Julia Louis-Dreyfus

My high school was so different, but just as foundational. My high school and elementary school was a private all-girls school. I went there for 10 years. And then, my God, my father, I do not know why, he wanted me to go to an all-girls college, which I definitely did not want to do. He absolutely insisted that we go tour Wellesley College.

My high school was so different, but just as foundational. My high school and elementary school was a private all-girls school. I went there for 10 years. And then, my God, my father, I do not know why, he wanted me to go to an all-girls college, which I definitely did not want to do. He absolutely insisted that we go tour Wellesley College.

So we did, and we ended up having this huge fight about the school while walking across the quad. And all of a sudden, a bee flies up my skirt and stings me on the ass. This is a true story, you guys. No kidding. And I started screaming in front of the whole tour group like a crazy person. The good news is I didn't have to go on the rest of the tour. So that was excellent.

So we did, and we ended up having this huge fight about the school while walking across the quad. And all of a sudden, a bee flies up my skirt and stings me on the ass. This is a true story, you guys. No kidding. And I started screaming in front of the whole tour group like a crazy person. The good news is I didn't have to go on the rest of the tour. So that was excellent.

But anyway, back to my all-girls high school. My school has a roster of wildly successful female alums, and maybe that's because at a school like mine, everyone who is the captain of a team or the star of a play or president of the class or the valedictorian or whatever is a woman.

But anyway, back to my all-girls high school. My school has a roster of wildly successful female alums, and maybe that's because at a school like mine, everyone who is the captain of a team or the star of a play or president of the class or the valedictorian or whatever is a woman.

And when you look at lists of successful women, CEOs, members of Congress, musicians, journalists, the percentage that went to all-girls schools is considerable. Kind of stunning. I mean, everybody from Pink to Michigan Senator Alyssa Slotkin to Ambassador Susan Rice and Melinda Gates to, I don't know, the Wicked Witch of the West, Margaret Hamilton. Yes, it's true.

And when you look at lists of successful women, CEOs, members of Congress, musicians, journalists, the percentage that went to all-girls schools is considerable. Kind of stunning. I mean, everybody from Pink to Michigan Senator Alyssa Slotkin to Ambassador Susan Rice and Melinda Gates to, I don't know, the Wicked Witch of the West, Margaret Hamilton. Yes, it's true.

They all went to all-girls schools. So am I making a pitch for all-girls education? Well, no, not exactly. I'm making a pitch for putting women in charge.

They all went to all-girls schools. So am I making a pitch for all-girls education? Well, no, not exactly. I'm making a pitch for putting women in charge.

It's a pitch for an even playing field because I bet the powerful and successful women who did not go to all-girls schools were also at some point in positions where their leadership was allowed or maybe they powerfully insisted it be allowed to flourish. Success followed. Of course, not everyone is a leader, obviously. But when women lead, everyone benefits, men included.

It's a pitch for an even playing field because I bet the powerful and successful women who did not go to all-girls schools were also at some point in positions where their leadership was allowed or maybe they powerfully insisted it be allowed to flourish. Success followed. Of course, not everyone is a leader, obviously. But when women lead, everyone benefits, men included.

It's good for everybody. At my all-girls high school, which was far from perfect, it had its own stupid rules and prejudices and very conservative ideology, my experience of seeing women lead without apology, myself included, by the way, instilled in me an expectation of female leadership, a normalization. That's the word. That was just how it was, and it was wonderful.

It's good for everybody. At my all-girls high school, which was far from perfect, it had its own stupid rules and prejudices and very conservative ideology, my experience of seeing women lead without apology, myself included, by the way, instilled in me an expectation of female leadership, a normalization. That's the word. That was just how it was, and it was wonderful.

And then out in the real world, my classmates and I just expected to be taken seriously. And when we weren't, we would put up a hell of a fight. I mean, if I've learned one thing from Wiser Than Me, it is that the women we have been so honored to talk to from everywhere. every walk of life, they know how to put up one hell of a fight. They know how to lead.

And then out in the real world, my classmates and I just expected to be taken seriously. And when we weren't, we would put up a hell of a fight. I mean, if I've learned one thing from Wiser Than Me, it is that the women we have been so honored to talk to from everywhere. every walk of life, they know how to put up one hell of a fight. They know how to lead.

They have, every one of them, earned our deep, deep respect. So as I've said many times, listen to old women, motherfuckers. And we're just scratching the surface of each of these individuals' life story, the tons and tons of wisdom they can pass along to us.

They have, every one of them, earned our deep, deep respect. So as I've said many times, listen to old women, motherfuckers. And we're just scratching the surface of each of these individuals' life story, the tons and tons of wisdom they can pass along to us.

What a loss it has been for our country, our culture, to not hear from all of the women with brilliant ideas and tons of talent and genius, the women who have been kept from leadership, from flourishing by stupid rules, by what is now almost laughingly called the patriarchy. Well, fellas, you're lost because women in leadership roles, well, I mean, obviously, we're not 100% fabulous.

What a loss it has been for our country, our culture, to not hear from all of the women with brilliant ideas and tons of talent and genius, the women who have been kept from leadership, from flourishing by stupid rules, by what is now almost laughingly called the patriarchy. Well, fellas, you're lost because women in leadership roles, well, I mean, obviously, we're not 100% fabulous.