Men are allowed to have passion and commitment for their work... a woman is allowed that feeling for a man, but not her work.

Streisand contrasts how ambition is culturally coded by gender: men’s intensity about their careers is treated as normal or admirable, while women’s comparable drive is often viewed as unfeminine, selfish, or suspect. The line also points to a double standard in which women are socially permitted—sometimes even expected—to channel passion primarily into romantic attachment, not professional purpose. Coming from a performer-director who fought for creative control in a male-dominated industry, the quote underscores how recognition, authority, and “seriousness” at work are unevenly granted. It functions as a critique of workplace sexism and of narratives that reduce women’s fulfillment to relationships rather than vocation.