Gloria Steinem Sydney, Ceci & Sophie

Biographical Information

-Born in 1934 in Toledo, Ohio

-Granddaughter of a suffragette, and the daughter of a newspaper woman

-Parents divorced when she was 8 years old, forcing her to live with her mother in extreme poverty

-Her mother became extremely depressed, and later incapacitated, forcing Gloria to take care of her

-At age 15, she moved in with her older sister in Washington DC

Biographical Information-Moved on to attend Smith College

-Won an opportunity to study 2 years in India

-While in India, she was inspired by Gandhi, and realized:-all the human suffering that is really in the world-how lucky Americans are-how much Americans take for granted

-Her trip to India inspired her career in Social justice

-When she returned, she began her career as a journalist

Actions Taken to Bring Change● Started out in 1960 writing for an array of periodicals (Help!, Esquire,

Show)● 1963: posed as a “Bunny” (scantily clad waitress) in Playboy Club

and detailed its indignity

● Emergence as a feminist: 1968 meeting organized by the Redstockings-they gathered women’s testimonies on their abortions○ So… she wrote an article called “After Black

Power, Women’s Liberation”

Actions Taken to Bring Change

● In addition to her many writings/publications→ tried for an Equal Rights Amendments to codify women’s rights○ passed by congress but never ratified

● Member of:○ National Women’s Political Caucus○ Women’s Action Alliance

● Appointed by president Jimmy Carter to National Committee on the Observance of International Women’s Year

● She wrote Revolution from Within: A Book of Self Esteem

Changes Her Actions Made● She wrote many books on feminism

● worked with other feminists in the 1970’s

● Created a publication that would serve as a journalistic

arm for the Women’s Movement. It was so successful it

became one of the most influential publications of the

era.

● Return of feminism

Changes Her Actions Made● The Ms. Magazine was started up again because of her. She felt that women

have to right to express how they felt about intimacy if men could.○ addressed every feminist issue, including abortion rights, sexuality,

economic justice, marriage, the family, and the culture● A book of self-esteem tried to fill the gap between spiritual books that ignored

social realities.● Her movements brought back feminism and practical guides that pushed

external conformism as the key to self- improvement.

Sources:Glickman, Simon. "Gloria Steinem." Newsmakers. Detroit: Gale, 1996. U.S. History in Context. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.

"Gloria Steinem." Newsmakers. Detroit: Gale, 1996. Biography in Context. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.

"Gloria Steinem." Civil Rights in the United States. Ed. Waldo E. Martin, Jr. and Patricia Sullivan. New York: Macmillan Reference

USA, 2000. U.S. History in Context. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.