My Lunch With Gloria Steinem

Campus Engagement #1

My Lunch with Gloria Steinem

It is very special that anyone gets to say that they got to each lunch in the same room as Gloria Steinem, and now I know why. Listening to Gloria Steinem was a very unique and amazing experience. As someone who believes they are new to feminism, she really broke down all of the key components of feminism and how to be an activist.

            Gloria Steinem spoke a lot on the upcoming election on which candidate the women’s vote should go to. Her words not only contained encouragement but also inspiration. Gloria really showed everyone how important one vote and one voice can really be. Another thing that Gloria emphasized on was how patriarchy is crippling our nation. Gloria used the example of the bird with two wings, and how to be a successful country both our men and women need to be equal and that if one is crippled then so is the entire “bird”.

            Some great points Gloria brought up were not only about reproductive rights, but also violence and oppression against women. From the text book we learned that “violence is not an isolated physical act or a discrete random event. It is a relation, process, and condition undermining, exploiting, and curtailing the well-being of the victim” (Kirk and Okazawa- Rey 265), Gloria goes on to define these acts of violence as a macro level problem. In the book Sex and World Peace, a book that Gloria references to many times within her speech, it shows an interesting link between violence on women and a country’s overall level of violence "The very best predictor of a state's peacefulness is not its level of wealth, its level of democracy, or its ethno-religious identity; the best predictor of a state's peacefulness is how well its women are treated. What's more, democracies with higher levels of violence against women are as insecure and unstable as nondemocracies." (Hudson, Ballif-Spanvill, Caprioli, and Emmett ).

                  After Gloria was done speaking with us she opened up the floor for discussion. Many people asked questions about her thoughts on the environment and how to stay motivated as an activist. I had a few questions to ask Gloria, but I was too shy because after all it was Gloria Steinem. If I could go back to the legislative lunch with Gloria I would ask her what she thinks about society’s outlook on feminism and also which issue she finds most important when it comes to reproductive justice.

          I was really glad I attended the event, after all it is not everyday you get invited to have lunch with Gloria Steinem, let alone get to ask her questions. If I could change anything about the event it would be that I would have gained enough courage to ask Gloria Steinem a question about how to progress my own forms of activism in my community.

Hudson, Valerie, Bonnie Ballif-Spanvill, Mary Caprioli, and Chad Emmett. Sex and World Peace. Print.

Kirk, Gwyn , and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives. 5th ed. New York, New York: McGraw Hill, 2010. 207-210. Print.