I want to be there for all those who are left behind in this world, whether it's because they are born poor, born a woman, or born in an area affected by devastation.
If you read a lot of Chinese literature, there has always been very strong women figures - warriors, swordswomen - who defended honor and loyalty with the men. So, it's not new to our culture - it's always been very much a part of it. It's good that now the Western audience would have a different image of the Chinese women.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the historical strength of women in Chinese literature and their roles alongside men, emphasizing a shift in perception for Western audiences.
Michelle Yeoh reflects on the strong female characters that have existed in Chinese literature, such as warriors and swordswomen who embody honor and loyalty. She points out that these depictions are not new but a longstanding aspect of Chinese culture, suggesting that there is an opportunity for Western audiences to gain a deeper and more diverse understanding of Chinese women and their roles in society, challenging existing stereotypes.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about gender representation, one could quote Michelle Yeoh to emphasize the importance of recognizing strong women in all cultures.
More from Michelle Yeoh
All quotes →I have very supportive parents who said, 'Go and do what you want to do. Home is always here for you, and if you don't like it out there, come back. You can always do something different.' So when you have an option like that, you are able to choose roles or choose the things you want to be in.
I'm not a fashion victim, and I don't closely follow trends. I dress the way I feel comfortable because, at the end of the day, you have to be comfortable.
For me, beauty comes from natural happiness. I think that a woman glows, and a man, even, when they're healthy and they're happy.
Let's empower men and help them take a stand to stop acts of violence against women.
Wai Lin is the first Bond Girl who is on a par with Bond, someone who can match up with him mentally and physically. From the moment our characters see each other, there is a wariness and a recognition that this person is not who she or he seems to be.
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[Culture] denotes an historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms, by means of which men communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge about and attitudes toward life.
Bengalis love to celebrate their language, their culture, their politics, their fierce attachment to a city that has been famously dying for more than a century. They resent with equal ferocity the reflex stereotyping that labels any civic dysfunction anywhere in the world 'another Calcutta.'
One of the brilliant things about Britain is the way you've managed to save old things but to keep using them - that they've not just become museums the way they do in the United States.
We have such a young culture that there is an opportunity to contribute wonderful new myths to it, which will be accepted.
Even though I spent the first five years of my life in Nagasaki, going to Japan can be really difficult. Even if they know I've been brought up in the West, they still expect me to understand all the subtleties of their culture, and if I get it wrong, it matters much more than if a British person gets it wrong. I find it intimidating.
In many tribal cultures, it was said that if the boys were not initiated into manhood, if they were not shaped by the skills and love of elders, then they would destroy the culture. If the fires that innately burn inside youths are not intentionally and lovingly added to the hearth of community, they will burn down the structures of culture, just to feel the warmth.