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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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I prefer the word 'homemaker' because 'housewife' always implies that there may be a wife someplace else.
Bella AbzugRead
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