--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When a woman fears the punishment that…" description: "\"“When a woman fears the punishment that comes from calling herself a feminist, I ask: Will you be so unpunished if you don’t? When I fear conflict and ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86a/gloria-steinem-277_essays_when-a-woman-fears-the-punishment-that-c_883734.jpg" --- # When a woman fears the punishment that comes from calling… ![“When a woman fears the punishment that comes from calling herself a feminist, I ask: Will you be so unpunished if you don’t? When I fear conflict and condemnation for acting a certain way, I think: What peace or praise would I get if I didn’t?” quote by Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86a/gloria-steinem-277_essays_when-a-woman-fears-the-punishment-that-c_883734.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86a/gloria-steinem-277_essays_when-a-woman-fears-the-punishment-that-c_883734.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86a/gloria-steinem-277_essays_when-a-woman-fears-the-punishment-that-c_883734.jpg) > ““When a woman fears the punishment that comes from calling herself a feminist, I ask: Will you be so unpunished if you don’t? When I fear conflict and condemnation for acting a certain way, I think: What peace or praise would I get if I didn’t?”” [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. Encourages confronting fear of being labeled a feminist by questioning the consequences of silence versus speaking out. **In simple terms:** Challenges fear of feminist label. Key Takeaway Speak out despite potential backlash. Themes feminism fear self‑expression social pressure Mood inspirational empowering Type activist personal When to use this quote - activism - public speaking - personal decision‑making - social criticism Key Concepts identity courage social norms Questions to Reflect On - What personal costs do you face when speaking up? - How might society benefit if more people defy labeling? A Different Perspective Silencing can perpetuate oppression and limit progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) [Feminist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminist/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Radical feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/radical-feminism/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [Women 's rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women-s-rights/) ## Related quotes > [“I used to think I would be rewarded for good behavior. Therefore, if I wasn’t understood, I must not be understandable; if I wasn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-used-to-think-i-would-be-rewarded-for-good-behavior-therefore-if-i/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“I’m not sure feminism should require an adjective. Believing in the full social, political, and economic quality of women, which is what the dictionary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-m-not-sure-feminism-should-require-an-adjective-believing-in-the/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“The truth is that every country has its own organic feminism. Far more than communism, capitalism, or any other philosophy I can think of,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-truth-is-that-every-country-has-its-own-organic-feminism-far-more/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“I used to indulge in magical thinking when problems seemed insurmountable. Often, this focused on men, for they seemed to be the only ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-used-to-indulge-in-magical-thinking-when-problems-seemed/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“Now I look at artificial boundaries—lines that can stop no current of air or drought or polluted river—and mourn the violence lavished on defending…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/now-i-look-at-artificial-boundaries-lines-that-can-stop-no-current-of/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“God may be in the details, but the goddess is in the questions. Once we begin to ask them, there’s no turning back. Instead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/god-may-be-in-the-details-but-the-goddess-is-in-the-questions-once-we-2/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“I recommend the freedom that comes from asking: Compared to what? Hierarchical systems prevail by making us feel inadequate and imperfect. Whatever we do,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-recommend-the-freedom-that-comes-from-asking-compared-to-what/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“We understand that being able to help dependent children find what they need can be a gift in itself. Why shouldn’t we feel the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/we-understand-that-being-able-to-help-dependent-children-find-what/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“I’ve come to realize the pleasures of being a nothing-to-lose, take-no-shit older woman; of looking at what once seemed to be outer limits but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-ve-come-to-realize-the-pleasures-of-being-a-nothing-to-lose-take-no/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“Most of us have a few events that divide our lives into “before” and “after.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/most-of-us-have-a-few-events-that-divide-our-lives-into-before-and/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“As a group who can never afford the expensive fiction of having a nation—and whose bodies suffer from nationalism by being used as its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/as-a-group-who-can-never-afford-the-expensive-fiction-of-having-a/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [What troubles me about the "hostile workplace" category of sexual harassment policy is that women are being returned to their old status of delicate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/what-troubles-me-about-the-hostile-workplace-category-of-sexual/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [Feminism has fought no wars. It has killed no opponents. It has set up no concentration camps, starved no enemies, practiced no cruelties. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-spender/feminism-has-fought-no-wars-it-has-killed-no-opponents-it-has-set-up-2/) [Dale Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-spender/) > [“Feminism has fought no wars. It has killed no opponents. It has set up no concentration camps, starved no enemies, practiced no cruelties. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-spender/feminism-has-fought-no-wars-it-has-killed-no-opponents-it-has-set-up/) [Dale Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-spender/) > [“Feminism...is not 'women as victims' but women refusing to be victims.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/feminism-is-not-women-as-victims-but-women-refusing-to-be-victims/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) ## 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 Essays quotes > [I began writing early - very, very early... I was already writing short stories for the radio and selling poems to poetry and art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-began-writing-early-very-very-early-i-was-already-writing-short/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [I don't know if I have a book in me, but I'm sure I have more essays.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eden-robinson/i-don-t-know-if-i-have-a-book-in-me-but-i-m-sure-i-have-more-essays/) [Eden Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eden-robinson/) > [I am far from any intention to limit curiosity, or confine the labours of learning to arts of immediate and necessary use. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/i-am-far-from-any-intention-to-limit-curiosity-or-confine-the-labours/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Maybe I will write a memoir, perhaps I'll do some essays, or maybe I will write a mystery story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-herbert-donald/maybe-i-will-write-a-memoir-perhaps-i-ll-do-some-essays-or-maybe-i/) [David Herbert Donald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-herbert-donald/) > [For me, movies and television are interesting because they are the dominant storytelling form of our time. My first love will always be fiction,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-walter/for-me-movies-and-television-are-interesting-because-they-are-the/) [Jess Walter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-walter/) > [To create anything — whether a short story or a magazine profile or a film or a sitcom — is to believe, if only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bissell/to-create-anything-whether-a-short-story-or-a-magazine-profile-or-a/) [Tom Bissell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bissell/) > [I don't really think of my essays as being about myself. I know it sounds insane, but I just don't think of them as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sloane-crosley/i-don-t-really-think-of-my-essays-as-being-about-myself-i-know-it/) [Sloane Crosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sloane-crosley/) > [Michael Jackson is an extremely productive ethnographer, a serious reader of phenomenological and existential philosophy, and a remarkable writer at a level that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-kleinman/michael-jackson-is-an-extremely-productive-ethnographer-a-serious/) [Arthur Kleinman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-kleinman/) > [There are some fine books and essays about that. Lewis Hyde has written about alcoholism and poets and the role that society gives its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/there-are-some-fine-books-and-essays-about-that-lewis-hyde-has/) [Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/) > [I try to be aware of what I'm concerned about, aware of how I feel about myself in the world, aware of how I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chang-rae-lee/i-try-to-be-aware-of-what-i-m-concerned-about-aware-of-how-i-feel/) [Chang-Rae Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chang-rae-lee/) > [Yet there are some critics in the nonfiction world who still look at some of today's stranger interpretations of the essay and say "You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/yet-there-are-some-critics-in-the-nonfiction-world-who-still-look-at/) [John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/) > [“I have not seen anywhere in the world a more obvious malformed person and miracle than myself. Through use and time we become conditioned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/i-have-not-seen-anywhere-in-the-world-a-more-obvious-malformed-person/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [“Still less, despite appearances, will it have been a collection of three “essays” whose itinerary it would be time, after the fact, to recognize;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/still-less-despite-appearances-will-it-have-been-a-collection-of/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [The point of the essay is to change things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-tufte/the-point-of-the-essay-is-to-change-things/) [Edward Tufte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-tufte/) > [“Daimonology has no hierarchy, but only the spell of universal anarchy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-william-brown/daimonology-has-no-hierarchy-but-only-the-spell-of-universal-anarchy/) Carl William Brown Browse all 523 Essays quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“When a woman fears the punishment that comes from calling herself a feminist, I ask: Will you be so unpunished if you don’t? When I fear conflict and condemnation for acting a certain way, I think: What peace or praise would I get if I didn’t?”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gloria Steinem" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/when-a-woman-fears-the-punishment-that-comes-from-calling-herself-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Essays" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/when-a-woman-fears-the-punishment-that-comes-from-calling-herself-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86a/gloria-steinem-277_essays_when-a-woman-fears-the-punishment-that-c_883734.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86a/gloria-steinem-277_essays_when-a-woman-fears-the-punishment-that-c_883734.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/86a/gloria-steinem-277_essays_when-a-woman-fears-the-punishment-that-c_883734.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When a woman fears the punishment that comes from calling herself a feminist, I ask: Will you be so…” — 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": "“When a woman fears the punishment...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/when-a-woman-fears-the-punishment-that-comes-from-calling-herself-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/when-a-woman-fears-the-punishment-that-comes-from-calling-herself-a/#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 } } ] } ```