Gloria Steinem, a Dangerous Woman

Gloria Steinem in New York on February 17, 1970. Anthony Camerano/AP File

What made Gloria Steinem so dangerous was that she was sassy, charismatic, fierce, funny, and attractive. She blew apart the right-wing trope that feminists were ugly, humorless, bitter man-haters. That’s been a major component of the conservative assault on women’s rights. In 1988, Rush Limbaugh included on his list of “undeniable truths” the assertion that “feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society.” In 1992, Pat Robertson, the Christian right leader, derided the "feminist agenda" as "a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians.” Twenty-nine years later, this sentiment was hiding not too deeply in JD Vance’s comment that the United States was run by "a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too."

Yet no one could accuse Gloria, the pioneering feminist who died this week at the age of 92, of eschewing fun...and sex. She was vibrant, glamorous, and so damn smart. A skilled writer and activist, she brought wit and strategic savvy to the women’s movement. I knew her through her work with Voters for Choice, a political action committee, and the Women’s Media Center, which she founded with actor Jane Fonda and poet Robin Morgan in 2005 to increase the visibility of women in the media. Every encounter I had with her sparkled with energy. She had plenty of juice that she generously shared nonstop with those around her.

Not surprisingly, she knew everyone and was an enthusiastic networker. Once I was backstage at a Madonna concert in Madison Square Garden, where Voters for Choice was holding a fundraising reception. Gloria was there. As was Pete Townshend of The Who. At one point, Gloria and Townshend engaged in a deep conversation that went on for a while. Afterward, I asked her what they had been discussing so intensely. She told me that they had been friends for years because Townshend and his bandmates had helped finance the first shelter in England for women escaping domestic violence. “C’mon,” she said. “Let me introduce you and make a connection.”

In the past few days, there have been many accolades for Gloria. In a statement, Fonda noted:

Gloria, in her graceful, kind, and deeply intelligent way, changed the world we live in. For decades, she trudged through every airport in the country, in sandals and a trench, carrying her own suitcase, packed with a few black clothes, hair curlers, and steam iron, in order to speak to women—at conferences, town halls, consciousness raising groups. No group was too small to deserve Gloria’s time. This is how she built the new women’s movement. And for a good part of those trips, she insisted she be joined by her friends Dorothy Pitman Hughes and, later, Florynce Kennedy, two prominent Black activists who helped show that this women’s movement addressed race as well as gender.

She had a clever, often funny way to say just what was needed to surface feelings and ideas about where we belonged, what our inchoate yearnings meant, whether power was a word that women could and should embrace for ourselves, and how different power looked when held in men’s hands alone.

She helped so many of us find our voices and the courage to stand up for ourselves and for other women…I believe that she lives on in the changed lives of many women who don’t consider themselves feminists or part of the women’s movement. I’ve met many such women who because of what Gloria said or wrote gained the courage to leave bad marriages, start their own businesses, persuade husbands to help with household chores.

Julie Burton, the president and CEO of the Women’s Media Center, recalled:

Gloria once wrote a letter to Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, author of the Roe v. Wade decision, thanking him for saving more women’s lives than anyone in US history. We could say the same about Gloria’s impact on women’s lives, because for decades she was at the forefront of the struggle for political and social equality and justice for women. She used her voice and writing to raise visibility for women and the issues of our time. We came to take it for granted that she would always be where she was most needed—at the podium, on TV, on the plane, on the phone, or at the computer—to make the ideal of social justice a reality. Her phrases have become mottoes of our time.

I remember the first time Gloria wowed me. She was describing what I would call the Gloria Steinem role-reversal principle. This is a thought experiment: In any given situation or controversy, flip the genders of those involved and see what changes. Her most famous example of this was an essay titled “If Men Could Menstruate” that she wrote in 1978 for Ms. magazine, which she co-founded. Here’s a taste:

What would happen, for instance, if suddenly, magically, men could menstruate and women could not?

The answer is clear—menstruation would become an enviable, boast-worthy, masculine event:

Men would brag about how long and how much.

Boys would mark the onset of menses, that longed-for proof of manhood, with religious ritual and stag parties.

Congress would fund a National Institute of Dysmenorrhea to help stamp out monthly discomforts.

Sanitary supplies would be federally funded and free. (Of course, some men would still pay for the prestige of commercial brands such as John Wayne Tampons, Muhammad Ali’s Rope-a-dope Pads, Joe Namath Jock Shields—“For Those Light Bachelor Days,” and Robert “Baretta” Blake Maxi-Pads.)

It goes on from there.

Gloria would apply this switcheroo—which could also involve swapping race or political party—to news stories to determine if the coverage might be advancing or covering up a double standard. It’s a valuable device that I often call to mind. (Imagine if a female president fell asleep in the Oval Office.)

Looking back at some of her work and writings, I came across an interview with Gloria that appeared in Mother Jones 31 years ago, when she turned 61. She offered her take on the effort to divide feminism into opposing camps. (She was opposed to that.) And she contemplated her decades as an activist. The piece included this exchange:

At age 61, you’re still declaring yourself a radical and an activist. What are you up against as you grow older?

In my case, and in the case of some other women, it takes a lot of years even to question your conditioning. There’s such a deep part of our conditioning that is to make nice. That has an upside, it makes me a peacemaker. But a major problem I see is that we are into this kind of inner-outer division, so that activism is perceived as an activity in which you kill yourself and burn out.

There’s that joke, you know, that death is nature’s way of telling you to slow down. Well, burnout is a way of telling you that your form of activism was perhaps not very full circle. If we want a world in which you can tell jokes and get massages and have sex and dress however you fucking well please, then we have to create a form of activism that reflects that, and have fun while we’re doing it.

Actually the women’s movement has been pretty good at that, but we constantly get sucked back towards the culture in order to prove Seriousness. So we have to be conscious of the fact that as Gandhi said, and Martin Luther King said, and Emma Goldman said, and everybody else in the world who has had this experience has concluded, it isn’t that the end justifies the means, it’s that the means are the ends. And if we can do that, you see, it makes for joy, and mind-expansion, and friendships, and jokes in the process. And that means we can go on forever.

Gloria couldn’t go on forever, of course. We can hope her spirit does.

When she turned 85, I was invited by the WMC to participate in an online tribute to her. I wrote:

For years, what I most relished about Gloria (and envied her for) was her remarkable ability to deftly and elegantly reveal and dissect the destructive power imbalances of American life. Yet now as a father, I treasure Gloria for inspiring my two daughters and for showing them—and so many others across multiple generations—how one can be a great human being, a kickass woman, and a warrior for social justice over an entire lifetime. There’s no higher praise: She has taught us all.

So many people will miss her dearly. And so many more will live better lives because of her without ever realizing what she did for them.

Got anything to say about this item—or anything else? Email me at ourland.corn@gmail.com.

I was recently talking to a friend who works in TV news, and she remarked that it might be hard to win media attention for my forthcoming book, How Russia Won: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and the Fight for America, being published on September 15. I understand the news cycle is jam-packed, and foreign policy matters often don’t get front-page treatment. But almost every week there’s news related to the book.

Just look at the past few days. Trump secretly invited Moscow to send its finance minister to the G20 meeting of top economic officials the United States was hosting in Asheville, North Carolina—a move firmly opposed by European allies. (Russia was expelled from the G8—now the G7—after its 2014 annexation of Crimea, and it has been shunned by the G20's Western members since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.) At the same time, Russian leader Vladimir Putin met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and pledged support for Tehran. On top of that, the Financial Times revealed that Russia was helping Iran develop supersonic cruise missiles—which could threaten US forces and targets.

So while Trump was rewarding Russia with a ticket to the G20—where a major topic was applying economic pressure on Iran—Russia was strengthening its alliance with Iran and assisting its program to produce high-tech weaponry that could be used against the United States. This was nuts, but it fits the long-standing pattern of Trump’s deference toward Putin that I chronicle in the book. For the past 10 years, his bizarre relationship with Putin has been the source of speculation and puzzlement. I cover that in How Russia Won, and the curious and disastrous consequences of Trump’s man-crush on Putin continue to impact global developments almost every day.

Many thanks to Our Land readers who have pre-ordered How Russia Won. Pre-orders, as I’ve noted repeatedly, are crucial to the success of a book. ( I explained that here). And it’s not too late to take advantage of a special offer to pre-order a signed copy of How Russia Won. Check it out here. Or feel free to purchase the book wherever you usually shop for books.

Here’s a good blurb from Atlantic writer Tom Nichols. We used to never agree on foreign policy issues. But the threat of Trump’s authoritarianism has overshadowed our past differences. It’s a big tent, and anyone who truly cares about democracy and the rule of law is in it.

To celebrate Labor Day, Our Land World Headquarters is shutting down for the weekend. Usually, we toil long and hard through the sixth and seventh days of the week to bring you the high-quality newslettering you’ve come to expect. Enjoy the holiday and give thanks to the unions and labor activists who fought for the rights we now enjoy.

The amount of hate MAGA and the GOP are hurling at Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic senatorial candidate in Michigan, is staggering but not surprising. At a rally for former Rep. Mike Rogers, the GOP nominee in the race, Vice President JD Vance blasted El-Sayed, saying, “If you look at his politics…it is all about saying, 'This group of people is good, this ethnicity is bad, and I'm gonna fight to give from the bad group of people to the good group of people.' I think that's a despicable way to think about your fellow Americans."

That was rich coming from a guy who echoed Trump’s false claim that Haitian migrants were eating cats and dogs. Trump and Vance have been demonizing all sorts of groups—Somali immigrants, Democrats, and, as mentioned above, “childless cat ladies.” This is the standard playbook for hate-peddling demagogues: claim others are hate-peddling demagogues. Vance, we see you.

In a similar act of projection, House Speaker Mike Johnson, discussing the Iran War, said of Iranians, "It's apparently part of their religion that they can just lie to someone they disagree with."

Let’s not forget that Trump, a well-documented nonstop liar, attacked Tehran while he was supposedly in negotiations with the Iranian regime. That was quite an act of deceit.

Praising Dear Leader this week, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick exclaimed, “The way the president is playing Iran—there haven't been American deaths—it's really just an economic choke-out."

There have been 18 American deaths in the Iran war. Lutnick was erasing these tragedies. In years past, such a statement from a government official would have detonated a major controversy and sparked calls for his or her dismissal. Now it’s fine for MAGA and the GOP if a Cabinet member disregards Americans who lost their lives in an idiotic war.

Far-right provocateur and onetime MAGA favorite Milo Yiannopoulos was arrested by ICE agents last week and deported to the United Kingdom after he failed to show up for an immigration hearing in July. And now—boo hoo—he is outraged by how ICE treats those whom it detains. Back in the UK, he whined, “If I had any clue that anything remotely like this was even possible, I would have never gotten involved in supporting Trump in the first place.”

It’s a bitch when authoritarianism happens to you. And it’s no shocker that Trumpism has led to mass deportations with rampant due process abuses.

A dose of dumbness came from Sean Duffy, the secretary of transportation and former reality television personality, who said at a Detroit event, “You know the stop/start button on your car? I hate that thing. Thank you [EPA Administrator] Lee Zeldin! He's gotten rid of it and the first cars without the stop/start button are rolling off the line."

The start/stop buttons were implemented because this technology reduces greenhouse gas emissions. So, naturally, the Trump administration opposes it. And, yes, this country really started going to hell when we replaced the hand crank.

None of these Trumpists this week could top the boss, who earned the prize for posting this photo as supposed proof that he’s taking good care of US troops and making sure they receive the best food:

Count the fingers on the soldier’s right hand. Six. This was the sloppiest of AI slop. The American president is a purveyor of AI-generated disinformation. And he—or Natalie Harp—can’t even count.

There was much reaction to the issue on how Trump can use chaos to cheat during the midterms. Gerry Willis was succinct: “Thank you for an outstanding assessment. And, sadly, 100-percent accurate.”

Robert Baumgartner emailed:

Who’s on first? Or are all the foxes in the henhouse? It looks like there is total chaos and not enough people to stand up and say no.

The coming elections could become a mess—and a constitutional crisis. But there are folks—lawyers, activists, organizers—trying to prep for this to prevent Trump from destroying American democracy. See this Zeteo article. 

Erich Martel chimed in:

How about mentioning the tens of thousands of activists working every day to overcome Trump and MAGA cheating? Just predictions of gloom and doom will frighten people into inaction. Then what?

See the above. But, yes, these people and activists deserve attention—and support.

Julie Meyer needed to vent:

I cannot wrap my brain around reading this and all the other arguments of Trump’s obviously illegal activities, and he is allowed to get away with it. I cannot comprehend why it is so blatant. The world sees his criminality, yet we wring our hands. Get the bastard out! How can one man and his psychotic followers change the entire world order? He’s nothing but a mob boss who’s been given unlimited power to destroy.

Under our system, it is not easy to remove a president. It has never happened. I understand the frustration, but there are no quick solutions to the problem at hand—especially when so many institutions (corporate America, the GOP, SCOTUS) have caved and accepted Trump’s authoritarianism. The midterms are possibly the start of de-Trumpification, but only a start. The fight—and the madness—will continue whatever happens.

Laura Amick commented on the Inspiration of the Week feature devoted to Dolly Parton:

I was surprised that the article didn’t mention Dolly’s song “World on Fire.” Throughout the song, Parton emphasizes the refrain, "Liar, liar, the world's on fire.” Sounds pretty political to me.

Here’s the start of the song: “Liar, liar the world's on fire / Whatcha gonna do when it all burns down? / Fire, fire burning higher / Still got time to turn it all around / Now I ain't one for speaking out much / But that don't mean I don't stay in touch.” Is the tune about Trump? It came out in 2023 when Trump was no longer president. But it sure fits. You be the judge:

“Another beautiful sunset at the beach, Moxie.”
“Where does the sun go?”
“It goes on to illuminate a beautiful day for other people.”
“And for other dogs, too?”
“Most certainly.”