"The word, and the concept of feminism, was a gift because it gave me a sense of identity and a way of defining how I wished to live my life"
About this Quote
The phrasing matters. “The word, and the concept” acknowledges a double power. Language is social permission; concepts are internal architecture. Buckley is pointing to the way a single contested term can function like a compass when the surrounding culture offers women plenty of scripts but not many authorial roles. The subtext is that before feminism, her choices could be framed as personal eccentricities or professional stubbornness. With feminism, those same choices become coherent: not “difficult,” not “unfeminine,” but deliberate.
“A way of defining how I wished to live my life” turns feminism from a cause into a practice. It’s not merely about rights in the public square; it’s about agency in the everyday: work, love, ambition, boundaries. For a performer, that’s especially pointed. Acting trades in borrowed identities; feminism, in Buckley’s telling, offers ownership. The intent isn’t to recruit, exactly. It’s to testify that the word itself can be scaffolding: a framework sturdy enough to hold a life that refuses to be improvised by other people’s expectations.
Quote Details
| Topic | Equality |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Buckley, Betty. (2026, January 17). The word, and the concept of feminism, was a gift because it gave me a sense of identity and a way of defining how I wished to live my life. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-word-and-the-concept-of-feminism-was-a-gift-36431/
Chicago Style
Buckley, Betty. "The word, and the concept of feminism, was a gift because it gave me a sense of identity and a way of defining how I wished to live my life." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-word-and-the-concept-of-feminism-was-a-gift-36431/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The word, and the concept of feminism, was a gift because it gave me a sense of identity and a way of defining how I wished to live my life." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-word-and-the-concept-of-feminism-was-a-gift-36431/. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.
