Jodi Picoult Quotes

And then also I think it's harder for women because comedy is so opposite of being ladylike.

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.

If I want to dislike women, I should be allowed to. As it happens, I love them. Women to me are privately worshipped and publicly disdained.

'Desperate Housewives' - there's no man on the planet that takes that personally, but if it were 'Desperate Househusbands,' they would shut ABC down.

My biggest struggle being a woman in the workforce has not only been with my mother, my grandmother, and a lot of my girlfriends. When I'm working late hours, I'm almost punished for it by them. It's almost absurd that I would prioritize work over catching up with my girlfriends. If I were a man, that would just come second nature.

People always ask us women about how we balance our lives. Rarely do they ever ask men this but we are asked this and it makes a lot of sense - balance, right? It sounds right. And of course you do have to balance because otherwise you'd go crazy. And you do have to find ways of doing things in a sensible manner, raising children and all those choices. But then there's a part of creativity which is irrational and which is obsessive and then that's also part of what we do. So, I don't think that's a bad thing. I think that's part of what makes someone good.

Men aren't asked about age. Men aren't asked about their children. Not that these things aren't important, but I do feel like it becomes reductive when a woman's life becomes, 'Talk to me about your kids and how you feel about plastic surgery.'

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.

You act like there are two kinds of girls,' she said. 'The smart ones and the ones that boys like.

There's this double standard that exists and it really frustrates me. If a woman chooses to work, people say, "Oh it's so sad that you're not at home with your children." But no one ever says that to a man because it's assumed that the man is going to be the provider.

A man is called a good fellow for doing things which, if done by a woman, would land her in a lunatic asylum.

It is a sad paradox that when male authors impersonate women ... they are said to be dealing with 'cosmic, major concerns' - but when we impersonate ourselves we are said to be writing 'women's fiction' or 'women's poetry.

When you write, you are not either sex. But when you're read you are definitely gendered.

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

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

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.

The industry is quite chauvinistic generally. Expectations of women, girls, what they should look like, how they should be, what they should say, what they should wear, how their hair should be, what colour their skin should be.

Men are allowed to get older and women are not.

Bad behaviour makes men more glamorous. Women get destroyed, thrown out of society and locked up in institutions.

You come across words all the time that are everyday sexism. I was described as 'competently bossy' and 'bossily competent' by a male journalist, and I thought, 'Gosh, 'bossy' is never used of a man.'

If you're a man and you ask questions, you're a genius; if you're a woman, you're difficult.

A political woman loses her beauty within a year.

Why are women always described as 'desperate,' while men are just... irrational?

The only moment I become aware of being the only woman in a meeting is when actresses are being discussed. If someone's critical of how a woman looks, they turn to me and apologize.

I used to be very interested in the history of women's rights in this country and in other countries. I tried to learn as much as I could about it, and more than anything, I would be called gay. It was phenomenal. But if a boy has something to say, he is appreciated; he's even popular. If a girl says something, it's instantly a threat.