65 Empowering Women's Equality Day Quotes To Share & Inspire Change
Let’s talk about women.
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It's been more than one hundred years since the 19th amendment granted (some) women the right to vote on August 18, 1920. Initially introduced in 1878, it took 42 years for the U.S. Government to pass the amendment granting white women suffrage, and it wasn't until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed that Black women gained that same right.
And in 1973, a resolution was introduced by Congresswoman Bella Abzug of New York was passed, designating August 26 as Women's Equality Day, which we're celebrating today with the best Women's Equality Day quotes we could find.
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As we see in the news every day, particularly in light of the current circumstances in Afghanistan, women in the U.S. and all over the world are still fighting for their equal share of human rights.
As of 2020, only 61% of women in the U.S. said they consider themselves feminists, despite the facts that women still deal with violence, discrimination, substantial pay gaps and patriarchal institutional barriers preventing them from participating equally in society.
But fortunately, as we have continued to fight for equal opportunities, many women have begun utilizing social media and the internet to speak out against discrimination, abuses and harassment.
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Though we have so much work to do, there's certainly enormous cause for celebration. We have persevered, fought for, and we continue to fight for equality.
This Women's Equality Day, take some time for yourself and your favorite women, register to vote, and learn more about feminism and the ongoing fight for equality.
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To inspire you, we've compiled this list of the best feminist quotes about women's rights to make you feel like the baddest woman in the room.
65 Best Women's Equality Day Quotes
1. “Feminist: a person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes.” — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2. “The test of whether or not you can hold a job should not be in the arrangement of your chromosomes.” — Bella Abzug
3. "I am a feminist. I’ve been female for a long time now. I’d be stupid not to be on my own side." — Maya Angelou
4. "We are struggling for a uniting word, but the good news is that we have a uniting movement." — Emma Watson
5. "Excellence is the best deterrent to racism or sexism." — Oprah Winfrey
6. "I write for those women who do not speak, for those who do not have a voice because they were so terrified because we are taught to respect fear more than ourselves. We've been taught that silence would save us, but it won't." — Audre Lorde
7. "I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves." — Mary Wollstonecraft
8. "Women, like men, should try to do the impossible. And when they fail, their failure should be a challenge to others." — Amelia Earhart
9. "The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn." — Gloria Steinem
10. “No matter what issues I have with feminism, I am a feminist. I cannot and will not deny the importance and absolute necessity of feminism. Like most people, I am full of contradictions, but I also don’t want to be treated like shit for being a woman. I am a bad feminist. I would rather be a bad feminist than no feminist at all.” ― Roxane Gay
11. “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made... It shouldn't be that women are the exception.” ― Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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12. “We have power. We have influence. We can do things that others have told us we can’t do. I don’t care how big you are. I don’t care how high you think you are. If you come for me, I’m coming for you.” ― Maxine Waters
13. “End the "angry black girl" narrative. It's just another attempt to undermine certain perspectives. I have strong opinions. I am not angry.” ― Amandla Stenberg
14. “When girls are educated, their countries become stronger and more prosperous.” ― Michelle Obama
15. "It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent." — Madeleine Albright
16. “Of course I am not worried about intimidating men. The type of man who will be intimidated by me is exactly the type of man I have no interest in.” — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
17. "A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman." — Melinda Gates
18. "There's something so special about a woman who dominates in a man's world. It takes a certain grace, strength, intelligence, fearlessness, and the nerve to never take no for an answer.” — Rihanna
19. "When a man gives his opinion, he's a man; when a woman gives her opinion, she's a bitch." — Bette Davis
20. "No woman should be told she can't make decisions about her own body. When women's rights are under attack, we fight back." — Kamala Harris
21. "We need to reshape our own perception of how we view ourselves. We have to step up as women and take the lead." — Beyoncé
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22. "You could make a case that, along with the technological revolution, the most provocative upending destabilizing thrilling change in the course of human history is that we’re finally in it … We're here now, women are in the world, and we will not be bullied." — Meryl Streep
23. "Human rights are women's rights, and women's rights are human rights." — Hillary Clinton
24. "Women will be hidden no more. We will not remain hidden figures. We have names. … It was woman that gave you Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was woman that gave you Malcolm X. And according to the Bible, it was a woman that gave you Jesus. Don't you ever forget it." — Janelle Monáe
25. "I feel now that the time is come when even a woman or a child who can speak a word for freedom and humanity is bound to speak." — Harriet Beecher Stowe
26. “Justice is about making sure that being polite is not the same thing as being quiet. In fact, often times, the most righteous thing you can do is shake the table.” — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
27. "I always wanted to be a femme fatale. Even when I was a young girl, I never really wanted to be a girl. I wanted to be a woman." — Diane von Furstenberg
28. "In my opinion, the most exciting potential of women of color formations resides in the possibility of politicizing this identity—basing the identity on politics rather than the politics on identity." — Angela Davis
29. "Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another." — Toni Morrison
30. "I think transwomen, and trans people in general, show everyone that you can define what it means to be a man or woman on your own terms. A lot of what feminism is about is moving outside of roles and moving outside of expectations of who and what you're supposed to be to live a more authentic life." — Laverne Cox
31. "A revolutionary woman can't have no reactionary man." — Assata Shakur
32. "There is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind." — Virginia Woolf
33. "To be free is not to have the power to do anything you like; it is to be able to surpass the given toward an open future." — Simone de Beauvoir
34. "The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any." — Alice Walker
35. “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.” — Taylor Swift
36. "Security is mostly a superstition. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." — Helen Keller
37. "The most important thing is to enjoy your life — to be happy. It's all that matters." — Audrey Hepburn
38. "Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong." — Ella Fitzgerald
39. “We ask justice, we ask equality, we ask that all the civil and political rights that belong to citizens of the United States, be guaranteed to us and our daughters forever.”— Susan B. Anthony
40. “I was smart enough to go through any door that opened.” — Joan Rivers
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41. "I demanded more rights for women because I know what women had to put up with." — Evita Peron
42. “You can waste your lives drawing lines. Or you can live your life crossing them.” — Shonda Rhimes
43. “If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.” — Dolly Parton
44. “Whether women are better than men I cannot say ... but i can say they are certainly no worse.” — Golda Meir
45. “In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.” — Coco Chanel
46. “Doubt is a killer. You just have to know who you are and what you stand for.” — Jennifer Lopez
47. “You can be the lead in your own life.” — Kerry Washington
48. “You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute.” — Tina Fey
More for You:
49. “Many receive advice, only the wise profit from it.” — Harper Lee
50. You deserve to be here. You deserve to exist. You deserve to take up space in this world of men. — MacKenzi Lee
51. “The emerging woman ... will be strong-minded, strong-hearted, strong-souled, and strong-bodied ... strength and beauty must go together.” — Louisa May Alcott
52. “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.” — Margaret Atwood
53. “We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.” — Malala Yousafzai
54. "If it's a good idea, go ahead and do it. It's much easier to apologize than it is to get permission." — Grace Hopper
55. “I will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else's whim or to someone else's ignorance.” — Bell Hooks
56. “Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less." — Susan B. Anthony
57. "Don't let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity. It's your place in the world; it's your life.” — Dr. Mae Jemison
58. “It’s not your job to like me, it’s mine.” — Byron Katie
59. “Always be a first-rate version of yourself instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.” — Judy Garland
60. “The success of every woman should be the inspiration to another. We should raise each other up. Make sure you’re very courageous: be strong, be extremely kind, and above all be humble.” — Serena Williams
61. “A girl should not expect special privileges because of her sex but neither should she adjust to prejudice and discrimination.” — Betty Friedan
62. “At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can.” — Frida Kahlo
63. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
64. “I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life—and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.” — Georgia O'Keeffe
65. “The greatest danger to our future is apathy.” — Jane Goodall
Rachel Reed is a writer and editorial Intern with interests in news, culture, self, and relationships.
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