Gloria Steinem - 1934
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Shiyi Zhao
Read another essay on Steinem by Ohio student As Booker T. Washington once said, "Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life, as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed" (qtd. in Wallis 4).
Whether it is through the obstacles she has overcome or the respectable position she has maintained, Gloria Steinem exemplifies what it means to be successful. Born and raised in a
poor family in Toledo, Ohio, Steinem worked her way through college and pursued a career in journalism. She is known today as one of the most notable women's rights activists of
all time, her only rivals for the crown being the likes of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Gloria Steinem was born on March 25, 1934 in Toledo, Ohio, to Leo and Ruth Steinem. Her father was a traveling antiques dealer, and the itinerant quality of
his occupation forced the family to live in a trailer and prevented Steinem and her sister from attending a regular school (Gustafson). Steinem's mother had once been a reporter for a local newspaper called Toledo Blade
, but resigned upon giving birth to her children. Mother Ruth became a homemaker and suffered from mental illnesses such as anxiety neurosis and chronic depression (Henry 9). Steinem
viewed her mother's condition as a result of the loss of job, which caused Ruth to lose her sense of independence and forced the family to survive on the meager salary of father Leo Steinem (Ms. Feminism: Gloria Steinem). Even as a child, Steinem was independent. Her father had owned a small beach resort near Toledo for several years, and in those years Steinem loved to explore the beaches by
herself and play as she pleased (Lazo 13). Although she and her sister Susan did not attend school regularly, their mother gave them daily lessons (Gloria Steinem: Women's
Activist). Steinem supplemented her home-school education through a love of reading; whether it was Alcott's Little Women or Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, Gloria's eyes were
always behind a book (Lazo 14). In her spare time Steinem loved to tap-dance (she wanted to become a dancer) and watch movies at the local theater (13).
When Steinem was in the sixth grade, her father left the family and Toledo for California (Henry 12). His reasons for moving were to free himself from the responsibilities of taking
care of the family and constantly supervising their emotionally unstable mother, and to try to land a more profitable career in a state he believed contained more opportunity. Steinem,
surprisingly, understood her father's reasons for going and did not resent his departure (12). "He was right," she wrote in her book Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions. "It
was impossible to [travel, take care of Ruth, and make a living]. I did not blame him for leaving once I was old enough to be the bringer of meals" (143). Steinem's older sister had
matriculated at Smith College in Massachusetts, and without a father or sister present Steinem was forced to manage the household and take care of her mother (Ms. Feminism: Gloria Steinem).
Luck knocked upon their door when Steinem was in seventh grade; Ruth inherited a somewhat large family house in Toledo (Henry 14). The two immediately moved in, and
acquired an income by renting the first floor of their house as two small apartments (14). Steinem had begun attending school after her father left, and found it extremely difficult to
assume the roles of student, homemaker, and caretaker. The situation became unbearable in her last two years of high school, when Ruth sank into a depression so severe that
doctors advised that Steinem admit Ruth to a mental hospital (18). When Steinem was a senior, a local church offered to buy their house and sister Sue convinced Steinem to ask
their father if he could take care of Ruth for the rest of the year (Stern 54). Her father agreed, sternly adding, "But one year is all" (Lazo 25).
With the responsibility of supervising her mother gone, Steinem was free to pursue her own interests. She moved in with her sister in Washington, D.C. (Gloria Steinem: Women's
Activist), and in 1952 enrolled at Smith College. She graduated in 1956 with a bachelor's degree in government (Ms. Feminism: Gloria Steinem). Around this time Steinem was
engaged to her then boyfriend, Blair, and soon discovered she was pregnant (29). Steinem decided she was unprepared to marry and wanted to discover what paths were open to her
besides being a homemaker and mother. Because abortions were illegal in the United States, Steinem went to England and had an abortion, feeling subsequently relieved and without regrets (Stern 95).
Shortly after the abortion, Steinem traveled to India, fulfilling her scholarship to study there under the Chester Bowles Asian Fellowship (Henry 28). Her interest in humanitarianism
deepened during her stay there, and Steinem sympathized with the poor and oppressed people she saw, remembering her own encounters with poverty (38). She also learned
about Mahatma Ghandi and was influenced by his policy of nonviolent disobedience to initiate government reforms (Lazo 41). These discoveries Steinem would take with her on
her return to the United States, and would shape the way she would administer her own women's rights movements (41). When Steinem returned to the United States, she decided to become a writer and moved to
New York to find a job (Ms. Feminism). However, her search for a career in journalism was futile. She earned money for several years by working for an association that attempted to
spread democracy among young Communist followers (Henry 48). In 1961, her father died in a car accident in California. Steinem was grieved by his death, but remembered him by
the ways in which he influenced her. Her father taught her to live with insecurity and instilled in her a desire to be independent (Lazo 46). These lessons allowed Steinem to
cope with the unpredictability of her life at the time (46). In 1962, Steinem published her first byline in Esquire magazine (Henry 51). Around this
time, she fell in love and became engaged to Bob Benton, the art director of Esquire. The marriage, however, fell through again when Steinem decided she still was not ready to give
up her independence (Stern 127). Steinem sold ideas and articles to many magazines and was gradually gaining a reputation as a free-lance reporter (Henry 54). Her "big break" came in 1963 when she was hired by Show
magazine to work undercover as a Playboy Bunny at Hugh Hefner's Playboy Club. She worked for a week, and from her experience wrote an exposι describing the demeaning, masochistic treatment of Bunnies at the Club
(Gustafson). The report brought her fame and lawsuits, as well as an identity that troubled her for years. Magazines stopped giving her "serious" writing assignments (Lazo 50) and
instead, asked her to write about fashion and conduct interviews of celebrities such as John Lennon and Barbra Streisand (Henry 58). Although Steinem was not averse to these
assignments, she felt she was departing from the topic she really cared about: politics (61). Steinem managed to finally dip her toes in the political pool in 1968, when she covered
senator George McGovern's campaign as a possible candidate for President (Ms. Feminism: Gloria Steinem). Her editor at Esquire then imparted to her his intend to publish his own magazine, tentatively titled New York
and he wanted Steinem to be a contributing editor. Being an editor meant Steinem would not only write for the magazine, but decide what kinds of articles would be printed (Henry 61). The magazine was a
success, and Steinem often wrote for the political column "City Politic." She became known as a writer who could influence the public's opinion of a politician; after the
distribution of Steinem's article on Presidential candidate Richard Nixon, many felt she was partly responsible for people's misgivings about him (Henry 62).
In 1969 during an interview with Dorothy Pittman Hughes, a founder and director of a community day care center, Steinem discovered that she and Hughes shared the same
feminist beliefs. They decided to form a partnership and give lectures around the country (Stern 207). Steinem would speak with other women's activists following this endeavor
and attend rallies, attracting huge audiences in the process (Henry 72). Explained biographer Carolyn Heilburn, "Her looks didn't hurt. When she had become a
spokeswoman for feminism, the reassurance her appearance offered to women that
not all feminists resembled male truck drivers in boots
was profound" (Heilbrun 122).
Steinem also helped start the Women's Action Alliance, an activist organization whose first goal was to help parents raise boys and girls equally, without the preconception that
boys were always good at certain things and girls at other things (Lazo 76). In working toward their goals, some of the women in the Alliance began formulating ideas
on creating a magazine addressing the true issues of women (Ms. Feminism: Gloria Steinem) managing a household, relationships with husbands, education, and medical
and sexual problems (Henry 67). They decided to name their publication "Ms.," the title for women that included married and unmarried women. Although they were unsure of its success, the first issue of Ms.
was included as a supplement to New York magazine in December of 1972 and became popular enough to become its own periodical (Gustafson).
Meanwhile, Steinem worked with the National Women's Political Caucus, a women's group for political equality (Gloria Steinem: Women's Activist). She worded its guiding principles
and coined the phrase "reproductive freedom," meaning the right to decide whether or not to have a baby (Her efforts eventually allowed abortion to become legal in the United
States) (Lazo 80). At the 1972 Democratic National Convention, Steinem was the delegate for Shirley Chisholm, a black woman running for Presidential candidate (Stern 243).
Although the venture was unsuccessful, Steinem continued her work in women's rights. She began the Ms. Foundation for Women with her colleagues, which began what is now
the international Take Our Daughters to Work Day holiday, a day each year when "the spotlight is on girls' hopes, dreams, and talents
to let young girls know they are visible, valuable, and heard" (Lazo 80).
In 1977, Steinem was awarded the Woodrow Wilson Scholarship from the Smithsonian Institute to pursue her study of feminism in America (Lazo 90). She traversed between New
York and Washington, D.C., juggling the workings of a tentative book and her journalism career (90). In 1979 Steinem joined the Women's March on Washington, and in 1981 her
mother, Ruth, died. Five years later, Steinem was diagnosed with breast cancer, but experienced full recovery after a biopsy and radiation therapy (Stern 367). By this time, Steinem had published two books:
Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, a "guide" encouraging people to protest against injustices (Gustafson), and Marilyn: Norma Jean, a biography of Marilyn Monroe (Heilbrun 371). In 1989, Ms.
fell into debt from lack of advertisers and was taken over by Lang Communications (Lazo 106). Despite the setbacks in her life, Steinem has been and is arguably the most famous and
vocal feminist of our time. Although Steinem was against marriage and motherhood for most of her life, she finally married in September of 2000, at the age of sixty-six (Ms.
Feminism: Gloria Steinem). She is still somewhat active in feminism and contributes many forewords and introductions to feminist books. Steinem is a prime example of someone
who refuses to accept the conditions given to her and tries to change the injustices in society. II. Published Works Steinem has published over eighty articles in various magazines ranging from
Glamour and Show to Time and Newsweek (Heilbrun 416-423). Most of her articles are concerned with
political leaders and issues, the feminist movement, or interviews with cultural icons. The article which made her famous was one written for Show magazine in 1963, titled "A
Bunny's Tale," in which Steinem exposed the life and treatment of Playboy Bunnies at Hugh Hefner's nightclub (Gustafson). Books Steinem has written include: Feminist Family Values, 1996. III. Critical Reviews (all quotes are from www.bn.com) "Lucid prose that is by turns brave and funny and tender
" The Library Journal
"Steinem offers much calm, sound analysis, along with provocative humor." Barbara Breasted, The Christian Science Monitor "Engaging
mature
humorous
Steinem [has a] habit of turning the world outside-in
at the stroke of a pen
in snappy anecdote." Anne Smith, The New Statesman "Admirably avoids the ideological excess that we have come to associate with the women's movement." The New York Times Book Review "Her focus is women, but she is clear that what she has to say is for men, too." The Library Journal "Steinem's books unfold like a flower: they offer literature, art, nature, meditation, and
connectedness as ways of finding and exploring the self." The Library Journal IV. Influences Steinem's personal influences include her parents, various feminists, and her trip to India.
Her father taught her perseverance and independence, while her mother's distressed state convinced Steinem that women should be financially independent from their husbands
(Lazo 46). Her mother had given up her budding career upon marriage and Steinem believed it was a move her mother deeply regretted (Henry 9). In a Yahoo!Chat transcript,
Steinem says her influences also include Eleanor Roosevelt, Bella Azbug, and Maxine Waters (though she doesn't explicitly state the reasons why she admires these women). A
year-long trip to India after she graduated from Smith College inspired Steinem to enter politics; she learned about the plight of women in other countries, as well as Mahatma Ghandi's form of nonviolent protest in India (Lazo 41).
As a writer, Steinem has been influenced by authors Louisa May Alcott and Alice Walker (Yahoo!Chat transcript). Regarding Alcott, Steinem remarks, "She was very political."
Steinem admires Walker, whom she says is her favorite writer, because, "She writes naturally, but with great depth. With The Color Purple, she wrote one of the few books
about poor people which is read by poor people
and has a tremendous influence worldwide. I think she is far ahead of me on the path and I am inspired by her" (Yahoo!Chat transcript). Steinem Quotes
"[Critics of feminism] either tell you that you use men for social climbing, or that you're lesbian" (Henry 115). discussing critics of feminism
"Now, we are becoming the men we wanted to marry. Ten years ago, we were trained to marry a doctor, not be one" (qtd. in Lazo 99). Ms., 1982
"Now, we have words like 'sexual harrassment' and 'battered women.' Ten years ago, it was just called 'life'" (qtd. in Lazo 99). Ms., 1982
"Now, there are women astronauts. Ten years ago, NASA's idea of women was 'sexual diversion' on 'long-duration flights such as Mars'" (qtd. in Lazo 100). - Ms., 1982
"I'm not sure feminism should require an adjective. But If I were to choose only one adjective, I still would opt for 'radical' feminist. I know patriarchs keep equating the word with 'violent'
or 'manhating,' 'crazy' or 'extremist'
Nonetheless, 'radical' seems an honest indication of the fundamental change we have in mind and says what probably is
the case: the false division of human nature into 'feminine' and 'masculine' is the root of all other diversions into subject and object, active and passive the beginning of hierarchy." Moving Beyond Words, 1994, pg. 274.
V. Interviews http://www.pbs.org/kued/nosafeplace/interv/steinem.html http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/interviews/gloria.htm http://www.msmagazine.com
VI. Audio http://www.wakeamerica.com/past/speeches/1970/gsteinem_071071.html
http://www.salon.com/audio/nonfiction/2000/10/24/steinem VII. Biographical Links
http://www.lifetimetv.com/shows/intimate/port9847.html VIII. Contact Information The best source by which one may retrieve information on Gloria Steinem is probably Ms. Magazine at:
Sycamore High School
I. Personal and Professional Biography
The Beach Book, 1963.
Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, 1983.
Marilyn: Norma Jeane, 1985.
Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem, 1992.
Wonder Woman: Featuring Over Five Decades of Great Covers, 1995.
Moving Beyond Words:Age, Race, Sex, Power, Money, Muscles: Breaking the Boundaries of Gender, 1995.
Girls Speak Out: Finding Your True Self, co-author with Andrea Johnston, 1999.
Besides publishing her own work, Steinem has also contributed (and still contributes) to other publications by writing introductions to a wealth of feminist books (www.bn.com).
This interview concerns Steinem's opinion on violence against women, the role the media
and society play in fostering this violence, and possible solutions to the problem.
This interview discusses Steinem's insight on the progress of feminist movements today, abortion, gender roles, and women in politics.
This site contains a transcript of a Yahoo!Chat with Gloria Steinem. She answers fans' questions on a variety of topics ranging from her husband, gender roles in the Middle East, influences, and parenting.
This site features a 1970 speech given by Steinem on feminism, in RealVideo.
This site features an interview with Steinem by Janelle Brown, in RealMedia and MP3 format.
http://7-12educators.about.com/education/7-12educators/blasteinem.htm
http://www.amazoncastle.com/feminism/tiff.htm
20 Exchange Place
Steinem herself is currently the chair for the Liberty Media for Women portion of this magazine (msmagazine.com). IX. Works Cited "Gloria Steinem: Women's Activist." 13 Feb. 2001
http://7-12educators.about.com/education/7-12educators/blasteinem.htm>. Heilbrun, Carolyn G. The Education of a Woman: The Life of Gloria Steinem. New York: The Dial Press, 1995. Henry, Sondra. One Woman's Power: A Biography of Gloria Steinem. Minneapolis: Dillion Press, 1987. Lazo, Caroline. Gloria Steinem: Feminist Extraordinaire
. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1998. "Miss Feminism: Gloria Steinem." 13 Feb. 2001 http://www.lifetimetv.com/shows/intimate/port9847.html >. Steinem, Gloria. Yahoo!Chat Interview. 13 Feb. 2001
Stern, Sydney Ladensohn. Gloria Steinem: Her Passions, Politics, and Mystique. Toronto: Birch Lane Press, 1997. Wallis, Charles L., ed.
The Treasure Chest: A Heritage Album Containing 1064 Familiar and Inspirational Quotations, Poems, Sentiments, and Prayers From Great Minds of 2500 Years. San Francisco: Harper and Row Publishers, 1965.
This essay was submitted by a student of Breen Reardon, an English teacher at Sycamore High School in Ohio.
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Steinem, Gloria.
Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1995.
http://www.msmagazine.com >.