Entertainment
For International Women's Day, Inspiring Quotes From Feminist Celebrities
On International Women's Day, we celebrate the economic, political, and social achievements of women. It's also a national holiday in many countries ... so, hey, United States, let's get on that shall we? There are millions of ways to recognize this wonderful and important holiday. The theme of the 2014 International Women's Day is "Inspiring Change." Whether it's writing to your local representatives to help push causes that affect the women of your community, volunteering your time with a women's charity, or just thanking the women in your life who have helped you achieve your goals, it's all about making the world a safer, healthier, and fairer place for women to live.
So when someone asks you, "Why do you celebrate International Women's Day?" we think these women can help inspire your response. Take a look.
Amy Poehler On Being Bossy
“I just love bossy women. I could be around them all day. To me, bossy is not a pejorative term at all. It means somebody’s passionate and engaged and ambitious and doesn’t mind leading.”
Beyonce On Gender Equality
“We have a lot of work to do, but we can get there if we work together. Women are more than 50 percent of the population and more than 50 percent of voters. We must demand that we all receive 100 percent of the opportunities.”
Tina Fey On Throwing Rules Out The Window
“Don’t waste your energy trying to educate or change opinions; go over, under, through, and opinions will change organically when you’re the boss. Or they won’t. Who cares? Do your thing, and don’t care if they like it.”
Mindy Kaling on Owning Your Talent
“I never want to be called the funniest Indian female comedian that exists…I feel like I can go head-to-head with the best white, male comedy writers that are out there. Why would I want to self-categorize myself into a smaller group than I’m able to compete in?”
Lupita Nyong'o on Beauty
“I hope that my presence on your screen and my face in magazines may lead you, young girls, on a beautiful journey…That you will feel the validation of your external beauty, but also get to the deeper business of being beautiful inside.”
Ellen DeGeneres's On Injustice
“I learned compassion from being discriminated against. Everything bad that’s ever happened to me has taught me compassion.”
Gabourey Sidibe on Fitting In
“I’m also less and less concerned with fitting in. I was born to stand out. I don’t care whether or not people will find me attractive on screen. That’s not why I became an actor. I know that more and more with each new role.”
Angelina Jolie on being a humanitarian
“I don’t understand why this is my life, and that’s hers. I don’t understand that, but I will do as my mother asked, and I will do the best I can with this life to be of use,”
Cate Blanchett on telling women's stories
”…and to those in the industry who are perhaps foolishly clinging to the idea that female films with women in the center are niche experiences, they are not. Audiences want to see them, and in fact, they earn money.”
Keira Knightley on Feminism
“I think it’s great that the discussions are finally being allowed to be had [about feminism], as opposed to anybody mentioning feminism and everybody going, ‘Oh, f***ing shut up.’ Somehow, it [feminism] became a dirty word. I thought it was really weird for a long time, and I think it’s great that we’re coming out of that.”
Olivia Wilde
“It seems like that’s really part of the healing process, is communities coming together and empowering themselves through the power of a group and understanding that they don’t have to put up with that shit anymore. Why isn’t that coming from the media, why aren’t women in particular being empowered from a young age from the media?”
Olivia, we couldn’t agree more.
