When a man gives his opinion, he's a man. When a woman gives her opinion, she's a bitch.

The line crystallizes a double standard in how assertiveness is judged across genders: the same act—stating an opinion—earns men a neutral or even admiring label (“a man”), while women are punished with a sexualized insult. Attributed to Bette Davis, it fits her public persona as a formidable, outspoken star who navigated a male-dominated studio system and was frequently characterized as “difficult” for behavior celebrated in male peers. Whether or not Davis coined it, the aphorism endures because it succinctly names a social mechanism that polices women’s speech and authority by reframing confidence as hostility.