All right, then nobody can complain if we ask pregnant women to
Muammar al-Gaddafi, in his peculiar and fiery manner of speech, once declared: “All right, then nobody can complain if we ask pregnant women to make parachute jumps.” At first hearing, his words sound absurd, even mocking. Yet beneath the strangeness lies a deeper truth, a lesson spoken in exaggeration. He sought to reveal the hypocrisy of demands placed upon people—particularly upon women—when expectations are made without wisdom or mercy. By raising the image of pregnant women leaping from the sky, he showed how folly arises when fairness is abandoned, and how absurdity follows when power forgets reason.
The heart of this saying is protest against imbalance. If society demands of one group what is harsh or unreasonable, then why should another group be spared? To push the thought to its extreme—asking women heavy with child to leap from planes—Gaddafi unmasks the injustice of the original demand. In the style of the ancients, this is satire turned into prophecy: a warning that when rules are not guided by fairness, they will become cruel, and when law loses balance, it falls into ridicule.
History itself offers a mirror to this truth. In Sparta, women were compelled to train their bodies with rigor, running, wrestling, and bearing burdens equal to men, for the belief was that strong women bore strong children. To outsiders, this seemed shocking, even unnatural, much as Gaddafi’s image of pregnant women parachuting might. Yet it revealed how societies, in pursuit of ideals, often make demands upon women that ignore their unique burdens and dignity. The line between discipline and absurdity is thin, and without wisdom, easily crossed.
There is also a deeper current: the recognition of complaint and the right to voice it. Gaddafi’s jest challenges the hearer: if we allow silence in the face of one unfair command, then we cannot complain when greater absurdities follow. Injustice grows not in leaps, but in steps. To resist small imbalances is to prevent larger cruelties; to accept them is to invite extremity, even madness.
Let this teaching be passed down: when demands are made of the people, let them be weighed with justice, with reason, and with mercy. For if not, then the rulers shall one day ask the impossible—ask the fragile to bear the unbearable, ask the innocent to leap where even the strong should fear to tread. And the people, if they have surrendered their voice, will have no ground left to resist. Thus the absurd image of pregnant women falling from the skies becomes not only a jest, but a warning of what befalls when fairness is lost.
PBNguyen Tran Phuong Bao
I find this quote very troubling. There’s a complete disregard for the reality of pregnancy and the physical changes and risks that women experience. Is this really the type of rhetoric we want to perpetuate about women’s rights and health? It's important to ask ourselves: should any woman be subjected to such dangerous comparisons, and what does it say about our respect for the safety and autonomy of women during one of the most critical stages of life?
ATAnh Thu
This is quite a disturbing comparison to make, as it seems to dehumanize the experience of pregnancy. The idea that a pregnant woman could be expected to do something as physically demanding and risky as a parachute jump is absurd. What does this say about how we view women’s strength and limits, especially when they are carrying a child? Is there an underlying point being made here about gender expectations or a lack of understanding of pregnancy?
GDGold D.dragon
Reading this makes me wonder about the motivations behind such a statement. Gaddafi often made statements that seemed to dismiss the importance of individual well-being for the sake of larger political or ideological goals. But in this case, it's especially troubling because it directly concerns the safety and health of pregnant women, who are often already marginalized in society. Was there an agenda behind this, or was it simply thoughtless?
MHLe Mau hoang
This quote raises a very significant question: how far can we push the boundaries of what is expected or acceptable for pregnant women? While it's clearly a rhetorical statement, it draws attention to societal expectations that often overlook women's autonomy and health. What does it say about our society's perceptions of risk and responsibility in terms of gender and motherhood?
KCNguyen Khanh Chi
Is the intent behind this statement to be provocative or is it genuinely a misguided attempt at humor? Regardless, it presents a rather troubling view of women's roles and capacities, especially when considering the high risks that parachuting entails. Pregnant women should not be subjected to such reckless ideas, and this quote only reflects a lack of understanding of the importance of health during pregnancy.