine\" and begin to live along the full human continuum of identity and expression.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gloria Steinem" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/we-move-away-from-only-the-binary-boxes-of-masculine-or-feminine-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Binary" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/we-move-away-from-only-the-binary-boxes-of-masculine-or-feminine-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/gloria-steinem-277_binary_we-move-away-from-only-the-binary-boxes_515061.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/gloria-steinem-277_binary_we-move-away-from-only-the-binary-boxes_515061.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/gloria-steinem-277_binary_we-move-away-from-only-the-binary-boxes_515061.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We move away from only the binary boxes of \"masculine\" or \"feminine\" and begin to live along the full human…” — Gloria Steinem", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gloria Steinem", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We move away from only the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/we-move-away-from-only-the-binary-boxes-of-masculine-or-feminine-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/we-move-away-from-only-the-binary-boxes-of-masculine-or-feminine-and/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```