--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The terms 'male' and 'female' must be…" description: "\"The terms 'male' and 'female' must be understood as representing no mere primitive opposition of sex to sex; but as defining two worlds of differing qu..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7af/laura-riding-9995_defining_the-terms-male-and-female-must-be-unders_623006.png" --- # The terms 'male' and 'female' must be understood as… ![“The terms 'male' and 'female' must be understood as representing no mere primitive opposition of sex to sex; but as defining two worlds of differing quality, in either of which men and women may jointly move and live.” quote by Laura Riding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7af/laura-riding-9995_defining_the-terms-male-and-female-must-be-unders_623006.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7af/laura-riding-9995_defining_the-terms-male-and-female-must-be-unders_623006.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7af/laura-riding-9995_defining_the-terms-male-and-female-must-be-unders_623006.png) > “The terms 'male' and 'female' must be understood as representing no mere primitive opposition of sex to sex; but as defining two worlds of differing quality, in either of which men and women may jointly move and live.” [Laura Riding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-riding/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Male and female represent distinct qualitative realms, not just biological opposites, allowing joint existence. **In simple terms:** Sexes are different worlds, not just bodies. Key Takeaway Respect both perspectives. Themes gender dualities coexistence Mood analytical thought‑provoking Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - relationships - collaborative projects - social policy - artistic creation Key Concepts philosophy gender studies Questions to Reflect On - How can we honor both sexes' qualities? - What benefits arise from integrating both worlds? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on differences can hinder unity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Female](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/female/) [Feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) [Males](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/males/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Men and women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-and-women/) [Opposition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opposition/) [Primitive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/primitive/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Sex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sex/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [In opposition to sex education: Let the kids today learn it where we did - in the gutter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-paulsen/in-opposition-to-sex-education-let-the-kids-today-learn-it-where-we/) [Pat Paulsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-paulsen/) > [It won't take 40 years for opposition to same-sex marriage to dissipate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-cheney/it-won-t-take-40-years-for-opposition-to-same-sex-marriage-to/) [Mary Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-cheney/) > [In creating a work of art, the psyche or soul of the artist ascends from the earthly realm into the heavenly. There, free of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pavel-florensky/in-creating-a-work-of-art-the-psyche-or-soul-of-the-artist-ascends/) Pavel Florensky > [The world of money, of numbers and stock markets and interest rates and credit cards, seems on the surface about as far as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suze-orman/the-world-of-money-of-numbers-and-stock-markets-and-interest-rates/) [Suze Orman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suze-orman/) > [Medicine people are truly citizens of two worlds, and those who continue to walk the path of medicine power learn to keep their balance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-gunn-allen/medicine-people-are-truly-citizens-of-two-worlds-and-those-who/) [Paula Gunn Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-gunn-allen/) > [We must never again let America be led into a fratricidal war like the last two world wars, for the sake of alien, minority…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lincoln-rockwell/we-must-never-again-let-america-be-led-into-a-fratricidal-war-like/) [George Lincoln Rockwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lincoln-rockwell/) > [There is a period in one's life - perhaps not longer than six months - when one lives in two worlds at once ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/there-is-a-period-in-one-s-life-perhaps-not-longer-than-six-months/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [Over the years, I've found that I either live life or write about it. 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It could cause more human and financial suffering than the two world wars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-miliband/first-climate-change-is-the-greatest-long-term-threat-faced-by/) [David Miliband](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-miliband/) > [The wall around the window does not create two worlds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-matisse/the-wall-around-the-window-does-not-create-two-worlds/) [Henri Matisse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-matisse/) > [The U.S.-Mexican border es un herida abierta where the Third World grates against the first and bleeds. And before a scab forms it hemorrhages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/the-u-s-mexican-border-es-un-herida-abierta-where-the-third-world/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) ## More by Laura Riding > [I believe that misconceptions about oneself that one does not correct where possible act as a bad magic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-riding/i-believe-that-misconceptions-about-oneself-that-one-does-not-correct/) [Laura Riding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-riding/) > [To a poet the mere making of a poem can seem to solve the problem of truth…but only a problem of art is solved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-riding/to-a-poet-the-mere-making-of-a-poem-can-seem-to-solve-the-problem-of/) [Laura Riding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-riding/) > [Evil I had never found satisfactorily placeable as an integral element of the universal, or total, content of existence. Indeed, evil is evil just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-riding/evil-i-had-never-found-satisfactorily-placeable-as-an-integral/) [Laura Riding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-riding/) > [“Forgive me, giver, if I destroy the gift: it is so nearly what would please me I cannot but perfect it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-riding/forgive-me-giver-if-i-destroy-the-gift-it-is-so-nearly-what-would/) [Laura Riding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-riding/) > [The new "ambiguity" means, in a way adjudged favorable to literary, poetic, intellectually and psychologically well-devised and praiseworthily executed linguistic performance, uncertainty of meaning,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-riding/the-new-ambiguity-means-in-a-way-adjudged-favorable-to-literary/) [Laura Riding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-riding/) > [Conversation succeeds conversation, Until there's nothing left to talk about Except truth, the perennial monologue, And no talker to dispute it but itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-riding/conversation-succeeds-conversation-until-there-s-nothing-left-to-talk/) [Laura Riding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-riding/) > [Women, ever since there have been women, have had a way of being people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-riding/women-ever-since-there-have-been-women-have-had-a-way-of-being-people/) [Laura Riding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-riding/) > [ She \[Venison\] had never travelled and so could invent all kinds of strange places without being limited, as travelled people are, by knowledge of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-riding/she-venison-had-never-travelled-and-so-could-invent-all-kinds-of/) [Laura Riding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-riding/) > [rummaging in the storehouses of religious or literary history for myth-matter for ideational uses is of the nature of spiritual vulgarity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-riding/rummaging-in-the-storehouses-of-religious-or-literary-history-for/) [Laura Riding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-riding/) > [The object of all religious activity is to mingle the human and the non-human, and the lower gods represent that which is cast back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-riding/the-object-of-all-religious-activity-is-to-mingle-the-human-and-the/) [Laura Riding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-riding/) > [Women are strangers in the country of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-riding/women-are-strangers-in-the-country-of-man/) [Laura Riding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-riding/) > [Every thought sounds like a footfall, Till a thought like a boot kicks down the wall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-riding/every-thought-sounds-like-a-footfall-till-a-thought-like-a-boot-kicks/) [Laura Riding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-riding/) > [Politics have always covered two distinct kinds of problems: problems of administrative routine, and those that may be called 'questions of the moment.' A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-riding/politics-have-always-covered-two-distinct-kinds-of-problems-problems/) [Laura Riding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-riding/) > [To tell one comprehensive story of how it has happened that what is is, one which shall hold true, come what may, now-after -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-riding/to-tell-one-comprehensive-story-of-how-it-has-happened-that-what-is/) [Laura Riding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-riding/) > [Woman is the symbol to man of the uncleanness of bodily existence, of which he purifies himself by putting her to noble uses. She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-riding/woman-is-the-symbol-to-man-of-the-uncleanness-of-bodily-existence-of/) [Laura Riding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-riding/) [Explore all 68 Laura Riding quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-riding/) ## More Defining quotes > [One defining symptom of decadence is a fondness for vast and nonsensical extravagance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/one-defining-symptom-of-decadence-is-a-fondness-for-vast-and/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [Good history is a question of survival. Without any past, we will deprive ourselves of the defining impression of our being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/good-history-is-a-question-of-survival-without-any-past-we-will/) [Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) > [ I never left my roots. You can identify me as someone that didn't become high and mighty. Humility is a defining \[trait\] all of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/serena-williams/i-never-left-my-roots-you-can-identify-me-as-someone-that-didn-t/) [Serena Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/serena-williams/) > [I think the word 'soul' - it depends on what you define by 'soul.' If you're defining it as a mystical aura that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-nicolelis/i-think-the-word-soul-it-depends-on-what-you-define-by-soul-if-you-re/) [Miguel Nicolelis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-nicolelis/) > [“There are no defining moments. There are only your moments to define.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-dowd/there-are-no-defining-moments-there-are-only-your-moments-to-define/) Thomas B Dowd > [My journey has been a long one and has still got a long way to go. I think we are so used to defining…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-corrin/my-journey-has-been-a-long-one-and-has-still-got-a-long-way-to-go-i/) [Emma Corrin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-corrin/) > [“Defining the Renaissance Man “A man can do all that he will.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-griffiths-and-eric-elfman/defining-the-renaissance-man-a-man-can-do-all-that-he-will/) Scott Griffiths and Eric Elfman > [The defining aspects of westerns are still pretty much in place - namely landscape and conflict. In other books the conflict can be internal,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-crook/the-defining-aspects-of-westerns-are-still-pretty-much-in-place/) [Elizabeth Crook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-crook/) > [Our concepts structure what we perceive, how we get around in the world and how we relate to other people. Our conceptual system thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lakoff/our-concepts-structure-what-we-perceive-how-we-get-around-in-the/) [George Lakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lakoff/) > [It's imprecise and insufficient, defining the homosexual as a person whose gender expression is at odds with his or her sex.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-bechdel/it-s-imprecise-and-insufficient-defining-the-homosexual-as-a-person/) [Alison Bechdel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-bechdel/) > [Modern societies accepted the treasures and the power offered them by science. 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It was wrong. You don't nationalize private - it was wrong.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louie-gohmert/i-think-tarp-was-the-most-defining-vote-since-i-ve-been-in-congress/) [Louie Gohmert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louie-gohmert/) Browse all 544 Defining quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The terms 'male' and 'female' must be understood as representing no mere primitive opposition of sex to sex; but as defining two worlds of differing quality, in either of which men and women may jointly move and live.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Laura Riding" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-riding/the-terms-male-and-female-must-be-understood-as-representing-no-mere/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Defining" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-riding/the-terms-male-and-female-must-be-understood-as-representing-no-mere/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7af/laura-riding-9995_defining_the-terms-male-and-female-must-be-unders_623006.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7af/laura-riding-9995_defining_the-terms-male-and-female-must-be-unders_623006.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7af/laura-riding-9995_defining_the-terms-male-and-female-must-be-unders_623006.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The terms 'male' and 'female' must be understood as representing no mere primitive opposition of sex to sex…” — Laura Riding", "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": "Laura Riding", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-riding/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The terms 'male' and 'female' must...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-riding/the-terms-male-and-female-must-be-understood-as-representing-no-mere/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-riding/the-terms-male-and-female-must-be-understood-as-representing-no-mere/#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 } } ] } ```