--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Women are expected to identify gender as…" description: "\"Women are expected to identify gender as a starting point. Ethnicities are expected to identify that as a location. Is it ever possible for the artist ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa0/kehinde-wiley-1194_absolute-freedom_women-are-expected-to-identify-gender-as_942442.jpg" --- # Women are expected to identify gender as a starting point… ![“Women are expected to identify gender as a starting point. Ethnicities are expected to identify that as a location. Is it ever possible for the artist to imagine a state of absolute freedom? That was my call to arms.” quote by Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa0/kehinde-wiley-1194_absolute-freedom_women-are-expected-to-identify-gender-as_942442.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa0/kehinde-wiley-1194_absolute-freedom_women-are-expected-to-identify-gender-as_942442.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa0/kehinde-wiley-1194_absolute-freedom_women-are-expected-to-identify-gender-as_942442.jpg) > “Women are expected to identify gender as a starting point. Ethnicities are expected to identify that as a location. Is it ever possible for the artist to imagine a state of absolute freedom? That was my call to arms.” [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote questions how societal categories like gender and ethnicity limit imagination, and whether an artist can envision true freedom beyond those constraints. **In simple terms:** Societal labels restrict imagination; freedom may be imagined beyond them. Key Takeaway Challenge you to imagine beyond identity labels. Themes identity freedom art society imagination Mood reflective provocative hopeful Type philosophical inspirational critical When to use this quote - artistic creation - personal reflection - activism - cultural critique Key Concepts intersectionality creative liberation social constructs Questions to Reflect On - How can artists transcend identity categories? - What does absolute freedom look like in practice? A Different Perspective Freedom may be constrained by lived experience and systemic bias. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absolute freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolute-freedom/) [Absolutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Ethnicity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethnicity/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Gender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gender/) [Starting point](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/starting-point/) ## Related quotes > [For the most part, I definitely don't identify as any gender. I'm not a guy; I don't really feel like a woman, but obviously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruby-rose/for-the-most-part-i-definitely-don-t-identify-as-any-gender-i-m-not-a/) [Ruby Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruby-rose/) > [“In both cases, women are expected to sacrifice their comfort and freedom to service the requirements of male sexuality: either to repress or to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-brooks/in-both-cases-women-are-expected-to-sacrifice-their-comfort-and/) [Geraldine Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-brooks/) > [I’ve often thought it unfair that women are expected to stay at home when there’s a fight to be won. If a woman has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-ve-often-thought-it-unfair-that-women-are-expected-to-stay-at-home/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [At the end of the day, women are expected to hold up the world, not annihilate it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-gordon/at-the-end-of-the-day-women-are-expected-to-hold-up-the-world-not/) [Kim Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-gordon/) > [In front of the world, all of a sudden I'm a great athlete and I'm put into an environment with 25 other women and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-solo/in-front-of-the-world-all-of-a-sudden-i-m-a-great-athlete-and-i-m-put/) [Hope Solo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-solo/) > [“Vevers remarked on what struck them as Yates's peculiar attitude toward women: 'He expected them to drink a lot and be beautiful all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-bailey/vevers-remarked-on-what-struck-them-as-yates-s-peculiar-attitude/) [Blake Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-bailey/) > [There's a different expectation, not just on mothers but on women. We're expected to do it all, to have it all, and look good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-reitman/there-s-a-different-expectation-not-just-on-mothers-but-on-women-we/) [Catherine Reitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-reitman/) > [If women are expected to do the same work as men, we must teach them the same things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/if-women-are-expected-to-do-the-same-work-as-men-we-must-teach-them/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [Studies show that women seeking power tend to be punished for doing so, because it goes against cultural bias. Women are expected to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-mayer/studies-show-that-women-seeking-power-tend-to-be-punished-for-doing/) [Catherine Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-mayer/) > [Now, women are expected to be equal to men in so many capacities - financially, career-wise, in education - yet the one disconnect was,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-wolfe-herd/now-women-are-expected-to-be-equal-to-men-in-so-many-capacities/) [Whitney Wolfe Herd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-wolfe-herd/) > [Women are expected to be so many contradictions. Unrealistic expectations. Submissive yet strong, modest yet alluring, it never stops.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/women-are-expected-to-be-so-many-contradictions-unrealistic/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Women are expected to go through pain and it's just not even talked about or even noticed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-lou-wood/women-are-expected-to-go-through-pain-and-it-s-just-not-even-talked/) [Aimee Lou Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-lou-wood/) > [When women are expected to bear the burden of unpaid work, everyone loses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharan-burrow/when-women-are-expected-to-bear-the-burden-of-unpaid-work-everyone/) [Sharan Burrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharan-burrow/) > [“It's unfair that women are expected to stay at home when there's a fight to be won. If a woman has the strength to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/it-s-unfair-that-women-are-expected-to-stay-at-home-when-there-s-a/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [As women we're expected to be superhuman, especially black women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaz-sinclair/as-women-we-re-expected-to-be-superhuman-especially-black-women/) [Jaz Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaz-sinclair/) ## More by Kehinde Wiley > [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [The erotic and the art historical imagination is something that gets very little play when people talk about my work, and when they rarely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/the-erotic-and-the-art-historical-imagination-is-something-that-gets/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [One of the weirdest things that happened to artists and art criticism was this moment when everyone got cynical and stopped believing in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/one-of-the-weirdest-things-that-happened-to-artists-and-art-criticism/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [At its best, what art does is, it points to who we as human beings and what we as human beings value. And if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/at-its-best-what-art-does-is-it-points-to-who-we-as-human-beings-and/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [My style is in the 21st century. If you look at the process, it goes from photography through Photoshop, where certain features are heightened,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/my-style-is-in-the-21st-century-if-you-look-at-the-process-it-goes/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I think the world that I grew up in was like being in this sort of magical artistic garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-think-the-world-that-i-grew-up-in-was-like-being-in-this-sort-of/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [It was something that came sort of matter-of-factually. Because there - it's like really - real honest engagement with the people around me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/it-was-something-that-came-sort-of-matter-of-factually-because-there/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [We're wired to be empathetic and to care about the needs of others, but also to be curious about others. And I think that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/we-re-wired-to-be-empathetic-and-to-care-about-the-needs-of-others/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [Painting is situational. And my particular situation exists within gender, race, class, sexuality, nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/painting-is-situational-and-my-particular-situation-exists-within/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [There were certain expectations that were assumed of me as a young black American 20th-century - then 20th-century artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/there-were-certain-expectations-that-were-assumed-of-me-as-a-young/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I think, something that you might be able to locate in the work that I'm creating today: the ability to look at a black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-think-something-that-you-might-be-able-to-locate-in-the-work-that-i/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I remember the first time I went to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and saw a Kerry James Marshall painting with black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-remember-the-first-time-i-went-to-the-los-angeles-county-museum-of/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I believe that artists should be part of the culture. I think that my work clearly bears that out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-believe-that-artists-should-be-part-of-the-culture-i-think-that-my/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [I guess art is in the eye of the beholder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-guess-art-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [Just physically, if you looked at the house that I grew up in, my mother created this greenhouse. And surrounded the entire property. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/just-physically-if-you-looked-at-the-house-that-i-grew-up-in-my/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) [Explore all 275 Kehinde Wiley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) ## More Absolute freedom quotes > [“My holy of holies are the human body, health, intelligence, talent, inspiration, love, and the most absolute freedom - freedom from force and falsity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/my-holy-of-holies-are-the-human-body-health-intelligence-talent/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [The Marvel experience was particularly wrenching because I was sort of given absolute freedom while we were shooting, and then in post, it turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-taylor/the-marvel-experience-was-particularly-wrenching-because-i-was-sort/) [Alan Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-taylor/) > [“An attempt to wrest from God the prerogatives of absolute freedom and infinity leads to the inversion of Pentecost and what is in effect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-e-gunton/an-attempt-to-wrest-from-god-the-prerogatives-of-absolute-freedom-and/) Colin E. Gunton > [What is freedom? There is no such thing as absolute freedom!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benito-mussolini/what-is-freedom-there-is-no-such-thing-as-absolute-freedom/) [Benito Mussolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benito-mussolini/) > [Art lives where absolute freedom is, because where it is not, there can be no creativity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/art-lives-where-absolute-freedom-is-because-where-it-is-not-there-can/) [Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/) > [“After those four years, he returned to the Midwest. He'd turned twenty-five, the Age of Unfolding, and it was time to write a novel,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/after-those-four-years-he-returned-to-the-midwest-he-d-turned-twenty/) [Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/) > [Having grown up in Bombay, from the day youre born, you have absolute freedom to choose who you want to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freida-pinto/having-grown-up-in-bombay-from-the-day-youre-born-you-have-absolute/) [Freida Pinto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freida-pinto/) > [Absolute freedom need not be lost as the price we must pay for the advent of civilization; men are born free, and need never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/absolute-freedom-need-not-be-lost-as-the-price-we-must-pay-for-the/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [Absolute freedom need not be lost as the price we must pay for the advent of civilization. Man may achieve liberty and abundance, freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/absolute-freedom-need-not-be-lost-as-the-price-we-must-pay-for-the-2/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [Once you have surrendered completely to God, you experience for the first time absolute freedom from the worries, problems and ills of this world.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashok-kushwaha/once-you-have-surrendered-completely-to-god-you-experience-for-the/) [Ashok Kushwaha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashok-kushwaha/) > [“It is ironical that, in the very field in which Science has claimed superiority to Theology, for example - in the abandoning of dogma…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-dingle/it-is-ironical-that-in-the-very-field-in-which-science-has-claimed/) Herbert Dingle > [“It was easy enough to write a sentence, but if you were going to create a work of art, the way Melville had, each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-harbach/it-was-easy-enough-to-write-a-sentence-but-if-you-were-going-to/) [Chad Harbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-harbach/) > [... the absolute freedom of woman will be the dawn of the day of man's regeneration. In raising her he will elevate himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-celeste-claflin/the-absolute-freedom-of-woman-will-be-the-dawn-of-the-day-of-man-s/) [Tennessee Celeste Claflin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-celeste-claflin/) > [I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute Freedom and Wildness, as contrasted with a Freedom and Culture merely civil, - to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-wish-to-speak-a-word-for-nature-for-absolute-freedom-and-wildness/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“The capacity to be alone is the capacity to love. It may look paradoxical to you, but it's not. It is an existential truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/the-capacity-to-be-alone-is-the-capacity-to-love-it-may-look/) [Osho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/) [Browse all 105 Absolute freedom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolute-freedom/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Women are expected to identify gender as a starting point. Ethnicities are expected to identify that as a location. Is it ever possible for the artist to imagine a state of absolute freedom? 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