Former US President Barack Obama turns 57 today. The first African American president never shied away from speaking his mind and is known to be a staunch feminist.
He often spoke against gender pay gap, gender stereotypes and the need to treat women fairly and with respect. Here are some of his feminist quotes.
On being a feminist
"I may be a little grayer than I was eight years ago, but this is what a feminist looks like."
On empowering women
"We must carry forward the work of the women who came before us and ensure our daughters have no limits on their dreams, no obstacle to their achievements and no remaining ceilings to shatter."
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On fighting for equality
"I refuse to stop fighting now — for the sake of my daughters and yours, we must do better to make sure women are respected and treated equally."
On making laws on equal pay
"This Congress still needs to pass a law that makes sure a woman is paid the same as a man for doing the same work. Really. It's 2015."
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On women-friendly workplace policies
"A woman deserves equal pay for equal work. She deserves to have a baby without sacrificing her job. A mother deserves a day off to care for a sick child or sick parent without running into hardship — and you know what, a father does, too. It’s time to do away with workplace policies that belong in a Mad Men episode."
On gender stereotypes
"We know that these stereotypes affect how girls see themselves starting at a very young age, making them feel that if they don’t look or act a certain way, they are somehow less worthy. In fact, gender stereotypes affect all of us, regardless of our gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation."
On the need for change
"We need to keep changing the attitude that raises our girls to be demure and our boys to be assertive, that criticizes our daughters for speaking out and our sons for shedding a tear. We need to keep changing the attitude that punishes women for their sexuality and rewards men for theirs. We need to keep changing the attitude that permits the routine harassment of women, whether they’re walking down the street or daring to go online. We need to keep changing the attitude that teaches men to feel threatened by the presence and success of women. We need to keep changing the attitude that congratulates men for changing a diaper, stigmatizes full-time dads, and penalizes working mothers. We need to keep changing the attitude that values being confident, competitive, and ambitious in the workplace—unless you’re a woman... We need to keep changing a culture that shines a particularly unforgiving light on women and girls of colour."
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Kriti Dwivedi is an intern with SheThePeople.Tv
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