International Women’s Day was celebrated all around the world on Sunday. Feminist Roxane Gay who wrote the manifesto Bad Feminist spoke at the Sydney Opera House where she stood up for inclusiveness, not having labels and maintaining the rage. She was fresh, funny, super smart and empowering. The new guard is in good hands. A powerful campaign by The Clinton Foundation in recognition of the release of a report into women’s representation called No Ceilings saw high profile women being edited out of advertising campaigns and editorial campaigns to call attention to gender inequality. Talks, forums, marches and conversations were had all around the women. And online people posted quotes, memes and statistics about women to their social media feeds to celebrate women and call out the things that still need to change to achieve true equality between the sexes.
In celebration of the day, and women around the world, MiNDFOOD tracked down some of our favourite quotes from our archives from celebrities on the women that inspires them the most.
JENNIFER GARNER
If I had a role model in my profession it would be Annette Bening, always has been. I am so inspired by her, how unafraid she is to tackle everything, to tackle parenthood, to tackle marriage with a big personality, to tackle politics and anything political. Ben and I just saw her doing her last play at the Geffen and it was a one woman show and it just bowled us over and I could not believe, I am so in awe of her and have been a fan of hers on stage for her whole career as well as her films. And also, I’m inspired by just the way she lives her life.
KENNETH BRANAGH
Which woman was I most inspired by? It would be my mum. She worked part time and raised us when my dad was away a lot working and there was a phenomenal amount of effort. I always think, just literally, if you counted up the amount of meals, if you were lucky enough to have this done for you, that were made for you across the course of a lifetime, it’s tens of thousands, all those meals you moaned about, ‘Oh no, mum! Not beans again.’ Well, somebody went out and bought it, and then she came back, and then she cooked it and then she faced your completely indifference to it, and then she made you eat it and still had the chocolate mousse in the fridge for you – you ungrateful shit (laughs). So if only for the massive catering effort, among many other things, my mum is a top gal.
CATE BLANCHETT
The women who inspire me the most are the women who endure those often invisible terrible abuses, and then have the courage to speak out because they don’t want other women to endure them. And I think I have been incredibly fortunate in my life to have escaped that fate and I have infinite respect for that extraordinary continual courage of women who move through those abuses and tell those stories. And they are often nameless people.
