It’s International Women’s Day — here are 35 quotes from the strongest feminist voices around the world

• March 8 is International Women’s Day.
• The earliest celebration of International Women’s Day was in 1909. That year, the Socialist Party of America dedicated the day to honoring the 1908 garment workers’ strike in New York.
• Through the years, the day has been spent showing the progress that women have made, as well as the progress women (and men) around the world are working towards.
• This year, the day’s theme is #BalanceforBetter, a call to action for everyone to “help forge a more gender-balanced world.” The campaign says this includes creating more gender-balanced spaces in boardrooms, politics, media and sports coverage, and wealth.
• In support of International Women’s Day, we’ve rounded up some of the most poignant quotes from some of the most well-known supporters of the gender equality movement:

---

Hillary Clinton: former Secretary of State, former New York Senator and 2016 Democratic nominee for President of the United States

---

Emma Watson: actress and UN Women Goodwill Ambassador

---

Gloria Steinem: journalist and political activist

---

Janelle Monáe: singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, actress, and model

---

Malala Yousafzai: humanitarian and youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate

---

Sheryl Sandberg: COO of Facebook, founder of LeanIn.org and author

---

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Supreme Court Justice

---

Cecile Richards: president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America

---

Michelle Obama: former First Lady of the United States

---

Jennifer Aniston: actress, producer, and businesswoman

---

Betty Friedan: author of “The Feminine Mystique”

---

Melinda Gates: co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

---

Jessica Alba: actress, philanthropist and co-founder of The Honest Company

---

Amal Clooney: barrister and philanthropist

---

Whitney Wolfe Herd: founder and CEO of Bumble, co-founder of Tinder

---

Lupita Nyong’o: actress and activist

---

Meghan Markle: actress, humanitarian and future royal

---

Bell Hook: author of “Feminist Theory”

---

Dilma Rousseff: first female president of Brazil

---

Oprah: media mogul, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist

---

Gal Gadot: actress and former Miss Israel

---

Nancy Pelosi: Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives

---

Ursula Burns: former CEO of Xerox, chairperson of VEON, senior advisor to Teneo, board member at Diageo and Uber

---

Lena Waithe: actress, producer, and Emmy-award winning screenwriter

---

Priyanka Chopra: actress, singer, film producer, philanthropist, and former Miss World

---

Cheris Kramarae: author of “A Feminist Dictionary”

---

Beyoncé: singer, songwriter and actress

---

Cher: singer and actress

---

Reese Witherspoon: actress, producer, philanthropist and entrepreneur

---

Lori Greiner: inventor, entrepreneur, and television personality

---

Madeleine Albright: the first woman to have become the United States Secretary of State

---

Viola Davis: actress, producer, activist, and humanitarian

---

Katie Couric: journalist and author

---

Madonna: performer, businesswoman and philanthropist

---

Coco Chanel: famed fashion designer and businesswoman