Daily Inspiration Quote by Andrea Dworkin

Dworkin’s line is a scalpel aimed at a familiar double standard: the same social behavior gets demoted or dignified depending on who’s doing it, and who’s being talked about. “Gossip” is framed as feminine noise - unserious, petty, inherently suspect. When men do the identical thing, especially with women as the subject, it magically upgrades into “theory” or “fact,” as if male speech arrives pre-certified by reason.

The craft is in the pivot from “universally ridiculed” to the mock-solemn list: “theory, or idea, or fact.” That escalation isn’t just rhetorical flourish; it’s an accusation about how authority works. Men’s chatter can claim the costume of objectivity, while women’s knowledge is treated as contaminated by emotion and proximity. The subtext: who gets to name reality is as important as what reality is. If men can turn social speculation into “fact,” they can launder bias into expertise - and then circulate it back through institutions that reward “serious” talk.

Contextually, this sits squarely in Dworkin’s broader critique of patriarchy as a system that doesn’t merely police women’s bodies, but also polices women’s credibility. She’s not defending gossip as virtue; she’s exposing how language becomes a hierarchy. The sting is that the distinction isn’t about rigor. It’s about permission. When men speak about women, they’re often treated as analysts; when women speak about anyone, they’re treated as suspects.