Women's Rights

He called me into a room and pulled down his pants. Then in front of his friends, he asked her to perform a lewd act. It was awful and disgusting. And all the behavior afterwards — this was all before #MeToo — where they kind of tried to destroy me and my career. If it had happened after #MeToo, then I could have just blasted them. Because I’m a lawyer, I documented it. I called my rep. I got certain things in writing about what happened. […] If it happened again, I would probably stand up for myself even more just because of the bravery of the other women that have stood up and now allowed me an opportunity. […] I want to have strong girl-power and female empowerment themes in the movies that I make.

Across the country, women’s rights are under attack. I have long used fashion as a force 4 change. As the Met Costume Institute reopens w/ their inaugural exhibit celebrating American designers, I am calling 4 the certification of the ERA so women can be equal once and for all.

I know I have been naïve and haven’t been empathetic toward women in the past and have overlooked their struggles. I am learning everyday beside my wife as I see all of the struggles she faces that I will never have to face. I am committed to being better and more aware of the struggles women face that men never will!! Women you are superhero’s and deserve to be celebrated today and everyday.

I think a feminist "Good Place" looks like a place with equality because feminism isn't about women being more important than men or anyone else. It's about them being equal: equal representation, equal seats at the table, equal roles in leadership and their communities.

Little girls’ softness, their openness and instinct to nurture and help others, must be appreciated and not abused. We must do much more to protect them, in all societies: not only against the extreme ways girls’ rights are often violated, but also the more subtle injustices and attitudes that so often go unnoticed or excused.

The patriarchy allows men to have bro packs. If you’re a male artist, there’s an understanding that you have respect for your counterparts. It’s assumed that [women] hate each other. Even if we’re smiling and photographed together with our arms around each other, it’s assumed there’s a knife in our pocket.

Money is actually something I’m very excited to talk about. It’s this thing that people think is super-icky—and that’s the trap. The trap is they make you feel icky about it, so that you don’t ask for what you deserve—because you know what that number is inside. […] When women talk to me about this, I say, ‘You know, don’t even do it for you, if that makes you feel weird right now. Do it for the women that are gonna come after you, Do it for the next one. Do it for the future you, because you are helping. And if that can give you a little bit more of a stir and a fight, then do it. We need you.

I was raised a feminist. I was told by my mother that to be a woman was really a privilege. It is unacceptable that women are not equal. It is unacceptable that women are treated as meat and trafficked and so we all have to take a stand together.

For me, #MeToo is simply a shorthand to discuss something that was previously not able to really be publicly discussed. [...] I am always confused a little bit when the media calls it a movement. I think it was a media thing that scared people that made it seem like there’s thousands of women in the streets with pitchforks running after men — and that’s really not the case.

I was a bit scared of feminism when I was younger because of all the male bashing. And there are a lot of women’s movements now that I’m apprehensive about, because I don’t want to be viscerally angry at men. I love men. I like keeping both sides in mind. I avoid anything political, where I sense too much anger. It’s just not the way I find messaging to be truly empowering […] I definitely have a ferociousness. And I’ve always had it. I completely rebel against authority. Scrappy. I am very scrappy.

I spoke up against sexual violence — and faced our culture’s wrath. That has to change.

The hardest thing to reconcile is that just because you have good intentions, doesn’t mean it’s your time to have a voice.

I’m proud to be a f—ing feminist

No, I wouldn’t say I’m a feminist. I mean, I think that would, be may be going too far. I’m for women, I’m for men, I’m for everyone.

I am saddened and angry that a man who I worked with used his position of power to intimidate, sexually harass and manipulate many women over decades. The additional allegations of assault that I read this morning made me sick. This is completely unacceptable, and I find myself asking what I can do to make sure this doesn’t happen to others. We need to do better at protecting our sisters, friends, co-workers, and daughters. We must support those who come forward, condemn this type of behavior when we see it, and help ensure there are more women in positions of power.

It’s been a heartrending time to be both a woman and an immigrant in this country. Our dignity, our character, our rights have all been under attack, and a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday. But the president is not America. His cabinet is not America. Congress is not America. We are America. And we are here to stay.

If you’re a girl, you have to play the game. You’re allowed to be pretty and cute and sexy. But don’t act too smart. Don’t have an opinion that’s out of line with the status quo. You are allowed to be objectified by men and dress like a slut, but don’t own your sluttiness.

As a parent, helping your kids to rise above these constraints is a constant learning process. Michelle and I have raised our daughters to speak up when they see a double standard or feel unfairly judged based on their gender or race—or when they notice that happening to someone else. It’s important for them to see role models out in the world who climb to the highest levels of whatever field they choose. And yes, it’s important that their dad is a feminist, because now that’s what they expect of all men. It is absolutely men’s responsibility to fight sexism too. And as spouses and partners and boyfriends, we need to work hard and be deliberate about creating truly equal relationships.

I respect women and and I will do so much better for women but Hillary takes all of this money into a crooked foundation, crooked Hillary, crooked foundation from Saudi Arabia and from many other countries where they enslave women. That’s what they do they call it enslavement so they enslave women as far as – as far as gays are concerned.

The beauty of being a feminist is that you get to be whatever you want, and that’s the point.

A feminist? Uh, yeah, actually. I used to not really understand what that word meant, and now that I do, it just means that I love myself as a female and I also love men.

But I don't know why people are so reluctant to say they're feminists. Maybe some women just don't care. But how could it be any more obvious that we still live in a patriarchal world when feminism is a bad word?

I don’t want to have to compromise my morals in order to make a living. I don’t want to be molested at shows or on the street by people who perceive me as an object that exists for their personal satisfaction. I’m tired of men who aren’t professional or even accomplished musicians continually offering to ‘help me out’ (without being asked), as if I did this by accident and I’m gonna flounder without them. Or as if the fact that I’m a woman makes me incapable of using technology. I have never seen this kind of thing happen to any of my male peers. I’m tired of being considered vapid for liking pop music or caring about fashion as if these things inherently lack substance or as if the things I enjoy somehow make me a lesser person. I’m sad that my desire to be treated as an equal and as a human being is interpreted as hatred of men, rather than a request to be included and respected. I promise I do not hate men at all, nor do I believe that all men are sexist or that all men behave in the ways described above.

My feminism — it’s kind of necessary. I don’t want to feel like I am less than anyone, and so I have to label myself in order to be ready for the fight.