Gloria Steinem’s early days as a feminist activist are explored in the new FX on Hulu series Mrs. America. She was considered the face of the women’s liberation movement of the ’70s and played a major behind-the-scenes role in the fight for the Equal Rights Amendment. Her words—arguments crafted on the pages of Ms. magazine and in her speeches—helped shape the narrative surrounding equality, and still resonate to this day.
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In October 2019, Steinem released a collection of some of her best quotes in the book The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off! (also a Steinem quote). In celebration of her latest onscreen depiction, we’ve collected 50 of our favorite inspirational quotes and biting one-liners from Steinem.
”I never wanted to be a politician or elected person myself, so I loved to work for other women who did—and hope that more girls will do that. The problem is the feeling that we’re divided from politics, that our vote doesn’t count or what we do doesn’t count. In fact, everything we do counts.”
Teen Vogue, August 2011
“So whatever you want to do, just do it…Making a damn fool of yourself is absolutely essential.”
Tufts University commencement speech, May 1987
”Don’t think about making women fit the world—think about making the world fit women.”
Roundtable discussion of gender relations at Yale University, February 2010
”Childbirth is more admirable than conquest, more amazing than self-defense, and as courageous as either one.”
Steinem’s Ms. piece “In Praise of Women’s Bodies,” April 1982
“Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It’s about making life more fair for women everywhere. It’s not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It’s about baking a new pie.”
The Los Angeles Times op-ed, September 2008
“Revolutions that last don’t happen from the top down. They happen from the bottom up.”
Interview magazine, July 2011
Steinem at the 1972 Democratic Convention.
”The art of life is not controlling what happens to us, but using what happens to us.”
Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem, January 1993
“When the past dies, there is mourning, but when the future dies our imaginations are compelled to carry it on.”
Marilyn, July 1997
”I began to understand that self-esteem isn’t everything; it’s just that there’s nothing without it.”
Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem, January 1993
“When unique voices are united in a common cause, they make history.”
CNN Films’ Girl Rising documentary, June 2013
“The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn. We are filled with popular wisdom of several centuries just past, and we are terrified to give it up.”
The New York Times op-ed, August 1971
”The future depends entirely on what each of us does every day; a movement is only people moving.”
Gloria Steinem’s website
Steinem at a Washington Press Club luncheon in January 1978.
”Men should think twice before making widowhood women’s only path to power.”
The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off! October 2019
”Women may be the one group that grows more radical with age.”
Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, January 1983
“Like art, revolutions come from combining what exists into what has never existed before.”
Moving Beyond Words, May 1994
”The first resistance to social change is to say it’s not necessary.”
Chicago Tribune, April 2003
”If you say, I’m for equal pay, that’s a reform. But if you say, I’m a feminist, that’s a transformation of society.”
“How to Survive a Revolution” in Time, March 1992
”From now on, no man can call himself liberal, or radical, or even a conservative advocate of fair play, if his work depends in any way on the unpaid or underpaid labor of women at home, or in the office.”
Steinem’s book My Life on the Road, October 2015
Attending a rally for California Senate candidate Catherine O’Neill in October 1972.
”We’ve begun to raise daughters more like sons…but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters.”
3rd Annual Women & Power Conference speech, September 2004
”For women…bras, panties, bathing suits, and other stereotypical gear are visual reminders of a commercial, idealized feminine image that our real and diverse female bodies can’t possibly fit. Without these visual references, each individual woman’s body demands to be accepted on its own terms. We stop being comparatives. We begin to be unique.”
Steinem’s Ms. piece “In Praise of Women’s Bodies,” April 1982
”We’ll never solve the feminization of power until we solve the masculinity of wealth.”
Chicago Tribune, April 2003
”Writing is the only thing that when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else.”
Gloria Steinem’s website
”Planning ahead is a measure of class. The rich and even the middle class plan for future generations, but the poor can plan ahead only a few weeks or days.”
Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, January 1983
Steinem alongside Lt. Gov. Maryann Krupsak of New York during the International Women’s Day March in 1975.
“I am the most proud of having survived my childhood, my high school years and the 1950s. None of you know how bad the ’50s were. That’s a constant source of amazement for me. In terms of regret, it would probably be around time. Because in a deep sense, time is all that there is. I know that I have wasted time repeating things I already knew what to do, or doing what I was told instead of what I hoped for or what I wanted. Since time is all there is, I would say wasting it is the biggest loss.”
On the Rag podcast, November 2019
“I assumed I had to get married. Everybody did. If you didn’t, you were crazy. But I kept putting it off: ‘I’m going to do it, but not right now.’ Until I was in my late 30s and the women’s movement came along, and I realized: I’m happy. Not everyone has to live the same way.”
A conversation with Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Supreme Court (via The New York Times), November 2015
“Being married is like having somebody permanently in your corner. It feels limitless, not limited.”
People, December 2000
“The truth is that all our problems stem from the same sex based myths. We may appear before you as white radicals or the middle-aged middle class or black soul sisters, but we are all sisters in fighting against these outdated myths.”
Testimony before Senate on the Equal Rights Amendment, May 1970
“A belief in equality, without division by sex or race, is now held by a huge majority in public-opinion polls. But a stubborn minority of Americans feel deprived of the unearned privilege of that old hierarchy and are in revolt. The time of greatest danger comes after a victory, and that’s where we are now.”
Time magazine, March 2020
“I’ve been using my torch to light other peoples’ torches. Because the whole idea that there’s only one torch is part of the reason why we’re so fucked up. Everybody needs a torch.”
Tory Burch Embrace Ambition Summit speech, March 2020
Источник: www.elle.com
