Gloria+Steinem

Brittany Karno **Gloria Steinem **

Gloria Steinem was born on March 25, 1934 in Toledo, Ohio. She had an unusual childhood, where she spent part of the year in Michigan and the winters in Florida or California (“Gloria Steinem,” n.d.). Because of all of this travelling, Steinem did not regularly attend school until the age of 11. Her mother, Ruth, provided most of Gloria’s education, but as the years went on she slipped deeper into depression, despair, and paranoia. Gloria’s father, Leo, abandoned the family and Gloria was left to take care of her mother until she was finally able to go live with her sister and attend Smith College (Daffron, 1988). While attending Smith, she majored in government, which was an act of mild rebellion at a time when many young women were still encouraged to study art or literature (Daffron, 1988). It was clear early on that she did not want to follow the most common life path for women in those days – marriage and motherhood (“Gloria Steinem,” n.d.). Gloria graduated magna cum laude and was offered a postgraduate fellowship to study in India for two years. Gloria had always had an interest in political activism as well as free-lance writing, and she put these interests to use by writing articles for Indian newspapers, albeit most of the articles were about less serious, more feminine issues, which would be a problem she would encounter many times throughout her life (Daffron, 1988). She came to the realization that the prevailing American wisdom should not be accepted without question, and this belief would ultimately prompt her activism in America.
 * Early Life **

Gloria returned to America in 1958 and was strongly motivated to fight social injustice and so she embarked on her career as a journalist (“Women’s History,” n.d.). In 1960, she met Clay Felker, an editor at //Esquire//, and she started doing brief, unsigned articles for the magazine (Heilbrun, 1995). In 1962, she took an //Esquire// assignment from Felker to write about the effects of the Pill on the behavior of college women (Heilbrun, 1995). This article, entitled //The Moral Disarmament of Betty Coed//, revealed Steinem’s progressive thinking and recognition of the social dilemmas of that time, which is shown in the closing remarks of the article where Steinem says, “The real danger of the contraceptive revolution may be the acceleration of woman’s role-change without any corresponding change of man’s attitude toward her role” (Landrum, 1994).
 * Journalism and Activism **

A few months later, Steinem received an assignment from //Show// magazine to work undercover as a Playboy Bunny and write an expose on the New York Playboy Club. The article that she wrote as a result of her experience exposed the poor working conditions and meager wages of the women who worked long hours in the lavish clubs where rich men spent their leisure time (“Women’s History,” n.d.). Although this article brought her massive attention, it was not the kind of attention Steinem wanted; most people did not focus on its criticisms, but thought of it as a sexy story and many came to recognize her only as “the girl who worked as a Bunny” (Daffron, 1988). Later in 1963, she published her first book called //The Beach Book//, which was a frivolous publication about sun-bathing and the sea. Steinem quickly acquired fame and became recognized as a glamorous socialite. Steinem felt she had drifted away from her journalistic fight for social justice and so in 1968, she returned to her political activist ways and along with Clay Felker, she co-founded //New York// magazine. This marked the first time where her work reflected both her personal interests as well as her political beliefs. She wrote articles about peace rallies, malnutrition in the South Bronx, political campaigns, neighborhood struggles for decent day-care centers, and the plight of returning Vietnam veterans (Daffron, 1988). She also began writing a column, //The City Politic//, which reported on events concerning the Democratic party as well as women and other oppressed groups (Heilbrun, 1995). During these years Steinem moved into politics more directly, working for Democratic candidates such as Norman Mailer, John Lindsay, Eugene McCarthy, Robert Kennedy, and later George McGovern. She also worked with César Chávez in his efforts on behalf of the United Farm Workers (“Women’s History,” n.d.). In November 1968, she was assigned to report on the women’s liberation movement for //New York// magazine, and so she attended a meeting of a radical feminist group called Redstockings; a meeting that would change her life and launch her career as a feminist leader (Daffron, 1988).

The Redstockings meeting advocated for the equality of women as well as advocated against the ban on abortions. According to Daffron (1988), Steinem then realized that women were discriminated against as a group and prejudice against women was not a personal problem, but a social problem. She then began to express her feminist views in articles such as “After Black Power, Women’s Liberation” (“Gloria Steinem,” n.d.). She became more and more involved with the women’s movement and began travelling around the country with other feminists, speaking to large cities and small towns, to openly show the sexual politics of everyday life. Steinem often travelled with African American feminists to show that feminism was a movement for all women, not just for the white middle-class. After these lectures, groups of women would gather for impromptu consciousness-raising sessions with Steinem and her partner, which would serve to fuel the momentum behind women’s liberation during the 1960’s and 70’s (Daffron, 1988). In 1971 Steinem joined other prominent feminists, such as Bella Abzug and Betty Friedan, in forming the National Women’s Political Caucus, which worked on behalf of women’s issues within political offices and also encouraged women to participate in the 1972 election (“Gloria Steinem,” n.d.). She then became founder of the Women’s Action Alliance, a tax-exempt organization for mobilizing nonwhite, non-middle-class women and men to combat social and economic forms of discrimination (Landrum, 1994). She then continued to be an advocate for feminism through public lectures, media coverage, as well as still writing articles such as “What It Would Be Like If Women Win,” where she remarks, “If Women’s Lib wins, perhaps we all do,” (Daffron, 1988).
 * Feminist Awakening **

Perhaps one of Steinem’s greatest and most widely known contributions to the feminist movement was the formation of Ms. Magazine in 1971. Steinem decided that the only way to ensure a market for ideas such as hers was for feminists to start their own national magazine (Daffron, 1988). The magazine would be owned and run by women, and it would report on issues such as job discrimination, changing sex roles, and the need for women to work together. Steinem and the fellow feminist founders of the magazine decided on the name ‘Ms.’ because it allowed women to be identified as individuals, not by marital status. Ms. was previewed as an insert in //New York// magazine in December 1971 and certainly solidified the feminist market by selling more copies of //New York// than ever before in the magazine’s history. Then in January 1972, the first issue of Ms. was distributed across America and completely sold out in eight days, which only further proved the desire and need for a feminist magazine detailing important issues, rather than about housekeeping and recipes. Women often wrote to Steinem and the Ms. staff as if they were personal friends, expressing their joy at learning that they were not alone and that other women shared their feelings (Daffron, 1988). Ms. was a brazen act of independence in the 1970s. At the time, the fledgling feminist movement was either denigrated or dismissed in the mainstream media - if it was mentioned at all (“HerStory,” 2009). Today, the magazine remains an interactive enterprise in which an unusually diverse readership is simultaneously engaged with each other and the world. The modern Ms. boasts the most extensive coverage of international women’s issues of any magazine available in the United States (“HerStory,” 2009).
 * Ms. Magazine **

Along with her countless social justice and feminist articles and essays, Steinem also has published numerous books including Revolution From Within: A Book of Self-Esteem, Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, Moving Beyond Words, and Marilyn: Norma Jean (Schnall, n.d.). She also helped found the Women’s Action Alliance, the National Women’s Political Caucus, Choice USA, the Ms. Foundation for Women, the Women’s Media Center and GreenStone Media (Schnall, n.d.). She has also received countless awards and prestigious recognitions over the years for her journalism contributions as well as for her advocacy for social justice and equality, including being inducted into the Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993. Gloria Steinem is one of the most influential writers and activists, and will always remain one of the key leaders in the women’s liberation movement because of her commitment to equality and changing the way women were viewed by society by striving to revolutionize the standard sex roles of the time.
 * Works and Contributions **

__References __

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">1. Daffron, C. (1988) //Gloria Steinem.// New York, NY: Chelsea House Publishers. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2. Davies-Stofka, B. (2010, Mar 25) From the suffering Sappho desk: Jen Stuller talks wonder woman! Image retrieved from [] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">3. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Dries, K. (2010, Nov 19) Gloria Steinem on eating disorders and how they fit into a feminist agenda. Image retrieved from <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">4. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Gloria Steinem Biography. (n.d.). In //Biography.com//. Retrieved from <span style="color: #447c8b; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">5. Heilbrun, C. G. (1995) //The education of a woman: a life of Gloria Steinem.// New York, NY: The Dial Press. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">6. HerStory: 1971 – Present. (2009). In //Ms. Magazine Online//. Retrieved from [] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">7. Landrum, G. N. (1994) //Profiles of Female Genius: Thirteen Creative Women Who Changed the World//. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">8. Schnall, M. (n.d.). //Gloria Steinem news.// Retrieved from [] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">9. Women’s History: Biographies: Gloria Steinem. (n.d.). In //Cengage Learning: Gale//. Retrieved from []