Women have been trained to speak softly and carry a lipstick. Those days are over.
Bella AbzugRead
When I first became a lawyer, only 2% of the bar was women. People would always think I was a secretary. In those days, professional women in the business world wore hats. So I started wearing hats.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the challenges faced by women in the legal profession and the determination to assert one's identity and presence.
Bella Abzug's quote highlights the gender bias prevalent in the legal profession during her early career, when only a small percentage of lawyers were women. By choosing to wear hats, she made a statement against the stereotype of women as secretaries, asserting her position and advocating for female representation and respect in professional settings.
Themes
WomenLawIdentityProfessionalismRepresentation
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech celebrating women's achievements in the workforce.
More from Bella Abzug
All quotes →She (a woman politician) will be challenging a system that is still wedded to militarism and that saves billions of dollars a year by underpaying women and using them as a reserve cheap labor supply
Bella AbzugRead
They are a very extensive minority who have suffered discrimination and who have the same right to participation in the promise and fruits of society as every other individual.
Bella AbzugRead
Our struggle was political, ideological and economic, and we felt we couldn't make something of ourselves unless we bettered society. We saw the two together.
Bella AbzugRead
As women, we know that we must always find ways to change the process because the present institutions want to hold on to power and keep the status quo.
Bella AbzugRead
I prefer the word 'homemaker' because 'housewife' always implies that there may be a wife someplace else.
Bella AbzugRead
Similar quotes
The unsung heroes of the civil rights movement were always the wives and the mothers.
Andrew YoungRead
Believers, look up - take courage. The angels are nearer than you think.
Billy GrahamRead
She feared no danger, for she knew no sin.
John DrydenRead
I cry, sometimes, because I'm not 20 years younger, and I'm not healthy. But if I were, I would even sacrifice my writing to enter politics.
Oriana FallaciRead
It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others.
Dalai LamaRead
The decision to relax rather than to grip, even in the face of impatience or fear, is a conscious and brave choice.
B.K.S. IyengarRead