Quotes about gender
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José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero photo

“Gender equality is more successful than armed force”

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (1960) Former Prime Minister of Spain

Interview with "Time" Magazine, September 22th, 2004
As President, 2004

Jacob Tobia photo
Lydia Sigourney photo
Julia Gillard photo
Mary Eberstadt photo
Nichelle Nichols photo
Carl Sagan photo
Migdia Chinea Varela photo
Bell Hooks photo
Tawakkol Karman photo
Bell Hooks photo
Anna Paquin photo

“I'm sure for some people saying they’re bisexual feels less scary than making a statement that they're gay. For me, it’s not really an issue because I’m someone who believes being bisexual is actually a thing. It’s not made up. It’s not a lack of decision. It’s not being greedy or numerous other ignorant things I’ve heard at this point. For a bisexual, it’s not about gender. That’s not the deciding factor for who they’re attracted to.”

Anna Paquin (1982) Canadian-born New Zealand actress

I still like women': Pregnant Anna Paquin on why she will always be bisexual... despite being married to Stephen Moyer http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2138717/Anna-Paquin-bisexual-Actress-likes-women-despite-married-Stephen-Moyer.html By Daily Mail Reporter - Published: 3-5-2012
Anna Paquin: My Bisexuality 'Is Not Made Up' Despite Being Married To Stephen Moyer http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/03/anna-paquin-bisexuality-zooey-magazine-_n_1475128.html - Published: 5-3-2012.

Paul Mason (journalist) photo
Peter Whittle (politician) photo

“Whether it be in the toleration of sharia courts, or the turning of a blind eye to cultural practices which go against our laws, too often it has been women who have been the victims of those problems. I have always believed that a multi-ethnic society such as ours can be successful if it can be united by a common set of values and sense of identity, instead of a constant emphasis on division. It’s amazing to think that this was once considered outlandish. It can be difficult to explain this crucial difference in a city like London. More than one TV interviewer has asked me how, as UKIP’s Mayoral candidate, I can appeal to such a multicultural place as our capital. But this is to miss the point entirely. Like anybody else, I enjoy the huge profusion of completely diverse cuisine, fashion and music. Indeed the different cultural influences on our city are so big and ingrained it’s easy to take them for granted. But this is not the same thing as ensuring and, indeed, standing up for the common values and laws which should and must underpin any cohesive society. Here, as across Europe, one of those values – enshrined in our legal system – is that everybody is equal before the law regardless of their gender, sexuality or ethnicity.”

Peter Whittle (politician) (1961) British author, politician, and journalist

‘Cultural Cringe’: Women Are The First Victims Of State-Sponsored Multiculturalism http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/01/13/2764329/ (January 13, 2016)

Francis Escudero photo

“On the occasion of the International Women’s Day 2016, I call on all Filipino men, women and the LGBT community to be united as one powerful force in promoting and protecting the Filipino women’s physical and emotional health and overall well-being. As one collective group, we must all work to ensure that discrimination and violence against Filipino women, and all women all over the world, do not happen in any instance. Everyday, discrimination and violence against women in so many forms—visible and invisible, physical and verbal—take place. These acts have deep and lasting effects on the women’s health and well-being. On this day, let us also renew our resolve and commitment to uphold, advance and protect our achievements in making the Philippine society more sensitive to the issues affecting the lives of Filipino women. More work needs to be done to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment, factors seen by experts as associated with discrimination and violence. Let us do everything within our power and might to stop all forms of discrimination and violence against women, that their rights are protected and upheld, and that they optimally enjoy and achieve the possible maximum standard of physical and emotion health.”

Francis Escudero (1969) Filipino politician

Escudero, F. [Francis]. (2016, March 8). Retrieved from Official Facebook Page of Francis Escudero https://www.facebook.com/senchizescudero/posts/10153923936700610/
2016, Facebook

Dave Sim photo
Eric Holder photo
Cyia Batten photo
Charles Krauthammer photo
Marissa Mayer photo

“If you can find something that you're really passionate about, whether you're a man or a woman comes a lot less into play. Passion is a gender-neutralizing force.”

Marissa Mayer (1975) American business executive and engineer, former ceo of Yahoo!

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/234222.

Teresa de Lauretis photo
Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw photo
Kate Bornstein photo

“There are only people who are fluidly-gendered, and … the norm is that most of these people continually struggle to maintain the illusion that they are one gender or another.”

Kate Bornstein (1948) American author, playwright, performance artist, and gender theorist

Source: Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us (1995), p. 65

Jerry Coyne photo

“To Parker Bright, Hannah Black, and other critics of this painting, I say this:
I completely reject your criticism. If only artists of the proper ethnicity can depict violence inflicted on their group, then only writers of the proper ethnicity can write about the same issues, and so on with all the arts. And what goes for ethnicity or race goes for gender: men cannot write about suffering inflicted on women, nor women about suffering inflicted on men. Gays cannot write about straight people and vice versa.
The fact is that we are all human, and we are all capable of sharing, as well as depicting, the pain and suffering of others. I will not allow you to fracture art and literature the way you have fractured politics. Yes, horrible injustices have been visited on minority groups, on women, on gays, and on other marginalized people, but to allow that injustice to be conveyed only by “properly ethnic or gendered artists” is to deny us our common humanity and deprive us of emotional solidarity. No group, whatever its pigmentation or chromosomal constitution, has the exclusive right to create art or literature about their own subgroup. To deny others that right is to censor them.
To those who say this painting has caused them “unnecessary hurt” because it is by a white artist about black pain, I say, “Your own pain about this artwork is gratuitous; I do not take it seriously. It’s the cry of a coddled child who simply wants attention.””

Jerry Coyne (1949) American biologist

" Insane political correctness: snowflakes urge destruction of Emmett Till painting https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2017/04/04/insane-political-correctness-snowflakes-urge-destruction-of-emmett-till-painting/" April 4, 2017

Aung San Suu Kyi photo
Abby Stein photo

“(On gender transition:) "It's hard, but it's possible."”

Abby Stein (1991) Trans activist, speaker, and educator

In an interview with CNN, June 17, 2017 http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/17/health/transgender-orthodox-upbringing-trnd/index.html,
2017

Robert Brustein photo
Catharine A. MacKinnon photo
Michael Badnarik photo
Peggy Noonan photo
Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw photo
John Rupert Firth photo
Abby Stein photo
Hsu Tzong-li photo
Aung San Suu Kyi photo
Susie Bright photo

“I don't want to give the impression that because of gender, I was oppressed. I was, but then I lent myself to it. I regret it, as it was a disservice to women. But I was too unaware for too long.”

Frances Ames (1920–2002) South African physician

van der Unde, "Interview: A woman of substance", SAMJ, Volume 80, No. 11, November 11, 1995, p. 1203.

Anu Partanen photo
Phyllis Chesler photo
Michael Savage photo

“Trains, planes, cars, rockets, telescopes, tires, telephones, radios, television, electricity, atomic energy, computers, and fax machines. All miracles made possible by the minds and spirits of men with names like Ampere, Bell, Caselli, Edison, Ohm, Faraday, Einstein, Cohen, Teller, Shockley, Hertz, Marconi, Morse, Popov, Ford, Volta, Michelin, Dunlop, Watt, Diesel, Galileo, and other "dead white males." … The great majority of advancements past and present have been brought about by the genius and inventiveness of that most "despicable" of colors and genders, the dreaded white male, or, to be exact, by specific, individual white males. This is not to discredit the many contributions coming from nonwhites, but fact is fact. Our most important and consequential inventions have come almost exclusively from white males. … If you eliminate, suppress, or debase the while male, you kill the goose that laid the golden egg. If you ace him out with "affirmative" action, exile him from the family, teach him that he's a blight on mankind, then bon voyage to our society. We will devolve into a Third World cesspool. Where has there ever before in history been a group of human beings who have brought about the likes of the Magna Carta, the U. S. Constitution, and the countless life-saving and life-improving inventions that we now enjoy? … Does this mean we should sit back and let ourselves be governed by someone just because he's a white male? Of course, it doesn't. It means simply that we shouldn't suppress anyone, including white males. Let our God-given gifts run free in a free and just society, free from the oppression and tyranny of social engineers. If anyone has gifts beyond our own—be he a white male or other—be grateful. Maybe we have gifts that in some small way can contribute something of value as well. One way or another, we're all in the same boat. Few of us have truly outstanding gifts. And most of us have to humbly accept that there are others around who are more gifted than we are. In a Democratic society, it's not for Big Brother to decide who shall thrive and who shall struggle in the hive.”

Michael Savage (1942) U.S. radio talk show host, Commentator, and Author

Source: The Savage Nation: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Borders, Language and Culture (2003), pp. 136–138; "White Male Inventions" http://www.dadi.org/ms_dwm.htm (December 15, 1999)

Abby Stein photo
Emma Watson photo
Judith Butler photo

“I am much more open about categories of gender, and my feminism has been about women's safety from violence, increased literacy, decreased poverty and more equality. I was never against the category of men.”

Judith Butler (1956) American philosopher and gender theorist

"As a Jew, I was taught it was ethically imperative to speak up" in Haaretz. February 24, 2010

George Ritzer photo

“Globalization reinforces preexisting gender structures, barriers, and relationships, only now on a global scale.”

George Ritzer (1940) American sociologist

Source: Globalization - A Basic Text (2010), Chapter 15, Global Inequalities II: Global Majority-Minority Relations, p. 455

Lorin Morgan-Richards photo
George Macaulay Trevelyan photo
Nelson Mandela photo
Anand Patwardhan photo
Patrick Buchanan photo
Tom Robbins photo
Francis Escudero photo
Judith Butler photo

“Gender is a kind of imitation for which there is no original; in fact, it is a kind of imitation that produces the very notion of the original as an effect and consequence of the imitation itself.”

Judith Butler (1956) American philosopher and gender theorist

"Imitation and Gender Insubordination" in Inside/Out (1991) edited by Diana Fuss

Max Barry photo
Theodore Roszak photo

“The oppressive measures on pornography by the South Korean government are totally insane… It is actually seen that it oppresses masculinity and that it distorts the essentials. It is all done by the Ministry of Gender Equality and women’s organizations led by Korean feminists.”

Sung Jae-gi (1967–2013) South Korean masculism activist

Quoted in: " (Voice) Should pornography be censored? http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=104&oid=044&aid=0000127216" The Korea Herald (17 December 2012)

Catharine A. MacKinnon photo
Gillian Anderson photo

“To me a relationship is about loving another human being; their gender is irrelevant.”

Gillian Anderson (1968) American-British film, television and theatre actress, activist and writer

The Telegraph "Gillian Anderson: It's time somebody was brave enough to ask me out" http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11489711/Gillian-Anderson-Its-time-somebody-was-brave-enough-to-ask-me-out.html (March 24, 2015)
2010s

Laurie Penny photo
Ronald Dworkin photo
Matt Ridley photo
Gloria Steinem photo
B.K.S. Iyengar photo
Anita Sarkeesian photo

“There’s no such thing as sexism against men. That's because sexism is prejudice + power. Men are the dominant gender with power in society.”

Anita Sarkeesian (1983) American blogger

@femfreq (Nov 14, 2014) https://web.archive.org/web/20150403150541/https://twitter.com/femfreq/status/533445611543363585
Twitter

Pratibha Patil photo

“Corruption is the enemy of development. It must be got rid of. Both the government and the people at large must come together to achieve this national objective. You have always shown an ability to understand events happening around you; expressed your views and I am sure you will not fail in building a strong, progressive, cohesive and corruption-free India. These are totally unacceptable and must be opposed by one and all. The government, social organizations, NGOs and other voluntary bodies all have to work collectively. Therefore, their issues received my constant attention during my Presidency. Women have talent and intelligence but due to social constraints and prejudices, it is still a long distance away from the goal of gender equality. A paradigm shift, where, in addition to, physical inputs for farming, a focused emphasis placed on knowledge inputs, can be a promising way forward. This knowledge-based approach will bring immense returns particularly in rainfed and dryland farming areas. I believe economic growth should translate into the happiness and progress of all. Alongwith it, there should be development of art and culture, literature and education, science and technology. We have to see how to harness the many resources of India for achieving common good and for inclusive growth.”

Pratibha Patil (1934) 12th President of India

Patil's goodbye wish: A 'corruption-free India' https://in.news.yahoo.com/patils-goodbye-wish-corruption-free-india-143318154.html in: IANS India Private Limited By Indo Asian News Service, 24 July 2012.
Goodybe Wish

“Gender is many things, but one thing it is surely not is a hobby.”

Jennifer Finney Boylan (1958) American author

She's Not There (2003)

As'ad AbuKhalil photo

“I have lived half of my life in "Western society" and never encountered those principles [listed by the NYT as "Western" ]. What is wrong with me. … So Mr. Bush stands for "gender equality, religious freedom, scientific inquiry and the rule of law" and I have never noticed?”

As'ad AbuKhalil (1960) professor

...the principles of Western societies... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/books/review/letter.t.html
The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2007/03/given-her-background-in-repressed.html

Julia Klöckner photo

“Children need a safe space free from crude gender images, and that space should be school.”

Julia Klöckner (1972) German politician

About banning headscarves in Germany. German state looks to ban headscarves for girls https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/10/german-state-looks-ban-headscarves-girls/ (10 April 2018), The Daily Telegraph.

Common (rapper) photo
Ron Paul photo

“Racism is simply an ugly form of collectivism, the mindset that views humans only as members of groups and never as individuals. Racists believe that all individuals who share superficial physical characteristics are alike; as collectivists, racists think only in terms of groups. By encouraging Americans to adopt a group mentality, the advocates of so-called 'diversity' actually perpetuate racism. Their intense focus on race is inherently racist, because it views individuals only as members of racial groups. Conservatives and libertarians should fight back and challenge the myth that collectivist liberals care more about racism. Modern liberalism, however, well-intentioned, is a byproduct of the same collectivist thinking that characterizes racism. The continued insistence on group thinking only inflames racial tensions. The true antidote to racism is liberty. Liberty means having a limited, constitutional government devoted to the protection of individual rights rather than group claims. Liberty means free-market capitalism, which rewards individual achievement and competence, not skin color, gender, or ethnicity. In a free market, businesses that discriminate lose customers, goodwill, and valuable employees- while rational businesses flourish by choosing the most qualified employees and selling to all willing buyers. More importantly, in a free society every citizen gains a sense of himself as an individual, rather than developing a group or victim mentality. This leads to a sense of individual responsibility and personal pride, making skin color irrelevant. Rather than looking to government to correct what is essentially a sin of the heart, we should understand that reducing racism requires a shift from group thinking to an emphasis on individualism.”

Ron Paul (1935) American politician and physician

What Really Divides Us https://web.archive.org/web/20120127094927/http://www.ronpaularchive.com/2002/12/what-really-divides-us/ (23 December 2002).
2000s, 2001-2005

Jane Espenson photo
Johannes Grenzfurthner photo

“The great gender unifier is your asshole.”

Johannes Grenzfurthner (1975) Austrian artist, writer, curator, and theatre and film director

Interview in "Neon" http://blog.neon.de/2014/04/sex-pornografie-haben-schon-immer-technische-innovationen-gefordert/, 2014

Catharine A. MacKinnon photo

“Colour makes a difference. Gender makes a difference. Ethnicity makes a difference. Acting as if they don't will create more problems than it will solve.”

James Jones (1921–1977) American author

As quoted in Wisdom for the Soul : Five Millennia of Prescriptions for Spiritual Healing (2006) by Larry Chang

Evan McMullin photo

“Conservatism is about protecting the fundamental rights: That we are all equal, regardless of the color of our skin, the faith that we practice or our gender”

Evan McMullin (1976) American political candidate

As quoted in "Evan McMullin: Conservatives must now abandon the Republican Party" https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2016/11/09/evan-mcmullin-conservatives-must-now-abandon-the-republican-party/ (9 November 2016), by Josh Rogin, The Washington Post
Context: The Republican Party can no longer be considered the home for conservatives. Conservatism is about protecting the fundamental rights: That we are all equal, regardless of the color of our skin, the faith that we practice or our gender. But tonight there are millions of Americans, I’m sad to say, who are now in fear that perhaps their liberties will be challenged and threatened under a Trump administration that has made a campaign of targeting people based on their race, religion and gender. We must hold our leaders accountable now. We can no longer trust them to do it. They had their opportunity.

Richard Francis Burton photo

“Words, words that gender things!”

Richard Francis Burton (1821–1890) British explorer, geographer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, lin…

The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî (1870)
Context: Words, words that gender things! The soul is a new-comer on the scene;
Sufficeth not the breath of Life to work the matter-born machine? The race of Be'ing from dawn of Life in an unbroken course was run;
What men are pleased to call their Souls was in the hog and dog begun: Life is a ladder infinite-stepped, that hides its rungs from human eyes;
Planted its foot in chaos-gloom, its head soars high above the skies: No break the chain of Being bears; all things began in unity;
And lie the links in regular line though haply none the sequence see.

Regina Jonas photo

“God planted in our heart skills and a vocation without asking about gender. Therefore, it is the duty of men and women alike to work and create according to the skills given by God.”

Regina Jonas (1902–1944) rabbi

C.-V.-Zeitung, June 23, 1938
Context: If I confess what motivated me, a woman, to become a rabbi, two things come to mind. My belief in God’s calling and my love of humans. God planted in our heart skills and a vocation without asking about gender. Therefore, it is the duty of men and women alike to work and create according to the skills given by God.

Baba Hari Dass photo

“The Self is beyond birth, death, gender, class, and religion - only the body wears those labels.”

Baba Hari Dass (1923–2018) master yogi, author, builder, commentator of Indian spiritual tradition

Source: Fire without Fuel - The Aphorisms of Baba Hari Dass, 1986, p.27

Bill Bailey photo
Vanna Bonta photo

“Thought has no gender.”

Vanna Bonta (1958–2014) Italian-American writer, poet, inventor, actress, voice artist (1958-2014)

Source: Shades of the World (1985), p. 71

Augusto Boal photo

“When we look beyond appearances, we see oppressors and oppressed people, in all societies, ethnic groups, genders, social classes and casts; we see an unfair and cruel world.”

Augusto Boal (1931–2009) Brazilian writer

World Theater Day Message, Geneva, Switzerland (2009)
Context: When we look beyond appearances, we see oppressors and oppressed people, in all societies, ethnic groups, genders, social classes and casts; we see an unfair and cruel world. We have to create another world because we know it is possible. But it is up to us to build this other world with our hands and by acting on the stage and in our own life.

Marlene Dietrich photo
Natalie Wynn photo
Sanna Marin photo

“We have a lot of work to do to rebuild trust... I have never thought about my age or gender. I think of the reasons I got into politics and those things for which we have won the trust of the electorate.”

Sanna Marin (1985) Finnish politician and the 46th Prime Minister of Finland

Finnish minister Sanna Marin, 34, to become world's youngest PM, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50709422BBC News, (9 December 2019)

Newton Lee photo
Newton Lee photo
Jen Wang photo

“I wrote this book for my teenage self, so it’s all about themes that were important to my young self: questioning your identity and gender, but also your creative aspirations and the person you want to be.”

Jen Wang (1984) American comics artist

On her graphic novel The Prince and the Dressmaker in “Exclusive Interview & Graphic Novel Excerpt: Jen Wang’s The Prince and the Dressmaker” https://www.bookish.com/articles/jen-wang-prince-dressmaker/ in Bookish (2018 Feb 8)

Vivek Agnihotri photo

“Expectations on the performance of race and gender are simultaneously high and low, depending on who is looking or asking. I prefer to keep all the options in the air, to try and better understand the conundrum that inequality creates---not just in culture, but internally.”

Kara Walker (1969) African American artist

On the expectations for an African American artist in “Art Talk with Kara Walker” https://www.arts.gov/art-works/2012/art-talk-kara-walker (National Endowment of the Arts; 2012 Feb 1)

Vladimir Putin photo
Michael Parenti photo
Jennifer Lopez photo