Gloria Steinem's Contribution to Women Issues

Previously published in Examiner

Part 7 of the Gloria Steinem series

Gloria Steinem 's Role in Activism since 1995

In 1995, Steinem became an advocate for sexually abused children especially those whom she believed were sexually abused in the day care centers.

Note: Gloria Steinem is a woman with heart, her scope definitely ranges far beyond women's issues; they are humanitarian issues involving the underdog and the downtrodden. Gloria Steinem was also a strong supporter of the civil rights movement and civil rights for everyone today as well.

Clinton impeachment hearings

In the 1998 press interview regarding the Clinton's impeachment hearings Steinem was asked if she felt the president should be impeached her answer was, "Clinton should be censured for lying under oath about Lewinsky in the Paula Jones deposition, perhaps also for stupidity in answering at all." She latter defended Clinton again for sexual inappropriateness involving Kathleen Wiley.

Note: Though this statement might seem odd given her staunch support of women's rights, whether one agrees with her stance or not, it clearly shows that Steinem will side with a man if she feels he has been wronged also.

Marriage

In 2000, when Steinem was 66, she married David Bale, the father of the Christian Bale, the actor. Sadly to say the marriage ended three years later when her husband died of a brain tumor.

Common language

Steinem spoke out against the language of academics and how pretentious it really is, she said that women academics had to speak this way just to fit in yet, nobody really cared about feminist academic writings. She

also said, "Academics are forced to write in language no one can understand so that they get tenure. They have to say 'discourse', not 'talk'. Knowledge that is not accessible is not helpful. It becomes aerialised."

Gender Discrimination

Gloria made headlines again in the New York Times when she stated that gender discrimination was a bigger issue than even race. She defended her views by saying that black men were given the vote a half a century before any woman could. This statement was attacked with reason, white women did get the vote in 1920, but some black men and black women did not get the vote until the Voting Act Rights of 1965, and even then some were lynched for trying.

For a wonderful Women' s studies program in Montreal apply to the Simone De Beauvoir Institute at Concordia University.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Steinem

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1582019/will_we_ever_see_the_end_of_female.html?cat=9