March is Women’s History Month, celebrating the women who have altered the course of history and those who are changing the world today. To celebrate, here’s a list of 10 quotes from women who continue to inspire and empower us today.
1. “I am a Woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal Woman, that’s me.” Maya Angelou, a renowned poet a civil rights activist.
2. “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made… It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.” Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
3. “A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men.” Gloria Steinem, a feminist and activist.
4. “When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” —Audre Lorde, a writer, feminist, and civil rights activist.
5. “This is what most girls are taught — that we should be slender and small. We should not take up space. We should be seen and not heard, and if we are seen, we should be pleasing to men, acceptable to society. And most women know this, that we are supposed to disappear, but it’s something that needs to be said, loudly, over and over again, so that we can resist surrendering to what is expected of us.” Roxane Gay, author of Hunger.
6. “I just have to be myself. I’m not perfect and I’m going to make mistakes, I might say the wrong thing.” Laverne Cox, an actress and LGBTQ activist.
7. “No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half its citizens.” Michelle Obama, former First Lady of the United States.
8. “If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.” Sojourner Truth, abolitionist and women’s rights activist.
9. “A woman must not accept; she must challenge. She must not be awed by that which has been built up around her; she must reverence that woman in her which struggles for expression.” Margaret Sanger, a writer, nurse, and sex education activist.
10. “A girl’s voice is powerful and it can bring change in the community.” Malala Yousafzai, a Nobel Prize winning activist and feminist.