“As Gloria Steinem said about Ginger Rogers: She was doing everything Fred Astaire was doing, just doing it backwards in high heels. Well, Southern women are doing and enduring what other women have to do and endure, but (at least until recently) they had to do it in heels and hats and white gloves and makeup and a sweet smile, with maybe a glass of bourbon and a cigarette to get them through the magnolia part of being a steel magnolia.”

— Michael Malone

January Magazine (January 2002).

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Michael Malone 3

American screenwriter, novelist 1942

Related quotes

“After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels.”

Ann Richards (1933–2006) American politician

Earlier use in Frank and Ernest (c. 1982), by Bob Thaves, as the characters observe a billboard for a "Fred Astaire Film Festival: "Sure he was great, but don't forget that Ginger Rogers did everything that he did… backwards and in high heels."
Quoted in
Misattributed
Context: If you give us the chance, we can perform. After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels** Keynote address, 1988 Democratic National Convention

“Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, except backwards and in high heels.”

Ginger Rogers (1911–1995) American actress and dancer

The line originated in a 1982 Frank and Ernest cartoon ( image http://www.reelclassics.com/Actresses/Ginger/ginger-article2.htm) by Bob Thaves as "Sure he was great, but don't forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did, ...backwards and in high heels." On the internet and in many publications the line is incorrectly attributed to Faith Whittlesey (see [List of Websites That Have Attributed Thaves' Line to Whittlesey, http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=en-us&num=100&newwindow=1&q=%22Faith+Whittlesey%22+%22Ginger+Rogers%22+-incorrect+-incorrectly+-%22Bob+Thaves%22+-%22Ann+Richards%22&aq=f&oq=&aqi=, 2009-07-25, Google]) or Rogers herself. Ann Richards popularized the line by using it in a speech but she credits Linda Ellerbee with giving her the line, and Ellerbee credits an anonymous passenger on an airplane with giving her the line (see [Keyes, Ralph (2006), The Quote Verifier: Who Said What, Where, and When, St. Martin's Griffin, 77, 0312340044]). The official Ginger Rogers website http://www.gingerrogers.com/about/quotes.html attributes the line to Thaves.
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“Sure he (Fred Astaire) was great, but don't forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did, backwards… and in high heels.”

Bob Thaves (1924–2006) cartoonist

A May 3, 1982 Frank and Ernest cartoon.
Elizabeth Knowles, " Backwards and in high heels http://books.google.com/books?id=jxFQqDLav6wC&pg=PT25&dq=%22backwards%22+%22high+heels%22+%22ginger+rogers%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wPs_U-qZC9PNsQS90YLYBQ&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22backwards%22%20%22high%20heels%22%20%22ginger%20rogers%22&f=false", What They Didn't Say: A Book of Misquotations (Oxford Press: 2006)
" Quotes About Ginger Rogers http://www.gingerrogers.com/about/quotes.html", Ginger Rogers: The Official Site
Often incorrectly attributed to Faith Whittlesey, Ann Richards (who used it in a 1988 speech), or to Ginger Rogers herself
Alternative version: Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, except backwards and in high heels.
Source: http://www.frankandernest.com/