Laurie Simmons Quotes

Women artists are still treated differently from men.

When I did my first media interviews after I was announced as a team principal, the first question was, what qualifies you for the job? The second question was, did your husband place you in the role? And the third was, how are you going to do your job as a mother? I was speechless to think that we were not making any progress.

Why is it men are permitted to be obsessed about their work, but women are only permitted to be obsessed about men?

I was called a misogynist because I was reducing women to mothers. 'Reducing women to mothers' - now there is possibly the most anti-women statement I've heard.

They said I was a married mother of two but the record sounded like an indie album and they didn't know how to market it! This country is incredibly sexist, as is the music and media industry.

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.

Sexism is not the fault of women - kill your fathers, not your mothers.

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.

We still think of a powerful man as a born leader and a powerful woman as an anomaly.

Men can be men and still get excited about other men kicking a ball around and they're never mocked, whereas it's easy for women to take mocking on board, to be belittled. Because we're used to it.

The most mediocre of males feels himself a demigod as compared with women.

The left-wing thinkers and intellectuals have been more misogynist with me than the army. They can't accept that a young woman is able to think, and they underestimate the intellectual work and study I might have done. They ask who is the man behind me.

I think reviewers are sexist... This isn't to sound bitter, but I think you're more likely to get a critical kicking if you're a woman. I just think that's a fact. I really think less value is put in general on women's voices, across the board.

Being beautiful is not so fun when you're in a business with all men.

I hate how box-office failures are blamed on an actress, yet I don't see a box-office failure blamed on men.

Partly I resented being perceived as weak because I was a girl.

When I started out, there were three things that made film people look at me with condescension, I was young, I was black, and I was female. I have won a certain respect, but I think the film community still sees directing as a male job.

A high-powered, successful woman doesn't necessarily have the same support behind her that a man in that position would. Plus, she's expected to be a domestic goddess, as well as the best wife, mother, friend, and lover. But it's not just in politics: you see it in acting, too, and in journalism.

Men weren't always happy for me. It was very challenging to watch a woman be so successful.

If it's a woman, it's caustic; if it's a man, it's authoritative.

There are some professions that culturally and sociologically take a long time to change, and because of that, there's still sexism in comedy audiences. We shouldn't blame them: I do it too. A woman comes on, and I feel slightly anxious. I'm a woman in comedy, and I do that; I think everyone does.

As a woman, I know that if I write about another woman, it will be perceived as a catfight.

Women get the attention when we get into the men's arena, and that's sad.

I do remember when I first went into politics, one of my competitors asked me, 'Well, Jenny Shipley, who's looking after your children?' I don't think many of my male colleagues have faced a similar question.

It was not easy to get to where I am. My challenge is to learn to deal with the jokes that are common among men that I heard and continue to hear sometimes among men.