Clint Eastwood Once Said, 'Don't Tell Me the Patriarchy Still Exists'?

Throughout 2024, a meme circulated on social media attributing a quote to actor and director Clint Eastwood, which read: "If a man called a duck a goose, women used to smile, nod, and pretend it was a goose. Now they'll just tell you it's a duck. So don't tell me the patriarchy still exists."

A Threads post in June by the account @lowqualityfacts included the image, which was captioned: "Clint Eastwood has some strong opinions on some weird things." One user replied: "He's weird," while another wrote: "Sit down, Clint. You're just embarrassing yourself."

(Threads user @lowqualityfacts)

Low Quality Facts (LQF) posted the same image in April and February with a near-identical caption.

The meme also spread via Low Quality Facts' other social media accounts, such as Mastodon and X. One Mastodon user replied: "Now they will tell Clint to duck off," while another wrote: "I have few disappointments as disappointing as Clint Eastwood."

However, the quotation was not an authentic statement from Clint Eastwood. It originated from LQF, a network of social media accounts that acknowledged its content was "low quality" and hoped to make people "smile and laugh," which is why we rated this claim as "Labeled Satire."

A Google search for the alleged Eastwood quote produced no credible evidence the Hollywood star ever made such a statement. There were also no reliable sources, interviews, or articles linking Eastwood to this remark.

Moreover, a reverse-image search indicated the quote was produced by LQF.

LQF's Threads bio read: "Low Quality Facts written in arguably lower quality handwriting," while its Patreon page described its content as "silly little facts" meant to create "high-quality smiles and laughs":

This is just a way to support the writing of my silly little facts. The facts are certainly low quality, but I have been told that they create some high quality smiles and laughs. Is that worth a dollar? Heck if I know. You decide.

LQF's Instagram account linked to another called Otterly Human, which itself linked to a separate Patreon page belonging to a user named Connor Stone, whose profile says, "I have spent the last few years tweeting humorous ideas ... I hope that you find our comics to be mildly amusing. Mild amusement is a very pleasant feeling to feel. One of my top ten emotions for sure."

This was not the first time Eastwood had been the subject of a fabricated quotation. In May 2024, Snopes debunked another widely shared image falsely attributing a political statement to Eastwood, reading: "This is a FACT: If illegal people that are in our country voted for Republicans, the Democrats would have built a border wall years ago."