Gloria Steinem is a political journalist and an activist. She is largely recognized as a feminist who led the feminist movements during the transition period between the 1960s and 1970s. Gloria has worked as a columnist and as a co-founder of Ms. Magazine.
Early Life and Education
Gloria Steinem was born to father Leo and mother Ruth Steinem on March 25, 1934. Raised in Toledo, Ohio, Steinem went to Waite High School for early education. Later, she joined Western High School and subsequently got into Smith College for undergraduate studies.
When Gloria was a child, her mother was fatally sick. This resulted in a divorce between her parents. Although Gloria claims her father’s intentions weren’t chauvinistic, it was this incident that attracted her towards feminism.
Personal Life
Gloria Steinem never had a traditional love life. She was in a relationship with Mortimer Zuckerman for four years. As of September 3, 2003, Steinem got married to David Bale. The couple parted their ways within three years of marriage. Gloria doesn’t have any children.
According to the medical report in 1986, Gloria was a breast cancer patient.
Career
Graduating from Smith College, Gloria Steinem started working as a freelance writer for Esquire magazine. She was assigned to write an article regarding contraception. As the article finished and published in 1962, it gained widespread acclaims from editors and readers. A year later, she joined Show Magazine. While at Show, she wrote an article about how women were treated at the New York-based clubs.
In 1968, Gloria joined New York magazine. Soon, she was assigned to cover an abortion speak-out being held in Greenwich. The ceremony triggered in Gloria a deep sense of feminism which developed over the next three years. In 1972, she started a feminist magazine called Ms. The magazine instantly received widespread acclaims and huge financial success. Within the first eight days of publishing the first issue, more than 300000 copies were sold nationwide. Likewise, the magazine had received more than 26k subscribers and 20k reader letters in a few weeks’ time. As of 2001, the Ms. Magazine was acquired by Feminist Majority Foundation.
Besides being an active feminist activist, Gloria Steinem has involved herself in the American politics as a powerful invisible hand. In 1968, she supported George McGovern for President of the United States as a lobbyist, press secretary, and an errand runner. As McGovern lost the Democratic nomination, Gloria became reluctant to support him in the 1972 election. Moreover, Steinem wasn’t very happy with McGovern’s changing stand on abortion and women rights.
In 2004, Gloria was a major female critic of Bush administration and blamed the government for being increasingly ignorant to women inequality, reproductive rights, and hostility. Likewise, in 2008, she was a major force for the Democratic side. Although Steinem endorsed Hillary Clinton, she supported Obama calling both him an advocate for civil rights. In the 2016 Presidential Election, 83-year-old feminist Gloria Steinem became the center of criticism after her interview with Bill Maher. When asked about Bernie Sanders appeal for youths, she said, “When you’re young, you’re thinking. Where are the boys? The boys are with Bernie.” Later, Steinem apologized and said that her statement was misinterpreted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNF0y1hhjzY
Awards
- Emmy Citation for excellence in television writing
- Esquire magazine’s 75 greatest women of all time, 2010
- Library Lion award, 2015
- Presidential Medal of Freedom, 2013
- 2015 Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize
Donald Trump and Gloria Steinem
Gloria Steinem has been a major female critic of Donald Trump. On January 21, 2017, she was hosted as the co-chair and speaker in Women’s March on Washington. Gloria said during her speech, “The Constitution doesn’t begin with, ‘I, the president.’ It begins with, ‘We, the people.’ So don’t try to divide us!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwoe_0gPGVQ
