Lily Tomlin Quotes

I think the whole concept that women aren't funny is dead. It's over; it's done.

When I first started doing press interviews, the big question was, 'Do you think women are funny?' People would ask you that in an interview. In an interview! It's like, of course they are.

Growing up, I was told I could be anything I wanted to be. There were no limitations restraining me just because I was a girl. Then I joined the military.

I think there have always been funny women, from Carol Burnett to Joan Rivers. When the audience sees a woman, they innately know she's worked twice as hard to get there, she's had to prove that she can be the leader, first, and then be funny on top of it. She has to emit a confidence that she's in control.

The letters I really love are from young actresses who were worried they had to fit a certain look. They say I've opened it up. And I don't just mean plus-size girls. You can push things now. With all the great performances in 'Bridesmaids', it changed how people see funny women.

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.

Women like me aren't supposed to run for office.

There's a negative connotation to ambitious women, and I think that we should be able to be proud of being ambitious and not shy away from that, if that... is what you want to do.

As women, we're always supposed to be catty, or too cute to dance. And it sucks.

I hate that there's such an emphasis on women in comedy. Are women OK? Are they just as funny as men? Yes!

There always will be stereotypes that women can't drive. When I hear the comments, it just makes me more determined to prove them wrong.

Just because I'm a girl and it's pop doesn't mean I have to write about love and heartbreak.

Nobody expects girls to do something smart or give one liners in a film.

Despite the gender stereotypes in the '80s, my race-car-driving dad taught me that I could do whatever my brother could.

I've always been sensitive to the phrase 'like a girl,' especially when I was growing up and was told I couldn't play with the boys. It really resonated with me. I was so inspired by the first #LikeAGirl video, and I wanted to be a part of such a powerful message.

My message is don't be discouraged by anything anybody tells you. In my case of the science thing, and I just ignored people who said, 'Oh, girls don't do that.'

Unfortunately, people always tend to think that girls are weak when it comes to physical tasks. The pressure is there to prove them wrong.

There were people asking 'Can women be funny?' People still ask that. It's like asking: 'Can women breathe in and out?'

A woman doing comedy doesn't offend me, but sets me back a bit. I, as a viewer, have trouble with it. I think of her as a producing machine that brings babies in the world.

I didn't think I was a humorless shrew in 'Knocked Up.' I think the women are just as funny as the men are in that movie.

A lot of times, I get asked, 'Do you feel you have a responsibility to young girls to be a role model?' I don't see that happening as much to guys. I feel like, just because I'm a girl, I'm supposed to take more responsibility? Is that how it works?

And then also I think it's harder for women because comedy is so opposite of being ladylike.

Woman must not accept; she must challenge. She must not be awed by that which has been built up around her; she must reverence that woman in her which struggles for expression.

It was trying to break down the stereotypes and it was the kind of thing where, for the first time, women were on a par and not seen as just objects. Though girls were objectified still.

I think Amy Poehler and Tina Fey have done so much for women in comedy in the sense that they've normalized it. You don't think, 'I'm going to watch that comedy starring a woman,' you think, 'I'm going to watch that funny show.' They refuse to play the foils for men, or be reduced to the butt of every joke, and I love that about both of them.