Lena Waithe Quotes

I'm utterly androgynous, and I truly love it. It's been part of my identity for so long. I've never been that pretty girl, and I wouldn't want to be.

I never felt like a boy or a girl, never felt I should wear this or dress like that. I think that's where that confidence comes from because I never felt I had to play a part in my life. I just always come as Shamir.

I've never felt stigmatized in my profession, nor have I allowed myself to. I don't feel either male or female, I feel I am just me, and I should be able to do whatever I like.

I'm in favour of hipster androgyny: Any trend that permits men to rebel against strict gender rules of appearance is going to make the world a more expressive and sensitive place for all of us.

I do feel like I'm at ease in my own skin when I find an androgynous balance.

I don't ever necessarily feel masculine or feminine. I just feel... I don't know. Like, when I'm wearing women's clothes, it's not like I'm dressing like a lady, a woman; it's just like I'm doing whatever I want.

Being pretty... I'm just confused about it. I mean, I love getting my nails done, but I also like dressing like a boy. I think I feel most myself when I'm mixing femininity and masculinity. Like, fifty-fifty.

I always say I never felt 'latched' to a gender. I just kind of always felt like myself, and I never felt like I had to do certain things or be a certain way to fit into a certain mold.

I think I have femininity, I have masculinity, but I get to use all of Jeffrey, and that's very powerful. And this is what I always thought when I went down in my little basement in San Francisco, where I grew up, and daydreamed about being an actor: It felt like this. This is what it felt like.

It's not like, 'Okay, today I want to look like a man, or today I want to look like a woman.' I want to look like me. It just so happens that some of the things I like are feminine.

I don't view myself as a 'trans actor' or a 'trans model.' I mean, I am - it's part of who I am - but it's not something that solely defines me.

I was a weird but definite kid, and there were essentially no gender roles for me to fit into.

I'd say my relation to being a woman is, I mean being a woman is whatever you want because the concept of gender is not really real, you know? And so for me it's about being comfortable in myself. It's about allowing myself to express who I am in any way that I want to, whether that be through my clothing, the way I present myself to the world, whether that be through like my gender identity and my pronouns. It's just really about allowing yourself to really be expressive and creative.

I was the kid growing up who would play with G.I. Joes in a pink dress and then run off to play with my Barbies. It doesn't mean that I'm less girly, it just means that I have this other side of me. It's kinda cool to be a little bit of both, I think.

I'm a female but I have a masculine side and I'm not going to negate that part of myself.

I like shocking people just because, like, I can wear a dress, too. Not even for people to go, 'Oh she's grown up,' but to show people that I'm actually a girl.

Sometimes I think I still dress like a 13-year-old boy. It's not that I don't like feminine clothing: I just like a blend because it reflects who I am.

I always knew I wanted to be a woman in men's clothing because I just feel good like that. I feel like I'm taking a different space: I move differently; I'm more at ease.

I've never given a damn. A seven-foot man who dresses as a woman as a job is not interested in what other people think.

I do want to inspire people - young girls who may like to wear boys' clothes and who romanticize women and feel nothing wrong with it.

I think the world is kind of catching on that gender roles aren't so necessary and becoming a lot less defined and starting to become a lot more about the individual and character of that person.

Far from being a showbiz gimmick, for me dressing as I please has signalled the end of a lifelong performance of straightforward masculinity.

When I first started going out to lesbian clubs, I felt a very binary recreation of hetero culture. There are butches and femmes, and I felt like I was neither of those things. I'm in a turtleneck and jeans and just learning to be comfortable in that space. I realized I don't have to be a certain way.

I wouldn't change myself at all. Being transgender makes me who I am: a strong person, a confident person. Being transgender gives me my personality.

You can do whatever you wanna do. If you're a girl - girl, you get on the football team, okay? If you identify as a boy, you put on some makeup, and you work that stage!