A writer, a journalist and a feminist icon, Gloria Steinem has been an inspiration for decades now. From her struggles with abortion to her Playboy exposé, from Ms. Magazine to the Equal Rights Amendment, Steinem has dedicated her life to fighting for equality. This is the story of Gloria Steinem, the woman who became and still is the face of the women’s rights movement, more than forty years later.
“Women have two choices: Either she’s a feminist or a masochist.”
Gloria Steinem was born in Ohio in 1934 and grew up in a society where gender roles were clear: girls were expected to become wives and mothers and consequently to dedicate their entire life to someone else. “I just assumed I would have to marry the man I wanted to become,” Steinem shared in an interview for Glamour magazine. However, she notes that the feminist movement opened her eyes and helped her realise that the choice was hers, or at least it should be, and so was the chance to make her life her own.
“If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.”
After graduating from university, Steinem spent two years in India doing research. Excited by the new opportunities opening up in front of her, she quickly realised that as a woman, she still lacked basic rights and choices. She was engaged when she became pregnant, leading her to realise that this was not the life she wanted. So, Steinem decided to break off her engagement and to terminate her pregnancy – which was against the law at the time. Desperate, out of options, and facing the consequences of her choice, she attempted to innitiate a miscarriage on her own. However, she eventually managed to find a doctor in London who would help her. The doctor agreed to carry out the abortion under two conditions – one was that Steinem never reveal his name, the other, a promise that she would do what she wanted to do with her life. And that’s exactly what she did.
“Democracy begins with owning our bodies”
Having struggled with her own lack of rights, Steinem stood up for the rights of others. Steinem did not share her story for years, but when she did, it was to empower other women who had been through a similar experience at a time when legalising abortion was becoming a political issue in the US. Because this was a deeply personal matter for her, Steinem spoke up and openly fought for the legalisation of abortion so that, unlike her, other women would have control over their own bodies, and the option to have an abortion safely and legally if they so chose.
“I Was a Playboy Bunny”
After her time spent in India, where she participated in a nonviolent resistance that ended up being a critical moment in the course of her life and career, Steinem moved to New York to become a journalist. In 1963, she gained attention when she wrote an exposé on the Playboy Club in which she revealed the sexist conditions under which the female employees were suffering. To do this, Gloria went undercover, got a job at Playboy, and became a “Bunny” herself. While this piece put her on the map, Gloria later revealed the difficulties she faced in order to be taken seriously after being associated with a Playboy story.
“The best way for us to cultivate fearlessness in our daughters and other young women is by example”
As an aspiring journalist in the 1960s, Steinem quickly noticed not only the inequalities that women faced in the workplace, but also the lack of empowering content dedicated to them. To meet this need, Steinem created a magazine dedicated specifically to female empowerment, one that would support the women’s fight for equality and discuss topics crucial for their social emancipation. Founded in 1972, Steinem’s Ms. Magazine differed substantially from other women’s publications at the time. Instead of sharing tips on beauty, marriage, or recipes, this all-female editorial team discussed contemporary social and political issues relevant to the lives of women in the US.
“Don’t think about making women fit the world—think about making the world fit women.”
In addition to her work as a journalist, Steinem also became a political activist. In the early 1970s, she supported Shirley Chisholm, the first black female candidate for US president, and she travelled around the country in order to enforce the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. Over the course of her life, Steinem spent years on the road advocating for equality, published several books, founded numerous feminist organisations and magazines, and essentially dedicated her entire life to fighting for equality, not only for women, but for people of color and the LGBT+ community as well.
Now, turning 87 later this month, Gloria Steinem is not only a feminist icon who has inspired generations, but she also continues to be a feminist activist. The inspirational story of Gloria Steinem is not over just yet. And remember, according to Gloria: “A feminist is anyone who recognises the equality and full humanity of women and men”!