--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Feminism's agenda is basic: it asks that…" description: "\"Feminism's agenda is basic: it asks that women not be forced to \"choose\" between public justice and private happiness. It asks that women be free to de..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/119/susan-faludi-12461_agendas_feminism-s-agenda-is-basic-it-asks-that_3170885.jpg" --- # Feminism's agenda is basic: it asks that women not be… ![“Feminism's agenda is basic: it asks that women not be forced to "choose" between public justice and private happiness. It asks that women be free to define themselves-instead of having their identity defined for them, time and again, by their culture and their men.” quote by Susan Faludi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/119/susan-faludi-12461_agendas_feminism-s-agenda-is-basic-it-asks-that_3170885.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/119/susan-faludi-12461_agendas_feminism-s-agenda-is-basic-it-asks-that_3170885.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/119/susan-faludi-12461_agendas_feminism-s-agenda-is-basic-it-asks-that_3170885.jpg) > “Feminism's agenda is basic: it asks that women not be forced to "choose" between public justice and private happiness. It asks that women be free to define themselves-instead of having their identity defined for them, time and again, by their culture and their men.” [Susan Faludi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-faludi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Women should not have to choose between public roles and personal fulfillment; they deserve autonomy over their identity. **In simple terms:** Women deserve freedom to define themselves. Key Takeaway Support women's autonomy. Themes gender equality identity freedom Mood determined hopeful Type advocacy inspirational When to use this quote - career advancement - personal relationships - cultural expectations Key Concepts feminism autonomy social norms Questions to Reflect On - How can institutions support women's dual aspirations? - What cultural shifts are needed for true autonomy? A Different Perspective Balancing public and private roles can be complex. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Agenda Basic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agenda-basic-5771078/) [Agendas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agendas/) [Asks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asks/) [Asks Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/asks-women-5771077/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Defined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defined/) [Feminism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism/) [Feminism Agenda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminism-agenda-5056357/) [Feminist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feminist/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Having Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/having-identity-872131/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Motivational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivational/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Women Free](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women-free-1060495/) ## Related quotes > [Feminism's agenda is basic: It asks that women not be forced to 'choose' between public justice and private happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-faludi/feminism-s-agenda-is-basic-it-asks-that-women-not-be-forced-to-choose/) [Susan Faludi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-faludi/) > [ “A woman from the audience asks: ‘Why were there so few women among the Beat writers?’ and \[Gregory\] Corso, suddenly utterly serious, leans forward… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-scobie/a-woman-from-the-audience-asks-why-were-there-so-few-women-among-the/) [Stephen Scobie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-scobie/) > [I think that the moment we're living in offers the best opportunity we've had in a long time in that a lot of things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-mccrae/i-think-that-the-moment-we-re-living-in-offers-the-best-opportunity/) [Shane McCrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-mccrae/) > [What I have learned from the Red Bull umbrella is that it is about having an identity, sticking to it and having everybody with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-marsch/what-i-have-learned-from-the-red-bull-umbrella-is-that-it-is-about/) [Jesse Marsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-marsch/) > [Having an identity at work separate from an identity at home means that the work role can help absorb some of the emotional shock…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faye-j-crosby/having-an-identity-at-work-separate-from-an-identity-at-home-means/) [Faye J Crosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faye-j-crosby/) > [The problem is sometimes so great that people do, literally, lose their desire to live. It happens, too, in relationships, when your partner leaves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-bk-satyanarayan/the-problem-is-sometimes-so-great-that-people-do-literally-lose-their/) [Dr BK Satyanarayan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-bk-satyanarayan/) > [The most important thing for me as an artist is having an identity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-church/the-most-important-thing-for-me-as-an-artist-is-having-an-identity/) [Eric Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-church/) > [I never felt like I had anything really figured out. When I was a teenager, it was all about teenagers having an 'identity crisis.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-gordon/i-never-felt-like-i-had-anything-really-figured-out-when-i-was-a/) [Kim Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-gordon/) > [Having an identity that is specifically linked to your age or how you look would definitely set you up for pain because these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/having-an-identity-that-is-specifically-linked-to-your-age-or-how-you/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [Having an identity is one thing. Being born into an identity is quite a different matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/having-an-identity-is-one-thing-being-born-into-an-identity-is-quite/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [The Western world is having an identity crisis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/the-western-world-is-having-an-identity-crisis/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [Forget about having an identity crisis and get some identity capital. ¦ Do something that adds value to who you are. Do something that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/forget-about-having-an-identity-crisis-and-get-some-identity-capital/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Last year I was 16, it was my first round of releasing music. Since then I've been working more on having an identity as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-gray/last-year-i-was-16-it-was-my-first-round-of-releasing-music-since/) [Loren Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-gray/) > [Women will not be free until we can speak our minds and our hearts without having to worry that men will crucify us, women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/women-will-not-be-free-until-we-can-speak-our-minds-and-our-hearts/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [There's no limit to what free men and free women in a free market with free enterprise can accomplish when people are free to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kemp/there-s-no-limit-to-what-free-men-and-free-women-in-a-free-market/) [Jack Kemp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kemp/) ## More by Susan Faludi > [The piles of makeup and the insistence on frills and ribbons and bows was not at all attuned to my feminist views.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-faludi/the-piles-of-makeup-and-the-insistence-on-frills-and-ribbons-and-bows/) [Susan Faludi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-faludi/) > [The culture used to move relatively slowly, so you could take aim. Now it moves so fast, and is so fluffy and meaningless, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-faludi/the-culture-used-to-move-relatively-slowly-so-you-could-take-aim-now/) [Susan Faludi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-faludi/) > [The modern fairy tale ending is the reverse of the traditional one: A woman does not wait for Prince Charming to bring her happiness;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-faludi/the-modern-fairy-tale-ending-is-the-reverse-of-the-traditional-one-a/) [Susan Faludi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-faludi/) > [the last decade has seen a powerful counterassault on women's rights, a backlash, an attempt to retract the handful of small and hard-won victories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-faludi/the-last-decade-has-seen-a-powerful-counterassault-on-women-s-rights/) [Susan Faludi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-faludi/) > [As women began to challenge their own internalized views of a woman's proper place, their desire and demand for equal status and free choice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-faludi/as-women-began-to-challenge-their-own-internalized-views-of-a-woman-s/) [Susan Faludi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-faludi/) > [The demand that women "return to femininity" is a demand that the cultural gears shift into reverse, that we back up to a fabled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-faludi/the-demand-that-women-return-to-femininity-is-a-demand-that-the/) [Susan Faludi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-faludi/) > [When the enemy has no face, society will invent one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-faludi/when-the-enemy-has-no-face-society-will-invent-one/) [Susan Faludi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-faludi/) > [The media and the rest of popular culture weren't recording people's reactions to 9/11; they were forcing made-up reactions down people's throats.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-faludi/the-media-and-the-rest-of-popular-culture-weren-t-recording-people-s/) [Susan Faludi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-faludi/) > [Divorced men are more likely to meet their car payments than their child support obligations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-faludi/divorced-men-are-more-likely-to-meet-their-car-payments-than-their/) [Susan Faludi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-faludi/) > [The 'feminine' woman is forever static and childlike. She is like the ballerina in an old-fashioned music box, her unchanging features tiny and girlish,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-faludi/the-feminine-woman-is-forever-static-and-childlike-she-is-like-the/) [Susan Faludi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-faludi/) > [I've never believed that women have some special, essentialist qualities, or were more nurturing, cooperative, and morally superior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-faludi/i-ve-never-believed-that-women-have-some-special-essentialist/) [Susan Faludi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-faludi/) > [That so-called feminine ardor for clothes shopping had been flagging for some time. Between 1980 and 1986, at the same time that women were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-faludi/that-so-called-feminine-ardor-for-clothes-shopping-had-been-flagging/) [Susan Faludi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-faludi/) > [It's fine to dress in polka dots and pink crinoline if you want. What I recoil from is the idea that that alone is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-faludi/it-s-fine-to-dress-in-polka-dots-and-pink-crinoline-if-you-want-what/) [Susan Faludi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-faludi/) > [Trump's "Make America Great Again" program trumpets a national identity built on scapegoating, self-pity and grandiosity, and the promise of a strongman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-faludi/trump-s-make-america-great-again-program-trumpets-a-national-identity/) [Susan Faludi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-faludi/) > [My goal is to be accused of being strident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-faludi/my-goal-is-to-be-accused-of-being-strident/) [Susan Faludi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-faludi/) [Explore all 54 Susan Faludi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-faludi/) ## More Agendas quotes > [There's a dishonest tyranny in the liberal/progressive/socialist agenda that comes down and says 'we are here because we care about you; we want what's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-west/there-s-a-dishonest-tyranny-in-the-liberal-progressive-socialist/) [Allen West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-west/) > [There could be no more powerful argument against mixing religion and government than the success of independent African American churches in placing racial segregation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jacoby/there-could-be-no-more-powerful-argument-against-mixing-religion-and/) [Susan Jacoby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jacoby/) > [At home we didnt talk about religion. So gradually the question faded away by itself and disappeared from the agenda. When I was nineteen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-prokofiev/at-home-we-didnt-talk-about-religion-so-gradually-the-question-faded/) [Sergei Prokofiev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-prokofiev/) > [We have Internet now and people are not stupid. But it seems that some people are trying to push the same agenda of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bassem-youssef/we-have-internet-now-and-people-are-not-stupid-but-it-seems-that-some/) [Bassem Youssef](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bassem-youssef/) > [The next thing you do today will be the most important thing on your agenda, because, after all, you're doing it next. Well, perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/the-next-thing-you-do-today-will-be-the-most-important-thing-on-your/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [In our system of government, the judicial and legislative branches have different roles. Judges are not politicians. Judges must decide cases, not champion causes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orrin-hatch/in-our-system-of-government-the-judicial-and-legislative-branches/) [Orrin Hatch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orrin-hatch/) > [It's when someone has an agenda of their own for the record that it doesn't work for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alanis-morissette/it-s-when-someone-has-an-agenda-of-their-own-for-the-record-that-it/) [Alanis Morissette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alanis-morissette/) > [The problem with merely writing so that you can be understood is that the wrong people, in advancing their agendas, are only too ready…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-a-dembski/the-problem-with-merely-writing-so-that-you-can-be-understood-is-that/) [William A. Dembski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-a-dembski/) > [If we allow our self-congratulatory adoration of technology to distract us from our own contact with each other, then somehow the original agenda has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/if-we-allow-our-self-congratulatory-adoration-of-technology-to/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [We have to consider who is going to be the best prime minister to take on a "one nation" agenda.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damian-green/we-have-to-consider-who-is-going-to-be-the-best-prime-minister-to/) [Damian Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damian-green/) > [There certainly are situations where I feel not empowered or uninspired. Particularly when the person's agenda is to intimidate through abusing their position or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tori-amos/there-certainly-are-situations-where-i-feel-not-empowered-or/) [Tori Amos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tori-amos/) > [Strong states and blocs of strong states are the only source of power and legitimacy capable of driving an international agenda in today's world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bremmer/strong-states-and-blocs-of-strong-states-are-the-only-source-of-power/) [Ian Bremmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bremmer/) > [He felt safe with her. He'd never been safe with another human being, not since he'd been taken as a child from his home.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-feehan/he-felt-safe-with-her-he-d-never-been-safe-with-another-human-being/) [Christine Feehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-feehan/) > [I sometimes find that my family's emphasis on stories, characters, and art that appeals directly to children rather than over their heads to adults…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-berenstain/i-sometimes-find-that-my-family-s-emphasis-on-stories-characters-and/) [Mike Berenstain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-berenstain/) > [The forces of immorality and Marxism and evil count on one thing: Us not showing up. And often, they're justified in that. And I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-shea/the-forces-of-immorality-and-marxism-and-evil-count-on-one-thing-us/) [Matt Shea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-shea/) [Browse all 985 Agendas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agendas/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Feminism's agenda is basic: it asks that women not be forced to \"choose\" between public justice and private happiness. 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