Alicia Keys

Have you watched Snow White lately? I get real funky about the classics; I don’t like (my sons) watching it. It’s totally sexist, misogynistic – she’s cleaning for seven dwarfs. There’s nothing wrong with a woman who chooses to stay at home with her family, it’s a hard-ass job, but it’s the way it’s spoken about.

I want my sons to grow up in a world where they’d never think boys are better than girls or that black is better than white.

Exploring the mysteries of myself and the world. Sensual, powerful, wise… on my path…

I constantly ask myself if what I’m doing is for me or somebody else. It’s tripping me out!

Love is real, love is pure, you only take what you give and give what you take. At its purest it is real. No pretending.

Everyone deserves an equal chance at success.

Being a strong woman is very important to me. But doing it all on my own is not.

Only a woman can breathe under the water of life defying gravity and staying zen while doing it.

The woman who doesn’t require validation from anyone is the most feared individual on the planet.

You’’re a feminist if you go to a Jay-Z and Beyoncé concert, and you’’re NOT like, ‘mmm, I feel like Beyoncé should be making 23 percent less money than Jay-Z.’

If we are going to see real development in the world then our best investment is women.

I do not believe that we have a right to tell other people, women, that they can’t control their bodies.

We have become the men we wanted to marry.

I’ve come into loving and understanding the feminine side of me. How powerful a woman and her femininity is… how strong, how graceful, how gorgeous, how beautiful. I love getting to know the many sides of myself. I embrace them all.

The women that inspire me, to be honest, are the women that struggle.

I do respect them; I have great respect for women. In fact, one of the reasons ‘The Apprentice’ was such a successful show for so many years, the audience of women was fantastic.

It’s misogynistic in nature to try and control a woman’s sexual presentation of self. I consider this an issue that is bigger than one film.

I’m a liability to them – I’m a woman, I’m empowered, I’m an artist. I’ve had executives who can’t come to my shows they’re so scared of me. I’ve been a thorn in many people’s sides just by existing.

The argument that ‘boys will be boys’ actually carries the profoundly anti-male implication that we should expect bad behaviors from boys and men. The assumption is that they are somehow not capable of acting appropriately, or treating girls and women with respect.

Little girls think it’s necessary to put all their business on MySpace and Facebook, and I think it’s a shame… I’m all about mystery.

We won’t unlock opportunities for young women and girls unless we can change the mindset of every family and community. To achieve this, it cannot just be women who speak up for girls.