All Americans should take great pride in the men and women serving our nation in Iraq and in the courage, determination, resilience and initiative they demonstrate each and every day. It remains the greatest of honors to soldier with them.
I have great respect for the men and women that have fought for this country. I have family, I have friends that have gone and fought for this country. And they fight for freedom, they fight for the people, they fight for liberty and justice, for everyone.
As the mother of two daughters, I have great respect for women. And I don't ever want to lose that.
I hope that no more groans of wounded men and women will ever go to the ear of the Great Spirit Chief above, and that all people may be one people.
I would love to do really great work and for women who are marginalised to see me as an inspiration.
I have always aspired to create beautiful designs that make women feel elegant and confident - for me, that is my greatest challenge and inspiration.
We're still talking about women's rights. We can't be the greatest country in the world. I think once we lose that illusionary veil of thinking that we are, we can face the problems and really try to fix them.
I don't care for the music when they're talking bad about women because I think women are God's greatest gift to the planet - I just like music.
Our greatest strength in our fight for justice is our people - the thousands of men and women who have dedicated their careers, often at great personal sacrifice, to working for justice in America.
Women are not pals enough with men, so we must make ourselves indispensable. After all, we have the greatest weapon in our hands by just being women.
I'm very involved with PETA - People for Ethical Treatment of Animals - and Greenpeace and a lot of women's shelter and clothing giveaways.
I never expected in a million years that I would have the honor to become an advocate of women's health care and education, and I'd dive on a live grenade to get this message out, so thank you for this forum.
Often, as a young actress, you find yourself being the only girl in a room full of men... and one of the reasons why I like 'Grey's Anatomy' is because they have such strong female characters and the women really drive this show.
There's a false perception that women in Africa somehow don't love their babies they way we do, don't grieve their loss the way we would. That is simply not true.
As I got a little older, I discovered Lori McKenna and Patty Griffin and found out how many other tools we have as songwriters, that there's storytelling and there's ear candy, and that there is a place where they meet, too, and both of those women are really good at doing that.
'Hollywood maids' are so idiotic. They grin at everything. I told Norman Lear I didn't want to play a maid because of that 'hee-hee/grin-grin' attitude, and he said, 'Who said I wanted that?' He told me he wanted two strong women that are the black and white of the same coin. I said, 'Oh, well - in that case, I'll be right there!'
I would be surprised if my girls ended up as women without grit. I really would.
As I grew up and began identifying myself as a feminist, there were plenty of issues that continued to make me question marriage: the father 'giving' the bride away, women taking their husband's last name, the white dress, the vows promising to 'obey' the groom. And that only covers the wedding.
In Colombia, where I was born and raised, women like my mother considered their appearance and personal grooming a matter of principle. There was never an occasion where she didn't show up looking picture-perfect.
I was raised by two women, and that laid the groundwork for the way I treat 'em: with the utmost respect and admiration.
