My favourite moment from the Oscars was when Brando didn't attend and sent a Native American woman to talk about Wounded Knee. She delivered a very unpopular and lengthy monologue about the injustice for indigenous people in North America. It was one of the greatest moments in American television.
One of my early heroes was Sally Ride, the first American woman in space.
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.
There are whole precincts of voters in this country whose united intelligence does not equal that of one representative American woman.
I grew up in the Alps and France, and Barbie was my first exposure to the American woman. For me she was blonde, she was free and she was fun.
I think it was hard for people to cast me as an ethnic, as an Asian American woman.
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.
It's taken over 240 years for there to be a Native American woman elected to congress, so it's definitely significant that we were able to accomplish that.
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.
