--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [S]ocial order displays not the absolute…" description: "\"“[S]ocial order displays not the absolute presence or absence of intolerance to difference but a spectrum of intolerance. Each of us bears responsibili..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/723/nivedita-menon-63731_beauty-policing_s-ocial-order-displays-not-the-absolute_963124.jpg" --- # \[S\]ocial order displays not the absolute presence or… ![“[S]ocial order displays not the absolute presence or absence of intolerance to difference but a spectrum of intolerance. Each of us bears responsibility to some degree for maintaining these protocols of intolerance, which could not be kept in place if every single one of us did not play our part…” quote by Nivedita Menon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/723/nivedita-menon-63731_beauty-policing_s-ocial-order-displays-not-the-absolute_963124.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/723/nivedita-menon-63731_beauty-policing_s-ocial-order-displays-not-the-absolute_963124.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/723/nivedita-menon-63731_beauty-policing_s-ocial-order-displays-not-the-absolute_963124.jpg) > ““\[S\]ocial order displays not the absolute presence or absence of intolerance to difference but a spectrum of intolerance. Each of us bears responsibility to some degree for maintaining these protocols of intolerance, which could not be kept in place if every single one of us did not play our part. From bringing up children ‘appropriately’, to lovingly correcting or punishing their inappropriate behaviour, to making sure we never breach the protocols ourselves, to staring or sniggering at people who look different, to coercive psychiatric and medical intervention, to emotional blackmail, to physical violence-it’s a range of slippages all the way that we seldom recognize.”” [Nivedita Menon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nivedita-menon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Society tolerates difference on a spectrum, and everyone contributes to maintaining or challenging that tolerance through everyday actions. **In simple terms:** People help shape how tolerant or intolerant a society is. Key Takeaway Recognize and question your role in upholding intolerance. Themes social justice responsibility intolerance culture power dynamics Mood reflective critical concerned Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - parenting - education - media representation - healthcare - law enforcement Key Concepts social norms collective responsibility bias institutional oppression Questions to Reflect On - How do your daily choices reinforce or challenge intolerance? - What can you do to shift the spectrum toward tolerance? A Different Perspective Changing attitudes requires systemic change, not just individual effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Emotional Blackmail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotional-blackmail/) [Feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) [Feminist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminist/) [Intolerance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intolerance/) [Tolerance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tolerance/) ## Related quotes > [It's emotional blackmail to say if you're a good businesswoman and a musician, you're betraying your music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tori-amos/it-s-emotional-blackmail-to-say-if-you-re-a-good-businesswoman-and-a/) [Tori Amos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tori-amos/) > [“36. Argument from Incomplete Devastation: A plane crashed killing 143 passengers and crew. But one child survived with only third-degree burns. Therefore God exists.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/36-argument-from-incomplete-devastation-a-plane-crashed-killing-143/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“Unless a person can give reasons, there is, literally, no reason why anyone else should take that person seriously. But without reasons, all we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright/unless-a-person-can-give-reasons-there-is-literally-no-reason-why/) [N.T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright/) > [God, it's 30 years, who wanted to go over it? But she gave me some of the most thoughtful sentences, about how she felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-grossi/god-it-s-30-years-who-wanted-to-go-over-it-but-she-gave-me-some-of/) Margaret Grossi > [“When someone in a position of power over you asks you to follow their orders it is essentially emotional blackmail. You feel honour-bound to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/montana-ash/when-someone-in-a-position-of-power-over-you-asks-you-to-follow-their/) Montana Ash > [If my view, the big blackmailer the beggars who are themselves poor by showing that the emotional blackmail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/if-my-view-the-big-blackmailer-the-beggars-who-are-themselves-poor-by/) Mak\_786 > [“Much like a bully, a narcissist will protect him or herself by using aggression and holding a superiority or power over others’. There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-parker/much-like-a-bully-a-narcissist-will-protect-him-or-herself-by-using/) Emily Parker > [“On the positive side, you are “in love” with your partner. This is at first a deeply satisfying state. You feel intensely alive. Your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/on-the-positive-side-you-are-in-love-with-your-partner-this-is-at/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“Knowledge of my atrocious selfishness, settled on me. All those bitter home truths she had flung at me, right from the beginning…and still loved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/knowledge-of-my-atrocious-selfishness-settled-on-me-all-those-bitter/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [“Who said I don’t hate? The truth is I’m pretty indiscriminate about it. There are millions of people I could hate. Everyone who wants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-nagata/who-said-i-don-t-hate-the-truth-is-i-m-pretty-indiscriminate-about-it/) [Linda Nagata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-nagata/) > [“This is emotional blackmail.' 'No, it’s life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/this-is-emotional-blackmail-no-it-s-life/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafón](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) > [Motherhood, pester power and emotional blackmail - Indian marketers have cottoned on to the fact that these three themes can sell just about anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sucheta-dalal/motherhood-pester-power-and-emotional-blackmail-indian-marketers-have/) [Sucheta Dalal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sucheta-dalal/) > [“Albert liked to play the stoic, and he embraced the opportunity to do over the negotiations about the marriage. He insisted that Uncle Leopold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-williams/albert-liked-to-play-the-stoic-and-he-embraced-the-opportunity-to-do/) [Kate Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-williams/) > [I resolutely believe that respect for diversity is a fundamental pillar in the eradication of racism, xenophobia and intolerance. There is no excuse for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rigoberta-menchu/i-resolutely-believe-that-respect-for-diversity-is-a-fundamental/) [Rigoberta Menchu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rigoberta-menchu/) > [Dialogue and education for peace can help free our hearts from the impulse toward intolerance and the rejection of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daisaku-ikeda/dialogue-and-education-for-peace-can-help-free-our-hearts-from-the/) [Daisaku Ikeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daisaku-ikeda/) ## More by Nivedita Menon > [ “\[E\]ven today, when confident and self-affirmative lesbian identities have emerged and are available to women, images of 'lesbianism’ are still regularly appropriated by a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nivedita-menon/e-ven-today-when-confident-and-self-affirmative-lesbian-identities/) [Nivedita Menon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nivedita-menon/) > [ “\[D\]emanding wages for housework (…) forced recognition of the fact that the domestic work which women do has economic value. But many feminists feel… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nivedita-menon/d-emanding-wages-for-housework-forced-recognition-of-the-fact-that/) [Nivedita Menon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nivedita-menon/) > [“There is abundant scholarship which establishes that the delegitimation of homosexual desire and the production of the naturally heterosexual, properly bi-gendered (unambiguously male or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nivedita-menon/there-is-abundant-scholarship-which-establishes-that-the/) [Nivedita Menon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nivedita-menon/) > [ “\[O\]nce we give up on the idea that only heterosexuality is normal and that all human bodies are clearly either male or female, more… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nivedita-menon/o-nce-we-give-up-on-the-idea-that-only-heterosexuality-is-normal-and/) [Nivedita Menon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nivedita-menon/) [Explore all 5 Nivedita Menon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nivedita-menon/) ## More Feminism quotes > [“But benevolent patriarchy is still patriarchy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/but-benevolent-patriarchy-is-still-patriarchy/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [“This story is not at all an uncommon one in tech circles, including gaming. The popular notion is that women who get ahead must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bailey-poland/this-story-is-not-at-all-an-uncommon-one-in-tech-circles-including/) [Bailey Poland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bailey-poland/) > [Without meaning to sound anti-men, ghastly women are the closest you get to a male role.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-burke/without-meaning-to-sound-anti-men-ghastly-women-are-the-closest-you/) [Kathy Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-burke/) > [If the women in the factories stopped work for twenty minutes, the Allies would lose the war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joffre/if-the-women-in-the-factories-stopped-work-for-twenty-minutes-the/) Joseph Joffre > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [“If attempting to make the world a civilized one, makes you a bad woman in the eyes of the dumb patriarchal society, then, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/if-attempting-to-make-the-world-a-civilized-one-makes-you-a-bad-woman/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“there was something of the women molded into the great, stalwart frame of Hollingsworth; nor was he ashamed of it; as men often are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/there-was-something-of-the-women-molded-into-the-great-stalwart-frame/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [Women rule the world. It's not really worth fighting because they know what they're doing. Ask Napoleon. Ask Adam. Ask Richard Burton or Richie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-bon-jovi/women-rule-the-world-it-s-not-really-worth-fighting-because-they-know/) [Jon Bon Jovi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-bon-jovi/) > [“Bármilyen idiótának, aki azt kérdezi: „Feminista vagy? Akkor elégeted a melltartóidat, mi? HE? Melltartókat égetsz, te feminista?” – szép nyugodtan így kell válaszolni: „Ostoba.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitlin-moran/b-rmilyen-idi-t-nak-aki-azt-k-rdezi-feminista-vagy-akkor-el-geted-a/) [Caitlin Moran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caitlin-moran/) > [People are capable of great, great change during the span of one lifetime. And women even more than men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/people-are-capable-of-great-great-change-during-the-span-of-one/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [Susan B. Anthony must be turning in her grave if she knew that millions of women who have the right to vote are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-m-kunin/susan-b-anthony-must-be-turning-in-her-grave-if-she-knew-that/) [Madeleine M. Kunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-m-kunin/) > [Success will come when the societal attitude changes and not a single woman in America asks herself the question 'What did I do?'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-biden/success-will-come-when-the-societal-attitude-changes-and-not-a-single/) [Joe Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-biden/) > [Women know things that men will never know. We keep the best secrets. We tell the best stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-hoffman/women-know-things-that-men-will-never-know-we-keep-the-best-secrets/) [Alice Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-hoffman/) > [“Women will be at least 50 percent of the communications community workforce … from executive suite to interns. Why? The “integrated” agency will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoram-wind/women-will-be-at-least-50-percent-of-the-communications-community/) Yoram Wind [Browse all 15,705 Feminism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“[S]ocial order displays not the absolute presence or absence of intolerance to difference but a spectrum of intolerance. Each of us bears responsibility to some degree for maintaining these protocols of intolerance, which could not be kept in place if every single one of us did not play our part. From bringing up children ‘appropriately’, to lovingly correcting or punishing their inappropriate behaviour, to making sure we never breach the protocols ourselves, to staring or sniggering at people who look different, to coercive psychiatric and medical intervention, to emotional blackmail, to physical violence-it’s a range of slippages all the way that we seldom recognize.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nivedita Menon" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nivedita-menon/s-ocial-order-displays-not-the-absolute-presence-or-absence-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Feminism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nivedita-menon/s-ocial-order-displays-not-the-absolute-presence-or-absence-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/723/nivedita-menon-63731_beauty-policing_s-ocial-order-displays-not-the-absolute_963124.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/723/nivedita-menon-63731_beauty-policing_s-ocial-order-displays-not-the-absolute_963124.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/723/nivedita-menon-63731_beauty-policing_s-ocial-order-displays-not-the-absolute_963124.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“[S]ocial order displays not the absolute presence or absence of intolerance to difference but a spectrum of…” — Nivedita Menon", "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": "Nivedita Menon", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nivedita-menon/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“[S]ocial order displays not the absolute...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nivedita-menon/s-ocial-order-displays-not-the-absolute-presence-or-absence-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nivedita-menon/s-ocial-order-displays-not-the-absolute-presence-or-absence-of/#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 } } ] } ```