Nell Zink Quotes

I don't like this idea of division: that if you're a clever woman then you've got to be a particular way. Because men don't. Men please themselves.

I didn't want to be a boy, ever, but I was outraged that his height and intelligence were graces for him and gaucheries for me.

Women are often expected to be more amiable or more pleasing or more submissive than men generally.

I live by a man's code, designed to fit a man's world, yet at the same time I never forget that a woman's first job is to choose the right shade of lipstick.

Men expect too much, do too little.

I do think girls in their twenties accept certain kinds of lesser treatment than they would at other times in their lives.

I have been told by people that I should not be seen clubbing with good-looking women, but I can't see why not. Why be a pop star otherwise?

A woman can laugh and cry in three seconds and it's not weird. But if a man does it, it's very disturbing. The way I'd describe it is like this: I have been allowed inside the house of womanhood, but I feel that they wouldn't let me in any of the interesting rooms.

Old women should not seek to be perfumed.

I think most couples drift apart because of comparisons. Unfortunately, in our society a perfect match is when the man is more successful than the woman.

When did women whose looks are not their living start conducting themselves like the simpering inmates of an Ottoman empire seraglio?

Looking at female candidates today, other women are the hardest on them, especially older women who were brought up in a different culture.

You can hit as many revolutions as you want, but women are always going to wear uncomfortable shoes that look good.

How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she were a perfectly normal human being.

People used to come knocking on my door saying, 'Your trouble is that you're a sex symbol who doesn't do enough sexy things.' I'd say to myself, 'You think that if you pressure me I'll fold.' But if I did it, all it would mean is that I sold out.

Women have to be pure and respectful.

I think that, a lot of times in Hollywood pictures, the reality, the messy reality of women's lives - it's avoided, because I think people are just afraid of it. There's a standard that women are set to, to try to keep everybody comfortable.

Women aren't supposed to want stuff. They're not supposed to have high emotions.

It's exhausting being a woman.

Women shouldn't be expected to only play nurturing, kind caretakers.

We're not accustomed to giving women the space to express the full range of emotions and flaws that men are permitted. Anger and aggressiveness aren't part of the scale of what is acceptable behavior in women, whereas men - in reality and in fiction - are allowed a much fuller range of emotion.

Girls are almost always socialized to be perfect: 'Smile, do well in school, don't take too many risks.'

I always found it bizarre or strange that there was this unwritten set of rules around how a woman could interact with a man in terms of starting a conversation. While a man traditionally is always expected to make the first move, he risks rejection in a real way.

There's so much judgment geared toward young girls. People just expect so much from girls. Even physically and aesthetically, people expect us to always look right, to have a certain etiquette - to talk a certain way and act a certain way - and to know certain things. It's all different expectations, but there are always expectations.

It's absolutely delightful to get dressed up for a lovely evening, but when it goes from being a fun thing to being a chore, and a chore that men don't have to do, then we need to think about it differently.