I was undeterred by the danger of traveling as a single American woman through Taliban-governed land. I believed in the stories I wanted to tell, the stories I felt were underreported, and I was convinced that that belief would keep me alive.
What's been fascinating about shooting my series 'American Woman' is the ubiquity of a woman's experience - and no matter who you are: a rockstar, film director, mom - we all are celebrating this movement of female empowerment, but we also realize we have a long way to go.
I dedicated my first 'American Woman' series to my mother. She and millions in her generation felt they couldn't use their voices, but they taught their daughters they must use theirs.
One of my early heroes was Sally Ride, the first American woman in space.
I know the dangers and the seductions of the Middle East. It is part of my identity. I grew up among a people who routinely referred to the creation of the State of Israel as the Nakba - the catastrophe. And yet I fell in love with and married a Jewish American woman, the only daughter of two Holocaust survivors, both Jewish Austrians.
I really wanted to be born a woman. It all started there. A South American woman. And I'm upset that I was born a white Jewish male. I've been angry since.
Hawaii's own Patsy Mink served as the first congresswoman of color and first Asian American woman in the House; she later sought the Democratic Party presidential nomination.
I went to the Alabama public schools at a time when my English teachers, all but one of whom was a woman, taught nothing but the classics. They revered the great British and American writers.
There is, indeed, nothing that so much seduces reason from vigilance, as the thought of passing life with an amiable woman.
Amongst black people, you have always heard it said that once a black man reaches a certain level, especially if you are an entertainer, you get a white trophy woman. I didn't make that up.
I'm prepared to try to talk to a very beautiful girl. I learned a fantastic secret, which is that the most beautiful woman in the room is not being spoken to because she's too intimidating. They're not looking for somebody beautiful; they're looking for somebody to amuse them.
From age 16 to age 20, a woman's body is a temple. From 21 to 45, it's an amusement park. From 45 on, it's a terrarium.
Any woman who diets all the time can't help but be grouchy. Nobody can be amusing or entertaining on a diet.
In the last analysis, even the best man is evil: in the last analysis, even the best woman is bad.
I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical reasoner.
It seems inevitable, if unfair, that when a woman is vying for a prominent position in office, her outfit choices will be analyzed to a degree considerably higher than those of her male counterpart by simple existence of gender stereotypes.
No man should marry until he has studied anatomy and dissected at least one woman.
If a woman feels anchored to a man's plans, she may start to resent him for the fun she's worried she's missing.
Monsieur Saint Laurent was pathologically shy, and he made the Saint Laurent woman in his own image. Like her, I am shy. And to protect myself, I adopted something of an androgynous look, just as his women did.
When I played Candy Darling in 'I Shot Andy Warhol,' that was easy to play that part. They made me into a woman: I'm in heels; I'm waxed. I'm gonna find the femininity and lay on the bed and take the voice of an old movie star.
