Estelle Ramey Quotes

United States, Physiologist
August 23, 1917 – September, 8, 2006.

Estelle Rosemary Ramey was an American endocrinologist, physiologist and feminist who became internationally known for refuting surgeon and Democratic Party leader Edgar Berman, who stated that women were unfit to hold high public office because of "raging hormonal imbalances." Ramey's balanced approach to life was embodied in a later quote, "I have loved. And been loved. And all the rest is background music."

All parents want their offspring to be exemplars of virtue and achievement and happiness. But most of all, we want desperately for you to be safe - safe from disease and violence and self-destruction.

Estelle Ramey
- Parents
- Violence
- Virtue
Women's chains have been forged by men, not by anatomy.

Estelle Ramey
- Chains
- Anatomy
- Women's

What is human and the same about the males and females classified as Homo sapiens is much greater than the differences.

Estelle Ramey
I don't mind . . . the fun and games of being treated like a fragile flower. But as a physiologist working with the unromantic scientific facts of life, I find it hard to delude myself about feminine frailty.

Estelle Ramey
- Games
- Treated
- Frailty
We will have equality when a female schlemiel moves ahead as fast as a male schlemiel.

Estelle Ramey
- Equality
- Female
- Moves
The recurrent drama of menstrual bleeding must have been unnerving to primitive peoples. In man, the shedding of blood is always associated with injury, disease, or death. Only the female half of humanity was seen to have the magical ability to bleed profusely and still rise phoenix-like each month from the gore.

Estelle Ramey
- Humanity
- Drama
- Disease
Our society and our organizations have learned to value masculine, 'quick-fix' traits in leaders. In a primitive society, a rural society, or even the industrial society of the early 1990s, quick fixes worked out all right. But they are less likely to work in a complex society. We need to look at long-range outcomes now. Service and patience are what can keep things running effectively today and women can contribute a lot in both of these areas.

Estelle Ramey
- Work
- Society
- Patience
The only useful answer to the question 'Who is smarter, a man or a woman?' is, which man and which woman?

Estelle Ramey
- Woman
- Answer

Addressing a group of military officers: Are you a feminist? Oh ... wrong question. I should have asked, 'Are you a father?' When your daughter loses her job to a clearly less-qualified man, you will discover you are a feminist.

Estelle Ramey
- Job
- Father
- Military