"I'd make a comment at a meeting and nobody would even acknowledge me. Then some man would say the same thing and they'd all nod"
About this Quote
A small social slight becomes an x-ray of power. Charlotte Bunch’s line isn’t just about being ignored; it’s about how institutions launder ideas through male voices, converting the same words into “leadership” once they’re spoken by the right body. The sting in the setup - “nobody would even acknowledge me” - is deliberate. It marks the difference between disagreement (at least you’re seen) and erasure (you’re not even legible as a participant). Then comes the grim punchline: “some man would say the same thing.” The repetition is the point. Nothing changes except the speaker, and suddenly the room “nods,” that quiet little ritual that certifies credibility.
Bunch, a central figure in second-wave feminism and a major architect of women’s rights as human rights, is naming a pattern activists have long documented: the gendered economy of attention. Meetings are supposed to be democratic theaters of reason; she exposes them as stages where authority is pre-assigned. The subtext is about gatekeeping dressed up as neutrality. When people insist they’re simply responding to “the best idea,” Bunch’s anecdote shows how “best” often means “familiar,” and “familiar” often means male.
What makes the quote work is its specificity and its refusal to soften. No grand theory, just a recognizable scene that indicts an entire culture of professional respectability. It’s also a tactic: by making the bias narratable, Bunch turns private frustration into shared evidence - the first step toward changing the room.
Bunch, a central figure in second-wave feminism and a major architect of women’s rights as human rights, is naming a pattern activists have long documented: the gendered economy of attention. Meetings are supposed to be democratic theaters of reason; she exposes them as stages where authority is pre-assigned. The subtext is about gatekeeping dressed up as neutrality. When people insist they’re simply responding to “the best idea,” Bunch’s anecdote shows how “best” often means “familiar,” and “familiar” often means male.
What makes the quote work is its specificity and its refusal to soften. No grand theory, just a recognizable scene that indicts an entire culture of professional respectability. It’s also a tactic: by making the bias narratable, Bunch turns private frustration into shared evidence - the first step toward changing the room.
Quote Details
| Topic | Equality |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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