A Quote by Cosima Spender

Paradoxically, in the field being a woman actually helps you: people often feel more comfortable talking to women, which is key in documentaries. — © Cosima Spender
Paradoxically, in the field being a woman actually helps you: people often feel more comfortable talking to women, which is key in documentaries.
I feel that the thing about film and particularly about TV, actually, is it's being created now. We're living in the best time so far because there are many more women writing and women directing, women producing, and people are finally catching on to the fact that women want to go and buy tickets to see female characters and more than one in a film. So I actually think it's a very fertile time to be a woman over 40.
We've done a couple of women's mags, but we tend to talk about feminism and women in the industry, which I feel more comfortable talking about. It's a more valuable discussion than, 'Oh, you're a girl in a band. What hair conditioner do you use?' I use hair conditioner, and I like talking about it. But I don't want that to be the question.
As women, I think it helps that we are complex creatures by nature so just being a woman helps to understand a woman's journey.
I think making a documentary gets you out and about more, with people. With stand-up, you're talking at people. With documentaries you're talking with people, and you're listening a lot more.
When I hear myself speak French, I look at myself differently. Certain aspects will feel closer to the way I feel or the way I am and others won't. I like that - to tour different sides of yourself. I often find when looking at people who are comfortable in many languages, they're more comfortable talking about emotional stuff in a certain language or political stuff in another and that's really interesting, how people relate to those languages.
Every woman knows what I'm talking about. It’s the presumption that makes it hard, at times, for any woman in any field; that keeps women from speaking up and from being heard when they dare; that crushes young women into silence by indicating, the way harassment on the street does, that this is not their world. It trains us in self-doubt and self-limitation just as it exercises men’s unsupported overconfidence.
I think women need to hear more encouragement in any field, because I see it - I teach creative writing. And even though it's mostly women in the room, they're not often - or they didn't used to be the ones who went on to publish books. I know this sounds like a tautology, but encouragement is the key.
I am starting to feel more comfortable as a woman in the entertainment industry because of the #MeToo movement, so I feel so proud of all the women that came forward and who are fighting for us.
I feel like, in my 20s, I was putting my hair in a ponytail and pinching my cheeks and raising my voice an octave. So I feel more comfortable being a woman than I did being a young ingenue.
I think being an Asian woman has been more of an advantage than a disadvantage. It helps me stand out from the rest of the entertainers out there. Again, being from such an ethnically diverse place like New York, you get comfortable and confident with being different!
A lot of people have the misconception that, as a Muslim woman, I am somehow against women wearing bikinis. No, I want women to feel comfortable and confident in whatever they wear.
All women have a complicated relationship to beauty, but as a transgender woman it's a bit more complicated. There's a lot of pressure to appear feminine. When I was younger, I was most insecure about my size, my angular features, my feet, my hands . At the end of the day, it's about being comfortable in your own skin, and being able to walk down the street and not have people question your gender - and, for me, being perceived as a woman.
I actually feel more of a woman because I feel like I'm being smart about my choices, and I'm putting my family first, and I'm in charge of my life and my health. I think that's what makes a woman complete.
I have spent more time in my life working and being in restaurants than being at home. I immediately feel comfortable entering a restaurant, and I feel even more comfortable in the back with the chef and cooks.
What I've figured out how to do is make people feel comfortable on television and on the radio, which enables me to have access to them, which is key for what I do.
I'm always excited and enthusiastic to have women join the technical side of the industry. Without making ridiculous stereotypes, which this might be, I have had clients - male and female - who said they feel more comfortable working with a woman in the mastering capacity for various reasons.
This site uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. More info...
Got it!