Sonia Sotomayor Quotes

It's fascinating that people, there's so many people now who will make judgments based on what you look like. I'm black. So I'm supposed to think a certain way. I'm supposed to have certain opinions. I don't do that. You don't create a box and put people in and then make a lot of generalizations about them.

We put labels on people and fight wars over them. If we truly want harmony, we have to get past the labels.

People only say I’m angry because I’m black and I’m a woman.

This is a lesson mankind has not yet learned. We identify, and stratify, and treat persons largely on the basis of their accidental (physical) characteristics, which have no deeper meaning.

Labels applied to people of any race are inherently offensive.

These days I find myself wanting to avoid being pigeon-holed, ghettoized, held in a different category than other authors. And when people ask me if I'm a black writer, or just a writer who happens to be black, I tend to say that it's either a dumb question or a question which happens to be dumb.

The moment you place a label on someone, you begin to treat him or her accordingly.

What works for a man, still does not work for a woman - both in terms of how they see themselves and how we see them.

I think any stereotyping is too much.

But the privileges that one has enjoyed and exploited can sometimes turn against you: nobody thinks of you as a director, you are always an actress.

As I got older, I had to learn to not have people speak for me. It was the first time I recognized, 'Oh, sometimes people are going to condescend to me because I'm a woman, or sometimes people aren't going to give me opportunities because of the way I look.'

We've got these stereotypes, and I think there can be some trouble when we force these on people.

People like to put people in little boxes and if you don't fit you're odd. But they don't really know anything about me.

We all have our prejudices, and we may or may not be aware of them. Sometimes people walk by me and give me a wider berth. It happens. I wear hoodies all the time because my head gets cold. Something innocuous can be misunderstood.

I have met fantastic men in my life and horrible women. I have also met some amazing women and terrible men. I have seen women who are sexists.

If you do an item song, then you're categorized as an item girl; if you focus on acting, you're categorized as an actor.

People have called me 'lesbian' for growing my hair.

Not everyone is the same. You can't label a person just because of what they do or what they've done.

Racism is not merely a simplistic hatred. It is, more often, broad sympathy toward some and broader skepticism toward others.

When people call me illegal, calling me illegal says more about you than it does about me.

A man is commanding - a woman is demanding. A man is forceful - a woman is pushy. A man is uncompromising - a woman is a ball-breaker. A man is a perfectionist - a woman's a pain in the ass. He's assertive - she's aggressive. He strategizes - she manipulates. He shows leadership - she's controlling. He's committed - she's obsessed. He's persevering - she's relentless. He sticks to his guns - she's stubborn. If a man wants to get it right, he's looked up to and respected. If a woman wants to get it right, she's difficult and impossible.

And it is impossible to treat human beings as human beings if you label them, if you term them, if you give them a name as Hindus, Russians, or what you will. It is so much easier to label people, for then you can pass by and kick them, drop a bomb on India or Japan.

If a man does something silly, people say, 'Isn't he silly?' If a woman does something silly, people say, 'Aren't women silly?

Labels are for cans, not for people.

You know, it's not fair. Women are judged inferior until we prove ourselves, and men are judged superior until they prove what assholes they are.