"Male and female represent the two sides of the great radical dualism. But in fact they are perpetually passing into one another. Fluid hardens to solid, solid rushes to fluid. There is no wholly masculine man, no purely feminine woman"
About this Quote
Her most effective trick is the physical metaphor: fluid and solid. She borrows authority from the sciences without turning the passage into a lab report. Liquids harden, solids liquefy; what seems stable is only temporarily arranged. That framing quietly undermines the pseudo-biological certainty used to justify women’s exclusion from education, property rights, and public voice. It also resists the sentimental trap of praising "femininity" as a flattering prison.
The blunt clauses at the end land like verdicts: "There is no wholly masculine man, no purely feminine woman". Fuller isn’t merely defending women by claiming they can imitate men; she’s questioning the purity myth that props up masculinity itself. Written from within American Transcendentalism’s ferment and on the eve of organized women’s rights activism, the line reads as both diagnosis and invitation: loosen the categories, and people - not ideals - can finally become the measure of a life.
Quote Details
| Topic | Deep |
|---|---|
| Source | Margaret Fuller, Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1845). Passage derives from Fuller's essay often titled "The Great Lawsuit," discussing gender dualism. |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Fuller, Margaret. (2026, January 16). Male and female represent the two sides of the great radical dualism. But in fact they are perpetually passing into one another. Fluid hardens to solid, solid rushes to fluid. There is no wholly masculine man, no purely feminine woman. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/male-and-female-represent-the-two-sides-of-the-89199/
Chicago Style
Fuller, Margaret. "Male and female represent the two sides of the great radical dualism. But in fact they are perpetually passing into one another. Fluid hardens to solid, solid rushes to fluid. There is no wholly masculine man, no purely feminine woman." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/male-and-female-represent-the-two-sides-of-the-89199/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Male and female represent the two sides of the great radical dualism. But in fact they are perpetually passing into one another. Fluid hardens to solid, solid rushes to fluid. There is no wholly masculine man, no purely feminine woman." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/male-and-female-represent-the-two-sides-of-the-89199/. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.
