Victoria Pendleton Quotes

Guys are more apt to test me than they are to test a Charles Barkley. I think I have to go out and prove myself all the time, and that's fine, because I've had to prove myself my whole life.

But alas, I'd have to find a way to be opinionated without being too opinionated, authoritative without being a bitch about it, smart without being elitist, fair without being a pushover. If the boyfriends of my youth found me too authoritative when I should have been cheering on the sidelines as they kicked and tossed and smacked balls toward the vanguard, the male colleagues of my adulthood kept reminding me of my lack of authority as they unconsciously displayed theirs. I was always failing someone's standards of legitimacy, as a girlfriend, as a producer of opinions. It was an eternal no-win.

Even before I went to the UN, I often would want to say something in a meeting - only woman at the table - and I'd think, 'OK well, I don't think I'll say that. It may sound stupid.' And then some man says it, and everybody thinks it's completely brilliant, and you are so mad at yourself for not saying something.

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.

I noticed in the past, a lot of guys who like strong women, they really freak out if you're not strong 24/7. Or they complain about you being strong, then the moment you're not strong, they're like, 'Oh, no, no, no.'

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.

I just feel like I have a lot to prove.

I have said this many times, that there seems to be enough room in the world for mediocre men, but not for mediocre women, and we really have to work very, very hard.

Show me a woman who doesn't feel guilty and I'll show you a man.

Women blame men for their own singlehood.

Confidence in a bloke would be arrogance in a woman. For years, I didn't give interviews because I was scared of people judging me or thinking I was arrogant.

It seems like women don't want men to be men anymore. They want men to be women. But they really don't want what they say they want. It's very weird.

As a woman, I find it very embarrassing to be in a meeting and realize I'm the only one in the room with balls.

Men display less self-doubt and lead with what seems always like a sense of force and direction. We are not as familiar with women leaders, and so we question their skills. As women, we always need to work harder to prove our competence.

Almost without exception, the talented women I have known have believed they had less ability than they actually had. And almost without exception, the talented men I have known believed they had more.

In our civilization, men are afraid that they will not be men enough and women are afraid that they might be considered only women.

Men are very tough, very critical of me. I think they expect you to basically just be a picture. They don't want to hear you speak.

I even felt like I liked guys better than women - that men were relevant and women weren't. It took me a while to realize I'd been socialized to have a slighting view of my own gender.

Women in politics are too prone to say “I’m not ready yet.” Most men say “I’ll do it. I’ll do it.”

I think it's time we all agree that gender stereotypes are simply the confabulation of our own mind.

When women do take on traditionally male subjects, certain male colleagues can seem affronted that a woman has dared to trespass on their subject. I could given you dozens of examples, but here's one: Max Hastings's review in the 'Sunday Times' in 2009 of Miranda Carter's book 'The Three Emperors'.

Once, I was going to a film event, and someone told me not to wear high heels to it. They said that it might intimidate the men. For some reason, I was ready to take their cue, but about an hour later, something in my head started ringing, and I thought, 'That is the worst advice anybody's ever given me.'

I've always been sure of my vision, but I've been in meetings where men have been talking about me like I'm not there... I've been told I should be a certain way, and I wondered if that would have been the case if I was a man.

Women often don't want to be typecast as the girl that's sad.

In America, nobody's boyfriend wants them to be smarter than he is, and no one wants to admit it.