Gloria Steinem

Background

Gloria Steinem has spent her lifetime writing, lecturing, and organizing for equality. She cofounded Ms. magazine in 1972 and helped found New York magazine in 1968 where she was a political columnist. Her writing has been featured in countless publications with particular interest in the shared origins of sex and race caste systems, gender roles and child abuse as roots of violence, non-violent conflict resolution, cultures of indigenous peoples, and organizing across conflict boundaries. The organizations she cofounded include, the Women's Action Alliance, the National Women's Political Caucus, the Women's Media Center, Ms. Foundation for Women, Choice USA, and Take Our Daughters to Work Day. Steinem appeared at The Progressive Forum to mark the 30th anniversary of the historic National Women’s Conference which took place in Houston November 18 to 21, 1977, the largest political conference of women in history and the first national women's conference financed and authorized by the federal government. Feminist scholars compare its importance to the Women’s Rights Convention held by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and suffragists in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York. The National Women's Conference was attended by 20,000 people including the wives of three Presidents, Rosalyn Carter, Betty Ford, and ladybird Johnson. Houston native, Barbara Jordan, delivered the keynote address. The conference helped establish the nation's wider equality agenda for a generation. Steinem wrote: "For myself…Figuring out the date of any other event now means remembering: Was it before or after Houston?" Steinem's bestsellers include Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions: Second Edition (1995), Revolution from With: A Book on Self Esteem (1993), and Moving Beyond Words (1994). She lives in New York City. This past speaker page shares her podium presentation as well as a Q&A direct with the audience