--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is only when women start to organize…" description: "\"“It is only when women start to organize in large numbers that we become a political force, and begin to move towards the possibility of a truly democr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b4/sheila-rowbotham-36952_communism_it-is-only-when-women-start-to-organize_3175839.jpg" --- # It is only when women start to organize in large numbers… ![“It is only when women start to organize in large numbers that we become a political force, and begin to move towards the possibility of a truly democratic society in which every human being can be brave, responsible, thinking and diligent in the struggle to live at once freely and unselfishly…” quote by Sheila Rowbotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b4/sheila-rowbotham-36952_communism_it-is-only-when-women-start-to-organize_3175839.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b4/sheila-rowbotham-36952_communism_it-is-only-when-women-start-to-organize_3175839.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b4/sheila-rowbotham-36952_communism_it-is-only-when-women-start-to-organize_3175839.jpg) > ““It is only when women start to organize in large numbers that we become a political force, and begin to move towards the possibility of a truly democratic society in which every human being can be brave, responsible, thinking and diligent in the struggle to live at once freely and unselfishly. Such a democracy would be communism, and is beyond our present imagining.”” [Sheila Rowbotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-rowbotham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Collective organization of women creates political power and moves society toward a truly democratic, egalitarian system, which the author equates with communism beyond current imagination. **In simple terms:** Women organizing yields political power and democratic society. Key Takeaway Support women's collective action. Themes politics gender democracy collectivism socialism Mood hopeful determined Type ideological inspirational When to use this quote - activist movements - policy advocacy - community organizing Key Concepts feminist theory political empowerment utopian vision Questions to Reflect On - How can women’s collective power reshape political systems? - What obstacles hinder building such a democracy? 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The most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barnes/television-is-the-first-truly-democratic-culture-the-first-culture/) [Clive Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barnes/) > [ The \[Oregon\] Journal in its head and heart will stand for the people, be truly Democratic and free from political entanglements and machinations, believing… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-l-jackson/the-oregon-journal-in-its-head-and-heart-will-stand-for-the-people-be/) [Samuel L. Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-l-jackson/) > [That's free enterprise, friends: freedom to gamble, freedom to lose. And the great thing - the truly democratic thing about it - is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/that-s-free-enterprise-friends-freedom-to-gamble-freedom-to-lose-and/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) ## More by Sheila Rowbotham > [The oppressed without hope are mysteriously quiet. When the conception of change is beyond the limits of the possible, there are no words to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-rowbotham/the-oppressed-without-hope-are-mysteriously-quiet-when-the-conception/) [Sheila Rowbotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-rowbotham/) > [In order to create an alternative an oppressed group must at once shatter the self-reflecting world which encircles it and, at the same time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-rowbotham/in-order-to-create-an-alternative-an-oppressed-group-must-at-once/) [Sheila Rowbotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-rowbotham/) > [Language conveys a certain power. It is one of the instruments of domination. It is carefully guarded by the superior people because it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-rowbotham/language-conveys-a-certain-power-it-is-one-of-the-instruments-of/) [Sheila Rowbotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-rowbotham/) > [It is no longer enough to point out what we don't like, we have to work out 'What sort of society do we want?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-rowbotham/it-is-no-longer-enough-to-point-out-what-we-don-t-like-we-have-to/) [Sheila Rowbotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-rowbotham/) > [the so-called women's question is a whole-people question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-rowbotham/the-so-called-women-s-question-is-a-whole-people-question/) [Sheila Rowbotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-rowbotham/) > [Power in the hands of particular groups and classes serves like a prism to refract reality through their own perspective.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-rowbotham/power-in-the-hands-of-particular-groups-and-classes-serves-like-a/) [Sheila Rowbotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-rowbotham/) > [Values linger on after the social structures which conceived them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-rowbotham/values-linger-on-after-the-social-structures-which-conceived-them/) [Sheila Rowbotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-rowbotham/) > [Men will often admit other women are oppressed but not you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-rowbotham/men-will-often-admit-other-women-are-oppressed-but-not-you/) [Sheila Rowbotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-rowbotham/) > [When a man curls his lip, when he uses ridicule, when he grows angry, you have touched a raw nerve in domination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-rowbotham/when-a-man-curls-his-lip-when-he-uses-ridicule-when-he-grows-angry/) [Sheila Rowbotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-rowbotham/) > [Innocence is impossible when people have never had the choice of becoming corrupt by dominating others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-rowbotham/innocence-is-impossible-when-people-have-never-had-the-choice-of/) [Sheila Rowbotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-rowbotham/) > [There is no "beginning" of feminism in the sense that there is no beginning to defiance in women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-rowbotham/there-is-no-beginning-of-feminism-in-the-sense-that-there-is-no/) [Sheila Rowbotham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-rowbotham/) [Explore all 12 Sheila Rowbotham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-rowbotham/) ## More Communism quotes > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [I didn't understand Southland Tales script at all! Is there a single word to describe it? Cacophony? It's celebrity meets pornography meets politics -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-grant/i-didn-t-understand-southland-tales-script-at-all-is-there-a-single/) [Beth Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-grant/) > [It is popular to call it a crisis of the Western world. It is in fact a crisis of the whole world. 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The jokes about death for the sake of the motherland…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/motherland-is-our-property-and-we-have-right-to-handle-our-properties/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [“Socialists and Progressives confuse compassion and compulsion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-samaan/socialists-and-progressives-confuse-compassion-and-compulsion/) [A.E. Samaan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-e-samaan/) > [Your best friends are your principles, if you havent them, dont look for another friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/your-best-friends-are-your-principles-if-you-havent-them-dont-look/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [If I paint a hammer and sickle people may think it is a representation of Communism, but for me it is only a hammer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/if-i-paint-a-hammer-and-sickle-people-may-think-it-is-a/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Our power does not know liberty or justice. It is established on the destruction of the individual will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/our-power-does-not-know-liberty-or-justice-it-is-established-on-the/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) > [A strong saying is not afraid of criticism, because it includes all the answers to criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/a-strong-saying-is-not-afraid-of-criticism-because-it-includes-all/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [I think it's sort of the hypothetical point where communism and fascism meet. They love tragedy, and they love surface beauty. You just watch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-forrest/i-think-it-s-sort-of-the-hypothetical-point-where-communism-and/) [Emma Forrest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-forrest/) > [Communism is inequality, but not as property is. Property is exploitation of the weak by the strong. Communism is exploitation of the strong by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-joseph-proudhon/communism-is-inequality-but-not-as-property-is-property-is/) [Pierre-Joseph Proudhon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-joseph-proudhon/) [Browse all 1,510 Communism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is only when women start to organize in large numbers that we become a political force, and begin to move towards the possibility of a truly democratic society in which every human being can be brave, responsible, thinking and diligent in the struggle to live at once freely and unselfishly. 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