Quotes About Representation

I don't like tokenism. I don't like the idea that somebody should just appear at a press conference or in a media interview because they are a woman.

'Heroes' was great, but I was like the sorority sister, the friend. So often, we as black women, we are cast as the best friend; we are rarely the leading lady. So for me, being on 'The Flash,' it's been so important for me to be the leading lady, to be the woman that is desired by the superhero, to be the hero herself.

The Asian woman in Hollywood movies has usually been one of two extremes - totally submissive or totally ruthless. In either case her primary function has been decorative.

I need to see a woman president in my lifetime. Or the first Jewish president.

The first black president was a hotter plot line than the first woman president.

I want a woman president - really, I do.

'Commander in Chief' became a show not about why we should have a woman president but why we should not have a woman president.

If Hillary's the first woman president, well, in England we already know what a Margaret Thatcher is. It's not an end unto itself to be the first woman president.

I have a very feminine voice when I write, a very womanly point of view. My last name feels strong and powerful. To me, it's almost a bit masculine. I like the dichotomy of the two. Two sides perfectly represented within my name.

We must continually work to obtain and preserve the right to vote and future votes of babies in the womb, their parents, the sick, the elderly, the poor, all Americans.

If you can't see it, you can't be it. It's just having those brilliant women break out and do something - then other girls can say, 'I can do it, too!'

Others have said it before me. If you don't have a seat at the table, you're probably on the menu. And so it is important that we have women in the United States Senate - strong women, women who are there to help advance an agenda that is important to women.

We do need women in civic life. We do need women to run for office, to be in political office. We need a feminist to be at the table when decisions are being made so that the right decisions will be made.

Sexuality and sensuality exists in every women, along with innocence, and I have represented only those through my characters.

Women like me aren't supposed to run for office.

It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union. And we formed it, not to give the blessings of liberty, but to secure them; not to the half of ourselves and the half of our posterity, but to the whole people - women as well as men.

I'm always interested in relationships between women. I'm always interested in how women relate to each other, whether it's a family relationship or it's a friend relationship. That's such uncharted territory in cinema.

When I was growing up, you didn't know there was a women's national team. Now girls grow up dreaming of playing for Canada.

Intersectionality is an analytic sensibility, a way of thinking about identity and its relationship to power. Originally articulated on behalf of black women, the term brought to light the invisibility of many constituents within groups that claim them as members but often fail to represent them.

I've never wanted to look like models on the cover of magazines. I represent the majority of women and I'm very proud of that.

There are many, many different kinds of intersectional exclusions - not just black women but other women of color. Not just people of color, but people with disabilities. Immigrants. LGBTQ people. Indigenous people.

The one thing I have never been afraid of is standing before important people and speaking my mind. I represent women who may never have the opportunity to go to the UN or meet with a president. I'm never afraid to speak truth to power.

Too often the great decisions are originated and given form in bodies made up wholly of men, or so completely dominated by them that whatever of special value women have to offer is shunted aside without expression.

The more you win, the brand of women's cricket will go higher.