revolutionary content there is in petty-bourgeois feminist praxis, it has been put there by the efforts of the middle strata, especially the less well off, to move up socially. To do this, however, they sought merely to expand the existing social structures, and never went so far as to challenge the status quo. Thus, while petty-bourgeois feminism may always have aimed at establishing social equality between the sexes, the consciousness it represented has remained utopian in its desire for and struggle to bring about a partial transformation of society this it believed could be done without disturbing the foundations on which it rested .. .In this sense, petty-bourgeois feminism is not feminism at all; indeed it has helped to consolidate class society by giving camouflage to its internal contradictions." - Meaning and context.">
(1978), Women in Class Society page: 223, publisher: Monthly Review Press, ISBN: 0853454159
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Whatever revolutionary content there is in petty-bourgeois feminist praxis, it has been put there by the efforts of the middle strata, especially the less well off, to move up socially. To do this, however, they sought merely to expand the existing social structures, and never went so far as to challenge the status quo. Thus, while petty-bourgeois feminism may always have aimed at establishing social equality between the sexes, the consciousness it represented has remained utopian in its desire for and struggle to bring about a partial transformation of society this it believed could be done without disturbing the foundations on which it rested .. .In this sense, petty-bourgeois feminism is not feminism at all; indeed it has helped to consolidate class society by giving camouflage to its internal contradictions.

— Heleieth Saffioti

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Whatever revolutionary content there is in petty-bourgeois feminist praxis, it has been put there by the efforts of the middle strata, especially the less well off, to move up socially. To do this, however, they sought merely to expand the existing social structures, and never went so far as to challenge the status quo. Thus, while petty-bourgeois feminism may always have aimed at establishing social equality between the sexes, the consciousness it represented has remained utopian in its desire for and struggle to bring about a partial transformation of society this it believed could be done without disturbing the foundations on which it rested .. .In this sense, petty-bourgeois feminism is not feminism at all; indeed it has helped to consolidate class society by giving camouflage to its internal contradictions." in the context of "(1978), Women in Class Society page: 223, publisher: Monthly Review Press, ISBN: 0853454159" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Heleieth Saffioti" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Heleieth Saffioti

About Heleieth Saffioti

Heleieth Iara Bongiovani Saffioti (January 4, 1934 – December 13, 2010) was a Brazilian sociologist, teacher, and feminist activist.