Rachel Kushner Quotes

Nearly a half-century on from feminism, simply being a woman artist is still a revolutionary act. And getting one's work shown continues to be met by enormous inbuilt resistance.

The state of female artists is very good. But the very definition of art has been biased in that 'art' was what men did in a European tradition and 'crafts' were what women and natives did. But it's actually all the same.

The notion of having your muse was not something that was built for women originally. That's not to say women don't have muses. I get muses in terms of actors or writers who inspire me, so I understand the concept.

To the extent that I can serve as a role model or mentor for other women in what might be traditionally viewed as a male-dominated field, I welcome that.

Now I'm sixty-one... sixty-two, pretty soon. It's a really interesting age. Now we have women of your age, and coming up, and all these fantastic writers, who have managed to have their children but continue with their art, their work. I think women are doing the most interesting writing right now, the most interesting art. I see everything through this lens, of women finally taking their place in the world. Their true place. And it's very, very exciting to me.

Yoko [Ono] was well into liberation before I met her. She'd had to fight her way through a man's world - the art world is completely dominated by men - so she was full of revolutionary zeal when we met.

To me, it's exciting that women are dominating the pop charts.

If a woman is successful, then she's deemed to be the exception that proves the rule. If a woman fails, well, we're all failures. That kind of underlying approach to our gender doesn't seem to me to have changed an iota.

I do like to get inspired by and support any female leads.

I have spent a lifetime trying to share what it has meant to be a woman first in the world of sports so that other young women have a chance to reach their dreams.

The Seventies seemed like this really open time. There were a lot of strong women characters deciding what kind of artists they wanted to be.

The Ministry of Health started by restructuring Ethiopia's previously male-dominated health system with women at the center.

It's so great to be able to inspire these young women today to get involved in male-dominated subjects.

If Sakshi can be successful in her field, so can any other woman in our country.

I am very happy that Indian women are making their mark in sports be is Sakshi Malik or even PV Sindhu who also won a medal for the country. We talk about women empowerment and there cannot be any bigger example than this.

I just wanna be an artist, like someone like Bjork and Kate Bush and Regina Spektor. These are people that have saved people, I think, by being what they are.

I mean I certainly tell the Maria Goeppert-Mayer story and I'm happy that life isn't like that. I'm glad there were trailblazers like her and Marie Curie.

I think most women have to fight very hard for the opportunities they want, which isn't to say that most artists don't have to do that, male or female, but I'm definitely aware of just how difficult it is to find stories that interest me, particularly.

I love Pink, and I love Christina Aguilera. Something about Christina always inspires me to do things that are really different.

Anyone in the arts has had an experience of seeing someone who they related to doing something and thinking, 'I could do that.' If you have one generation where you force its hand a bit, then the next one fills in the gaps, because it's seen an example of what can be done.

I didn't have many role models or interesting women to get stirred up by until Yoko Ono came along.

What if Picasso had gone to the Moon? Or Andy Warhol or Michael Jackson or John Lennon? What about Coco Chanel? These are all artists that I adore.

In the theatre in the U.K., women are at the very top of the tree as freelance directors.

I think it's possible to be a great mother and have a successful career. I like that more women are doing this.

Too many women don't see themselves in senior leadership and so don't push themselves to advance their careers as their male peer group do.