Dismantling Stereotypes Quotes

I believe that nothing should be taboo - no theory or prejudice should close one's mind to a discovery.

There are a lot of stereotypes to be broken which I think a lot of us are doing. What I do is, as soon as people try to pin me down to one kind of part, I'll play a very different kind of role, so it explodes that stereotype.

We all have these challenges and stereotypes that exist, but you can't let that hold you down... If that's the first thing you think about as a black woman - the challenge that lies ahead - you are thinking in the wrong direction, in my opinion.

First, you have stereotypes, and that will be the black drug dealer, the east Asian kung fu master, the Middle Eastern terrorist in 'True Lies.' Then you have stuff that takes place on culturally specific terrain, that engages with it, but actually subverts assumptions. 'Smashes' stereotypes. That's where I've come into the game.

We don't want to be our own niche. We're filmmakers like everybody. How many years in a row are we going to talk about the fact that we make films and we are women? Enough already.

With 'Broadcast News,' it became a non-issue, and with 'The Piano,' it became a non-issue. Both parts were written for more statuesque women. It was nice to change people's minds about that, because that's neither here nor there.

I was repeatedly told that there isn't an African American woman who can open a show on Broadway. I said, 'Well, how do we know? How do we know if we don't do it?' I said, 'I think you're wrong.'

I work very hard to line up stereotypes and then smash them with a hammer.

I believe the biggest challenge is just getting the courage to try something different or new. Try to forget the stereotype in your mind. Yoga is for everyone - children, athletes, moms, dads, accountants, truck drivers, even country stars.

I think that's the place ideally we'd like to get to as well, as queer people, where you can just judge the music for what it is and not just because it's gay. I think it's important that until we get to that place, statements have to be made, and we have to be loud and outward, so that's where I'm coming from.

There's a misconception that actors with no background don't get any exposure from big production houses. I think people should start rethinking about it.

It was trying to break down the stereotypes and it was the kind of thing where, for the first time, women were on a par and not seen as just objects. Though girls were objectified still.

My only goal as a comedian was to stomp the life out of the model-minority myth.

It is never too late to give up our prejudices.

My whole intention is to break down these limitations of what a black comedian is supposed to be and to open up a space.

Don't live up to your stereotypes.

I think we have to own the fears that we have of each other, and then, in some practical way, some daily way, figure out how to see people differently than the way we were brought up to.

A beard and a turban sometimes conjure up negative associations, but if you see someone with a lime-colored, bright orange or pink turban, it disarms people's stereotyped notion of this image.

People claim to be progressive by celebrating curvy bodies - but the standards for those hourglass shapes are equally rigid. They mask that with body positivity - but what about unconventionally attractive bodies?