I am embarrassed to admit my discovery of Gloria Steinem at the age of 37.
And by discovery, I mean developing a greater depth of awareness about her beautiful genius and authorship above and beyond the acronyms of NOW and ERA. She is so much more than some pretty gal who wore her beautiful hair long, and invited women to burn their bras.
After hearing Gloria’s clear 81 year-old voice speak, along with my hero Cheryl Strayed, in Seattle last November, I collected her book, My Life on the Road. It resonated immediately – each one of those words in the title provoked an image of affirmation in adventure and global exploration that I had come to admire about my own life. I felt like I was picking up a future personal guidebook without even having read it yet.
And low and behold, now en route to enjoy my first trip to India, and I am blazing through the pages with tears brimming and a smile on my face. Her time in India, ironically, reflects a segment of living that represented an unprecedented detour – especially for her generation – but likewise surfaced tools that integrate into her life and writing today. Even 60 years later, and based on that talk in Seattle as well as her newest volume, Gloria’s references to “talking circles” and the importance of listening and engaging constituencies in decision-making about their fates remains important and real. Her reflections on the rise of flight stewardesses as a fairly silent, peripheral segment of the workforce that made a huge stride in increased pay, longer timeframes of employment, was incredible (i.e. employees welcome to marry and work past 30 – yikes, that was progress!).
What hooks me most about Gloria is her endless depth, balanced with a political savvy and a strong, brave and tender backbone. She has maintained her relevance through eight decades of living, and six decades of working as a professional journalist and activist. She is a truth teller who maintained her popularity to ensure people kept listening to her, even though they might have disagreed with her (at first).
I will always remember how she closed the Seattle evening. She took a long line of questions from the audience, and once that ended, Cheryl facilitated a beautiful intro and then Gloria chimed in. She remarked on how her life was richer because of this evening – as if each one of us had touched her and made her life deeper and better. She suggested we talk to one another, given the likelihood of our common interests and personal constitutions. In her words, “who knows, maybe you’ll find a new friend, a new lover, a new colleague.”
And then she began receiving a standing ovation, as audience members starting popping up like popcorn. And then Gloria stood and came to the middle of the stage, and started clapping her hands lightly and raising her hands up towards the balconies. Her head and eyes followed upward, and at that point, it’s as if her whole body elevated a bit, as she applauded the audience leading with her outstretched hands and beaming face. Like an angel on that stage. In her sleek black turtleneck and pants and awesome, hippy chic silver belt. Fabulous.
And then she began receiving a standing ovation, as audience members starting popping up like popcorn. And then Gloria stood and came to the middle of the stage, and started clapping her hands lightly and raising her hands up towards the balconies. Her head and eyes followed upward, and at that point, it’s as if her whole body elevated a bit, as she applauded the audience leading with her outstretched hands and beaming face. Like an angel on that stage. In her sleek black turtleneck and pants and awesome, hippy chic silver belt. Fabulous.
