[Editor’s Note: The following post is part of American Masters’ #InspiringWomanPBS campaign, which highlights the powerful, creative, and innovative women in our lives. Visit the Inspiring Woman page to join the campaign and submit the story of a woman who inspires you.]
The 15 women interviewed in The Women’s List are strong, determined, confident, funny and inspiring. Here are just a few quotes from the film to share, including one from author Toni Morrison, who wrote and read the introduction for the documentary. The portraits of the women are by filmmaker-photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, and can also be viewed in this gallery.
"There is no modernity and no justice without the talent, the passion and the steely intelligence of women."
"I’m definitely a nerd. I’m a cool-ass nerd, but I am definitely a nerd."
“Leaders are made by the situations they are involved in. I think that some rise to the occasion and some do not.”
"Spanx really came from my own butt. I did not like the way it looked in pants."
"I am probably 1 of 25 black women who fly for a major airline."
"I am a New Yorker, one; I’m an artist, two; I’m a woman, three."
"Women of color: if you’re over 40 and you get fat, you will work. But if you’re hot and over 40 and a woman of color, they don’t know what to do with you."
"I knew that between my stubborn nature and the insistence of society needing to see me in a certain way, I was going to win."
"Nobody ever asks a man how he gets stuff done. Nobody asks a man how he finds balance."
"When I was growing up in the 50s it wasn’t quite the same. Fathers were more protective and now they see all of the possibilities for their daughters."
"There is no question that sobriety has made me a better actor, made me a better person."
"(In the 1960s)…you could take LSD but you couldn’t wear a pantsuit."
"When I was 14, I told my mother I was going to drop out of high school and go do stand-up comedy. All she said was ‘Oh maybe it’s better if you just die,’ because it was killing her that I was doing this."
"The 21st century woman thinks she can do it all… but she can’t. I know because I am one of those women."
"A feminist is simply a person who believes in legal, social, political and economic equality for women with men."
