the coming disappearance of women. I pointed out that the only differences between men and women are the women are smaller and weaker than men, and women have to bear the children, and that all other differences are really social. They are born of the environment. They're not real. [...]
You say, "Women are so pure and sweet and nice, if only they have the vote, they would clean up politics." So you give them the vote, and politics is just as dirty as ever. [...]
If we get into the 21st century when all the work that's required to be done (and there won't be much of it) doesn't require muscles anyway (it's all a matter of closing contacts, pushing papers, whatever the heck you do), women can do it as well as men. And when it comes to children, there's going to have to be a low birth rate (we'll have to or everything goes 'blooey!'). And in addition, children will be considered, I think, the responsibility of society and not the responsibility of their mothers. Children will be far too valuable to trust to their mothers (most of them are complete incompetents as mothers)." - Meaning and context.">
Talk at Boskone 5 (1968) (at 23:45) (edited slightly)
• Concerning an article he wrote for "the textile industry".

The article was essentially about the coming disappearance of women. I pointed out that the only differences between men and women are the women are smaller and weaker than men, and women have to bear the children, and that all other differences are really social. They are born of the environment. They're not real. [...]
You say, "Women are so pure and sweet and nice, if only they have the vote, they would clean up politics." So you give them the vote, and politics is just as dirty as ever. [...]
If we get into the 21st century when all the work that's required to be done (and there won't be much of it) doesn't require muscles anyway (it's all a matter of closing contacts, pushing papers, whatever the heck you do), women can do it as well as men. And when it comes to children, there's going to have to be a low birth rate (we'll have to or everything goes 'blooey!'). And in addition, children will be considered, I think, the responsibility of society and not the responsibility of their mothers. Children will be far too valuable to trust to their mothers (most of them are complete incompetents as mothers).

— Isaac Asimov

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The article was essentially about the coming disappearance of women. I pointed out that the only differences between men and women are the women are smaller and weaker than men, and women have to bear the children, and that all other differences are really social. They are born of the environment. They're not real. [...]
You say, "Women are so pure and sweet and nice, if only they have the vote, they would clean up politics." So you give them the vote, and politics is just as dirty as ever. [...]
If we get into the 21st century when all the work that's required to be done (and there won't be much of it) doesn't require muscles anyway (it's all a matter of closing contacts, pushing papers, whatever the heck you do), women can do it as well as men. And when it comes to children, there's going to have to be a low birth rate (we'll have to or everything goes 'blooey!'). And in addition, children will be considered, I think, the responsibility of society and not the responsibility of their mothers. Children will be far too valuable to trust to their mothers (most of them are complete incompetents as mothers)." in the context of "Talk at Boskone 5 (1968) (at 23:45) (edited slightly)
• Concerning an article he wrote for "the textile industry"." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Quote Image
Source: Wikiquote: "Isaac Asimov" (Quotes, General sources, 1957–1970) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Isaac Asimov

About Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov (c. 2 January 1920 – 6 April 1992) was a Russian-born American biochemist who was a prolific writer of both fiction and non-fiction, his works include the Foundation series and I, Robot.