Gloria Steinem
GLORIA STEINEM
Gloria Steinem is a personal hero of mine. It helps that I grew up in a house where my mother admired her loudly. Gloria was very photogenic, shall we say, and that helped her get on talk television shows in the afternoons and evenings where millions of women saw her and resonated with what she was saying. “Gloria’s on TV”, I would hear from the kitchen and it meant I needed to come watch.
In college, a good friend gave me a copy of her essay “If Men Could Menstruate.” That essay always lives with me. It was required reading in many of my first-year classes. It shows her brilliance and her sense of humor. Here are some early lines from that essay:
What would happen, for instance, if suddenly, magically, men could menstruate and women could not?
The answer is clear—menstruation would become an enviable, boast-worthy, masculine event:
Men would brag about how long and how much….
Sanitary supplies would be federally funded and free. (Of course, some men would still pay for the prestige of commercial brands such as John Wayne Tampons, Muhammad Ali’s Rope-a-dope Pads, Joe Namath Jock Shields—“For Those Light Bachelor Days,” and Robert “Baretta” Blake Maxi-Pads.)
I didn’t know at the time in the late 70’s that Steinem had been working on women’s equality since the early 60’s. Her brilliant expose, “I was a Playboy Bunny”, was published in 1963, just a few months after Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique was published. It brought to light the economic struggles of single mothers and other women and changed the way we saw those bunnies.
As a journalist for major publications, she was always assigned to write on “women’s interests”, which at the time meant only housekeeping, child-rearing, clothes, how to keep your husband happy, and cleaning products. She turned that on its head, and in 1971, she started Ms. Magazine on the belief that women were interested in a lot more and that with enough readership, advertisers would follow. It was not easy. It was on a shoestring budget, but Ms. Magazine changed the national conversation, and in 1972, “Ms” was accepted as an official title by the US Printing Office and Post Office.
Gloria Steinem was a leader, but she was also part of a movement of women, and particularly Jewish women, that changed our society. She didn’t start it. She was not “the” leader. She was a team player.
Our member, Felicia Kornbluh, UVM Professor in History, Women and Gender Studies, and now the Chair of Jewish Studies, shared with me that:
So many Jewish women and others made it rise - for example, (they) organized that West Village Basement Abortion speak out and that was the occasion for her awakening. No shade on Gloria, she was astounding. But she stood with and not over. Her gift was for not giving up and walking out.
I had the thrill of interpreting for Steinem twice while I was in New York. Once was at a rally at City Hall and another was a comedy show benefit for a cause she supported. My mother was so jealous that I got to sit next to Gloria Steinem for over an hour and interpret for her. I was so starstruck that I don’t remember much about it, but I do remember that she was really nice and super funny, and talked to me, asked me questions, and was just really easy to talk with. That sense of humor was probably key to her resilience.
She also stood with Women of Color in the movement and in politics when many feminist leaders didn’t.
She also stood with Jews. Her mother was Presbyterian and her father was Jewish, but she famously said that “I never identified as a Christian. But wherever there is antisemitism, I identify as a Jew.” She was critical of Netanyahu, but not of the right and necessity of Israel to exist.
Gloria Steinem, and the many women she organized and worked with, changed all our lives. Our girls can only imagine what it was like to grow up when she did. Hillary Clinton said this about her:
“She pushed open doors not just for herself, but for literally millions of women behind her. She wasn’t going to be an astronaut, but my goodness, she made it possible for Sally Ride to be an astronaut…. Gloria Steinem was, at heart, an optimist. Her activism was rooted in optimist, and that’s a moral choice she made every day.”
In these times when it is so tempting to give up, to withdraw into our bubble, let’s remember that moral choice to be optimistic that things can and will change. And let’s remember the humor that was key to her effectiveness, but also how she lifted others up to leadership and power.
May you rest in peace, Ms. Steinem.
