"It's a little bit late in the day for men to object that women are getting outside their proper sphere"
About this Quote
"Late in the day" lands like a verdict, not a rebuttal. Douglas isn’t politely requesting room for women; she’s pointing out that the argument against them has already lost on the facts. The phrase frames male objection as comically outdated, the kind of complaint you make after the train has left the station. It’s journalism sharpened into a deadline: history has moved, and the people still clutching "proper sphere" ideology are filing copy from yesterday.
The line also exposes the central trick of "proper sphere" talk: it pretends to be neutral, even protective, while functioning as a boundary fence. Douglas collapses that pretense by treating the boundary itself as absurdly late to enforce. Her intent is to delegitimize the objection, not debate it. That’s why she doesn’t argue that women belong in politics, newsrooms, or movements on moral grounds; she implies they’re already there, and the only question is why men are still acting surprised.
Context matters. Douglas lived through suffrage, two world wars, and the long churn of American civic expansion, while building a career in a profession that regularly treated women as exceptions. As a journalist and public advocate, she understood how power hides in language. By quoting "proper sphere" without endorsing it, she puts the phrase on display like an antique tool of control, then tosses it aside. The subtext: you can try to police women’s roles, but you’re doing it from a shrinking island, watching the shoreline recede.
The line also exposes the central trick of "proper sphere" talk: it pretends to be neutral, even protective, while functioning as a boundary fence. Douglas collapses that pretense by treating the boundary itself as absurdly late to enforce. Her intent is to delegitimize the objection, not debate it. That’s why she doesn’t argue that women belong in politics, newsrooms, or movements on moral grounds; she implies they’re already there, and the only question is why men are still acting surprised.
Context matters. Douglas lived through suffrage, two world wars, and the long churn of American civic expansion, while building a career in a profession that regularly treated women as exceptions. As a journalist and public advocate, she understood how power hides in language. By quoting "proper sphere" without endorsing it, she puts the phrase on display like an antique tool of control, then tosses it aside. The subtext: you can try to police women’s roles, but you’re doing it from a shrinking island, watching the shoreline recede.
Quote Details
| Topic | Equality |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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