There’s probably a lot of people happy that Gloria Steinem has passed away. Feminism has always been a dirty F-word people on the right and left used to their advantages. Since I’m not a woman nor have I lived in an era where women couldn’t have credit cards or even bank accounts in their own names, it’s impossible for me to relate.
Steinem came to prominence at the same time as the Civil Rights Movement and some probably feel she didn’t do enough for non-white women. And there is the misinformation she worked directly with the CIA. The spin doctors have and will always be able to make anything fit their narrative. The big one is that feminism is anti-man. It’s the same way an actress or an office employee is labeled “difficult” when men don’t agree with them.
Yes, she was an opportunist but so was Anita Bryant and Phyllis Schlafly on the right who firmly opposed same-sex relationships and the Equal Rights movement. Oddly enough, Schlafly, an attorney and activist, passed away 10 years on Sept. 5 at 92 as Steinem passed away last week on Sept. 2 at 92. Ironically, Schlafly criticized the same equal rights policies that allowed her to become a lawyer.
The world both Schlafly and Steinem were born into and grew up had limited abilities for women. They were expected to be wives and mothers while only working as nurses, teachers, secretaries, cashiers/clerks, or just any position where they wouldn’t be in a huge supervisory position. Going to college was seen as useless as their husbands were going to be the big breadwinner.
While Schlafly married young, Steinem didn’t marry until 2000 when she was in his mid-60s when people would’ve called her an “Old Maid” or “Old Spinster.” Steinem and others weren’t saying feminist women shouldn’t get married, but they shouldn’t be expected to get married. And despite the old sayings, having kids will not automatically make a woman’s wife complete.
I’ve know several women who can’t have children for many reasons. I know it eats at them and society has placed this stigmata on women for centuries. This is the same argument we’re hearing today as conservatives say women aren’t having enough kids. One of my friends has Marfans Syndrome. Getting pregnant could kill her. She had to have a tubal litigation. A woman I grew up with passed away in November from pregnancy complications. Women shouldn’t be forced to have children especially if they’ve been victims of sexual assault or incest.
If there’s one thing I may not have agreed with Steinem on is her opposition to pornography. She was able to get Linda Lovelace, who was married to Chuck Traynor, to make a direct link between porno movies and sexual abuse. While I do believe some of the people in the porn industry resorted to seedy and sleazy tactics, I don’t think it was indicative of the whole industry. That doesn’t mean I condone people like Traynor and others who used force and abuse. Rape is rape. There is no grey area.
People have spoken out on how they feel she was being abused by Traynor. But during this era, a husband still had society supporting them on abuse and rape. Look at Coal Miner’s Daughter and how Loretta Lynn, only 15, was basically raped by her husband, Oliver, who was in his early 20s on their wedding night. But if you look at some of those videos of Steinem and Lovelace who had married Larry Marchiano in 1976, you can sense Steinem was also being dominant over her.
By the 1990s and 2000s, more women were reclaiming their bodies and using online content to their advantage with websites like Onlyfans.com. But not everyone has to be all in on one side. I think that’s one thing people on the left can’t understand about Sophie Cunningham or Sydney Sweeney.
No one has a perfect life or does everything the right way. It should take more than a handful of women to demand more equal rights.
Zane Says 