Quotes About Representation

I once went into a meeting, and every woman put her a million-pound bag on the table. Then I'm there with my tote bag and anorak. And I'm like, well, I'm still the most important person in the room right now.

While pro-lifers and social conservatives form one of the most important blocks of support for the Republican Party, they are traditionally taken for granted. At conventions, their issues are downplayed, if not ignored.

The one thing about being a dude and writing from a female perspective is that the baseline is, you suck. The baseline is it takes so long for you to work those atrophied muscles - for you to get on parity with what women's representations of men are.

As a black woman trying different products and figuring out what works best for me, the one thing that I realized is that hair brands lump us together as having 'black hair,' but all black hair is not alike.

I want more images onscreen because when I was growing up, I think, like, that one kiss in 'The Color Purple' was the one thing that I had. Or 'The Watermelon Woman.'

The only thing that's serious to me about music is making sure marginalized people are included in the story.

The only thing I can give to young gay people is that when I was growing up, there were no role models that were blokey that were men. Everybody was flamboyant and camp, and I remember going, 'That's not me, so even though I think I am gay, I don't think I fit into this world.'

I think that fiction writers can write about anyone. If you are writing a character, and the only thing they are to you is their otherness, then you haven't written a character.

I read recently that the problem with stereotypes isn't that they are inaccurate, but that they're incomplete. And this captures perfectly what I think about contemporary African literature. The problem isn't that it's inaccurate, it's that it's incomplete.

I think a painting is more like the real world if it's made out the real world.

What I want to see is more mixed casts. We need it. People need to be brave - in the real world, everyone and anyone is around. So if people get to see themselves on the stage, they'll want to come.

Television is generally on the conservative side, so if you're seeing it represented on TV, that probably means it's really out there in the real world.

The real world is far more hellish for all us than any fictional representation of it.

Film has to reflect the real world.

The world is diverse, and it's important for us to reflect the real world.

If you're a documenter, you're taking a video of something in the real world you want to capture. If you're a director, you're trying to create something in the real world.

We lost Chris Farley, John Belushi, James Gandolfini, and we need heavier-set people to represent the real world.

The beauty of letting marginalized people tell their own stories is it isn't only the right thing to do socially, but it's also the right thing to do financially. People love the truth, and people like to spend money on the truth.

When you look at all of the male characters on television and in film, it's not like every one of them are the people doing the right thing that you can point to as your own moral compass. We need to have all kinds of characters represented.

You want a diverse writers' room, not because it's the fair thing to do or the right thing to do, but because it's the best thing to do for your show. I've seen that to be true.

I have two little black boys. And a film like 'Do the Right Thing' can help illuminate the times for them with great storytelling.

My big lesson from Gamergate is asking the men in charge to do the right thing does not work. So we need women, we need people of color in positions of power not just in the game industry but at social media and tech companies and in Congress.

I'm not even Indian-American: I'm Indian-Indian. Everybody expected me to have henna and a nose pin and talk in an accent like Apu from 'The Simpsons.' I was nervous because I wasn't sure if America was ready for a lead that looked like me.

Early on in my career, I was often the only woman in the room, writing for shows like 'Late Night with David Letterman,' 'The Simpsons,' 'Newhart,' and 'Coach,' and sometimes I'd feel like I didn't belong.