All my battles were with male egos. I’m just looking for equality, not to dominate. But I want to be able to control my vision.
Interpretation
Joni Mitchell emphasizes the struggle for equality in a male-dominated world, highlighting her desire for balance rather than control.
In this quote, Joni Mitchell reflects on her experiences with male egos and the challenges she faced while striving for equal recognition and respect. She clarifies that her aim is not to assert dominance over others but rather to maintain control over her own artistic vision, advocating for equality and mutual respect in her pursuit of success.
In practice
In a speech about gender equality at a conference, you might quote Joni Mitchell to emphasize the fight for balance in representation.
There's a man who's been out sailing In a decade full of dreams And he takes her to a schooner And he treats her like a queen Bearing beads from California With their amber stones and green He has called her from the harbor He has kissed her with his freedom He has heard her off to starboard In the breaking and the breathing Of the water weeds While she was busy being free
Unlike some of my peers, I haven't really hit a writer's block. When I hit a block I just paint, which is an old crop rotation trick.
This is a nation that has lost the ability to be self-critical, and that makes a lie out of the freedoms.
You wake up one day and suddenly realize that your youth is behind you, even though you're still young at heart.
I have an aversion to being mislabeled. Here's a label I'd accept: I'm an 'individual.' I'm someone who can't follow, and doesn't want to lead.
What I do is unusual: chordal movements that have never been used before, changing keys and modalities mid-song.
Those who are so eager for women and girls to go back to the kitchen might think again about just what it is we might be up to in there. You can plan a lot of damage from a kitchen. It’s also where the knives are kept.
The majority of small-holder farmers in Africa are women and, in urban areas, you're primarily looking at women-led households. So we can't solve hunger if we don't have gender-sensitive programming that addresses access to opportunities for women, whether it's through education or tools for cooking, like solar-powered stoves.
It is probable that both in life and in art the values of a woman are not the values of a man.
We talk about women in football like we are not entitled to the same opportunity and the same access.
Women have much to tell us. Women are capable of seeing things in a different angle. Women can pose questions that we men cannot understand.
The day will come when men will recognize woman as his peer, not only at the fireside, but in councils of the nation. Then, and not until then, will there be the perfect comradeship, the ideal union between the sexes that shall result in the highest development of the race.
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