It is no use blaming the men – we made them what they are – and now it is up to us to try and make ourselves – the makers of men – a little more responsible.

Astor’s remark turns a common complaint—women blaming men for political or social failures—back onto women’s own formative power. By calling women “the makers of men,” she invokes mothers, educators, and the broader social influence of women in shaping male character and public conduct. The quote argues that if men behave badly, it is partly because society (including women) has tolerated, rewarded, or trained such behavior. Its moral thrust is not self-reproach for its own sake but a call to agency: women should accept responsibility for the standards they transmit and the leaders they enable, and then act more deliberately to cultivate responsibility in both sexes.