Mabel Quotes

I want to make sure in every song we write that women are given power.

The music industry is dominated by guys. I work with men 98 percent of the time - producers, arrangers, musicians, engineers.

I feel like, in a lot of shows where the woman is in charge, the woman is this ball buster and the guy is sort of weak and spineless. And that's never been my experience in a relationship. I think it's much more interesting that the guy is the boss. And there are stakes.

The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it.

It's kind of like I'm Phil Spector, and I'm forcing a young girl to make pop music and perform exhaustively. Except, instead of it being someone else, that girl is also me.

I think women in pop have been declawed and defanged, and they're just meant to look pretty and sing pretty. You don't really hear a female perspective on the radio, because so many of the songs are being written by men.

I always tell the adults at my dance school, 'Men, you are going to have to do something that you are absolutely not used to: you have got to take command and be the boss.' Because - and this is just an observation - women get their way.

If you're going into finance, you might be dealing with a lot of sexism and a lot of alpha behavior. How are you going to deal with that? How are you going to feel powerful and comfortable with being who you are?

When you're female working in a male-dominated industry, there are unfortunately extra things you need to do - for example, couch opinions in a way that sounds palatable and not threatening. That's a skill I developed.

I think it's good that producers are showing more ways to show their artistry and be more the artist, you know? Not just the producer in the back making the beats.

Growing up, I'd never heard of any female producers or songwriters. I didn't know you could be a girl and produce, which is terrible.

I think hip-hop doesn't give women as much of a chance as it gives guys.

Usually superheroes with all their powers and action-driven narratives are supposed to appeal to boys and men more than women; and as an extension of that, it is a given that the creators of these characters are primarily men.

I am one of the few composers who has been lucky enough to manage to do songs with female singers, despite the labels and producers wanting otherwise. They don't believe that songs with female voices can work and often push us to work with male singers.

I've never found it any tougher being a woman than a man, but I've always been the boss.

Sometimes it's isolating, but just being in the music industry that is just dominated by men, I think it means I have to be comfortable and confident in myself and not really care that people think I'm bossy and opinionated and also try and balance that energy.

I'd like to be able to get more girls to play guitar. I think with a girl playing electric guitar, sometimes it's seen a bit like a guy doing ballet. All the people I learned guitar from have been guys. There are some great female players, like Bonnie Raitt and Jennifer Batten, but very few.

I know for a fact I've put in the same amount of hours as every up-and-coming male rapper right now, if not more. I'm a feminist with regard to my music and the music industry.

If you're the only woman in the room, and you raise your hand, there's a good chance your question's going to get answered. You stand out.

Power has for so long been a male construct that it distorted the shape of the first women who tried it on, only to find themselves in a sort of straitjacket.

I'm not writing about things other women do. I'm writing for other women to have more self-confidence because I need it myself! And if more women were in power, I would feel more comfortable.

That's exactly what's exciting for me - the idea of infiltrating the male structure and affecting change from within.

Too many women have given up the power over the years because men have created the terms.

My hope for the future, not just in the music industry, but in every young girl I meet…is that they all realize their worth and ask for it.