--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Western women have been controlled by…" description: "\"Western women have been controlled by ideals and stereotypes as much as by material constraints.\" — Naomi Wolf" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54a/naomi-wolf-1344_constraints_western-women-have-been-controlled-by-id_2708729.png" --- # Western women have been controlled by ideals and… ![“Western women have been controlled by ideals and stereotypes as much as by material constraints.” quote by Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54a/naomi-wolf-1344_constraints_western-women-have-been-controlled-by-id_2708729.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54a/naomi-wolf-1344_constraints_western-women-have-been-controlled-by-id_2708729.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54a/naomi-wolf-1344_constraints_western-women-have-been-controlled-by-id_2708729.png) > “Western women have been controlled by ideals and stereotypes as much as by material constraints.” [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Women’s choices are shaped by cultural ideals as much as by economic limits. **In simple terms:** Culture and money both control women. Key Takeaway Recognize both cultural and material constraints. Themes gender culture economics Mood critical analytical Type sociological feminist When to use this quote - career planning - media literacy - policy advocacy - personal budgeting Key Concepts feminist theory social conditioning Questions to Reflect On - How do stereotypes affect women’s decisions? - What policies can reduce material constraints? A Different Perspective Economic factors can dominate cultural ones. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) [Ideals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideals/) [Self esteem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-esteem/) [Stereotypes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stereotypes/) [Western](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/western/) ## Related quotes > [“I believe there will always be women who choose to actively embody racial and sexual stereotypes for their own material gain. Those idividuals will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laina-dawes/i-believe-there-will-always-be-women-who-choose-to-actively-embody/) Laina Dawes > [Women have to be controlled- we're just too emotional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-schlessinger/women-have-to-be-controlled-we-re-just-too-emotional/) [Laura Schlessinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-schlessinger/) > [“For the next ten years, until 1251, she and a small group of other women controlled the largest empire in world history.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/for-the-next-ten-years-until-1251-she-and-a-small-group-of-other/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) > [“Women are controlled by men like a currency of the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/women-are-controlled-by-men-like-a-currency-of-the-world/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [“But Egyptian men would do well to learn that they should treat others as they would be treated themselves. For many of them, too,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/but-egyptian-men-would-do-well-to-learn-that-they-should-treat-others/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [Being frozen into the passive position of an object whose very existence depends on the eye of its beholder turn the educated modern Western…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fatema-mernissi/being-frozen-into-the-passive-position-of-an-object-whose-very/) [Fatema Mernissi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fatema-mernissi/) > [“If single Western women travelers have a hard time in Luxor, it is as nothing as compared to what single Western men have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/if-single-western-women-travelers-have-a-hard-time-in-luxor-it-is-as/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“Some western women stop breastfeeding early ‘for the marriage’s sake’, as though a physical bond with the baby prevents a happy sex life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-palmer/some-western-women-stop-breastfeeding-early-for-the-marriage-s-sake/) [Gabrielle Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-palmer/) > [We think that maybe feminism isn't appropriate anymore, since Western women have really made enormous strides. But check out the rest of the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-lesser/we-think-that-maybe-feminism-isn-t-appropriate-anymore-since-western/) [Elizabeth Lesser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-lesser/) > [The world will be changed by western women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/the-world-will-be-changed-by-western-women/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [Western women have been a pretty tame lot - dressed in gingham dresses and consigned to hand-wringing back at the ranch, while the hero…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-blake/western-women-have-been-a-pretty-tame-lot-dressed-in-gingham-dresses/) [Amanda Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-blake/) > [Culture stereotypes women to fit the myth by flattening the feminine into beauty-without-intelligence or intelligence-without-beauty; women are allowed a mind or a body but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/culture-stereotypes-women-to-fit-the-myth-by-flattening-the-feminine/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [The search for truth is a cooperative, unending endeavor. We can, and should, engage in it to the extent we can and encourage others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-search-for-truth-is-a-cooperative-unending-endeavor-we-can-and/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [The only reason why I tend to pass on a movie is either I don't think I'm right for the material and can't play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-cage/the-only-reason-why-i-tend-to-pass-on-a-movie-is-either-i-don-t-think/) [Nicolas Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-cage/) > [I write the way you might arrange flowers. Not every try works, but each one launches another. Every constraint, even dullness, frees up a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-powers/i-write-the-way-you-might-arrange-flowers-not-every-try-works-but/) [Richard Powers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-powers/) ## More by Naomi Wolf > [“You could see the signs of female aging as diseased, especially if you had a vested interest in making women too see them your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/you-could-see-the-signs-of-female-aging-as-diseased-especially-if-you/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [Demographically, I'm a hippie from San Francisco and I'm not culturally inclined to be sympathetic to states' rights. My cultural heritage is FDR and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/demographically-i-m-a-hippie-from-san-francisco-and-i-m-not/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [There's been a systematic propagandizing of American citizens for 30 years to make us forget what America is supposed to be and what our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/there-s-been-a-systematic-propagandizing-of-american-citizens-for-30/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [Maybe the less pain we inflict on our bodies, the more beautiful our bodies will look to us](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/maybe-the-less-pain-we-inflict-on-our-bodies-the-more-beautiful-our/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“The rise of the beauty myth was just one of several emerging social fictions that masqueraded as natural components of the feminine sphere, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/the-rise-of-the-beauty-myth-was-just-one-of-several-emerging-social/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [The Victorian woman became her ovaries, as today's woman has become her "beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/the-victorian-woman-became-her-ovaries-as-today-s-woman-has-become/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“The anthropologist Margaret Mead concluded in 1948, after observing seven different ethnic groups in the Pacific Islands, that different cultures made different forms of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/the-anthropologist-margaret-mead-concluded-in-1948-after-observing/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [What becomes of a man who acquires a beautiful woman, with her "beauty" his sole target? He sabotages himself. He has gained no friend,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/what-becomes-of-a-man-who-acquires-a-beautiful-woman-with-her-beauty/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“Beauty” is a currency system like the gold standard. Like any economy, it is determined by politics, and in the modern age in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/beauty-is-a-currency-system-like-the-gold-standard-like-any-economy/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“Rape and sexual assault ... should be understood not just as a form of forced sex, they should also be understood as as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/rape-and-sexual-assault-should-be-understood-not-just-as-a-form-of/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“The qualities that a given period calls beautiful in women are merely symbols of the female behavior that that period considers desirable: The beauty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/the-qualities-that-a-given-period-calls-beautiful-in-women-are-merely/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [To live in a culture in which women are routinely naked where men aren't is to learn inequality in little ways all day long.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/to-live-in-a-culture-in-which-women-are-routinely-naked-where-men/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [a white person who claims to have no impediment of vision in this country is not, I think, telling the whole truth. And when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/a-white-person-who-claims-to-have-no-impediment-of-vision-in-this/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“The beauty myth sets it up this way: A high rating as an art object is the most valuable tribute a woman can exact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/the-beauty-myth-sets-it-up-this-way-a-high-rating-as-an-art-object-is/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“Societies tell themselves necessary fictions in the same way that individuals and families do. Henrik Ibsen called them “vital lies,” and psychologist Daniel Goleman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/societies-tell-themselves-necessary-fictions-in-the-same-way-that/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) [Explore all 251 Naomi Wolf quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) ## More Constraints quotes > [I write the way you might arrange flowers. Not every try works, but each one launches another. Every constraint, even dullness, frees up a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-powers/i-write-the-way-you-might-arrange-flowers-not-every-try-works-but/) [Richard Powers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-powers/) > [The only reason why I tend to pass on a movie is either I don't think I'm right for the material and can't play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-cage/the-only-reason-why-i-tend-to-pass-on-a-movie-is-either-i-don-t-think/) [Nicolas Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-cage/) > [The search for truth is a cooperative, unending endeavor. We can, and should, engage in it to the extent we can and encourage others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-search-for-truth-is-a-cooperative-unending-endeavor-we-can-and/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [To me the female principle is, or at least historically has been, basically anarchic. It values order without constraint, rule by custom not by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/to-me-the-female-principle-is-or-at-least-historically-has-been/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Since the nations founding, African Americans repeatedly have been controlled through institutions such as slavery and Jim Crow, which appear to die but then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/since-the-nations-founding-african-americans-repeatedly-have-been/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Style is the outcome of constraint.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-maurois/style-is-the-outcome-of-constraint/) [Andre Maurois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-maurois/) > [Every event has a cause-that is ... for every event e1 there exists an event e2 (or a class of events e2, e3 ...)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ermanno-bencivenga/every-event-has-a-cause-that-is-for-every-event-e1-there-exists-an/) Ermanno Bencivenga > [The natural world is not only a set of constraints but of contexts within which we can more fully realize our dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/the-natural-world-is-not-only-a-set-of-constraints-but-of-contexts/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [Bird taxonomy is a difficult field because of the severe anatomical constraints imposed by flight. There are only so many ways to design a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/bird-taxonomy-is-a-difficult-field-because-of-the-severe-anatomical/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [Engineers love to optimize problems. Now I optimize logistical problems. I ask: 'What's the goal? What are our constraints? What is the optimal, elegant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruchi-sanghvi/engineers-love-to-optimize-problems-now-i-optimize-logistical/) [Ruchi Sanghvi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruchi-sanghvi/) > [If you give a little credit to the concept of the artist, I think you ought to indulge excesses a bit, because that reflects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/if-you-give-a-little-credit-to-the-concept-of-the-artist-i-think-you/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [“By setting oneself totally free of constraints, free of thoughts, free of this debilitating activity called work, free of efforts, elements hidden in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/by-setting-oneself-totally-free-of-constraints-free-of-thoughts-free/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Constraint inspires creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/biz-stone/constraint-inspires-creativity/) [Biz Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/biz-stone/) > [“Creativity is what happens when a mind encounters an obstacle. It’s the human process of finding a way through, over, around, or beneath. No…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-orlin/creativity-is-what-happens-when-a-mind-encounters-an-obstacle-it-s/) Ben Orlin > [Water is an astonishingly complex and subtle force in an economy. It is the single constraint on the expansion of every city, and bankers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-catley-carlson/water-is-an-astonishingly-complex-and-subtle-force-in-an-economy-it/) Margaret Catley-Carlson Browse all 407 Constraints quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Western women have been controlled by ideals and stereotypes as much as by material constraints.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Naomi Wolf" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/western-women-have-been-controlled-by-ideals-and-stereotypes-as-much/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Constraints" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/western-women-have-been-controlled-by-ideals-and-stereotypes-as-much/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54a/naomi-wolf-1344_constraints_western-women-have-been-controlled-by-id_2708729.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54a/naomi-wolf-1344_constraints_western-women-have-been-controlled-by-id_2708729.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54a/naomi-wolf-1344_constraints_western-women-have-been-controlled-by-id_2708729.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Western women have been controlled by ideals and stereotypes as much as by material constraints.” — Naomi Wolf", "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": "Naomi Wolf", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Western women have been controlled by...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/western-women-have-been-controlled-by-ideals-and-stereotypes-as-much/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/western-women-have-been-controlled-by-ideals-and-stereotypes-as-much/#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 } } ] } ```