Gloria Marie Steinem (; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of
second-wave feminism
Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades. It took place throughout the Western world, and aimed to increase equality for women by building on previous feminist gains.
...
in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Steinem was a columnist for ''
New York'' magazine and a co-founder of ''
Ms.
Ms. (American English) or Ms (British English; normally , but also , or when unstressed)''Oxford English Dictionary'' online, Ms, ''n.2''. Etymology: "An orthographic and phonetic blend of Mrs ''n.1'' and miss ''n.2'' Compare mizz ''n.'' The pr ...
'' magazine.
In 1969, Steinem published an article, "After Black Power, Women's Liberation", which brought her national attention and positioned her as a feminist leader.
In 1971, she co-founded the
National Women's Political Caucus
The National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC), or the Caucus, describes itself as a multi-partisan grassroots organization in the United States dedicated to recruiting, training, and supporting women who seek elected and appointed offices at all ...
which provides training and support for women who seek elected and appointed offices in government. Also in 1971, she co-founded the
Women's Action Alliance which, until 1997, provided support to a network of feminist activists and worked to advance feminist causes and legislation. In the 1990s, Steinem helped establish
Take Our Daughters to Work Day, an occasion for young girls to learn about future career opportunities. In 2005, Steinem,
Jane Fonda, and
Robin Morgan co-founded the
Women's Media Center, an organization that "works to make women visible and powerful in the media".
, Steinem was traveling internationally as an organizer and lecturer, and was a media spokeswoman on issues of equality.
[.]
In 2015, Steinem, alongside two Nobel Peace Laureates,
Abigail Disney
Abigail Edna Disney (born January 24, 1960) is an American documentary film producer, philanthropist, and social activist. She produced the 2008 documentary ''Pray the Devil Back to Hell''. Disney and Kathleen Hughes are producers and directors ...
, and other prominent women peace activists, undertook a journey from the capital of North Korea, Pyongyang to South Korea, crossing the most heavily militarized zone in the world between the two Koreas.
Early life
Steinem was born on March 25, 1934, in
Toledo, Ohio,
the daughter of Ruth (née Nuneviller) and Leo Steinem. Her mother was
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...
, mostly of German (including
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...
n) and some Scottish descent.
['' Finding Your Roots'', February 23, 2016, PBS.] Her father was
Jewish, the son of immigrants from
Württemberg, Germany, and
Radziejów, Poland.
Her paternal grandmother,
Pauline Perlmutter Steinem, was chairwoman of the educational committee of the
National Woman Suffrage Association, a delegate to the 1908
International Council of Women, and the first woman to be elected to the Toledo Board of Education, as well as a leader in the movement for vocational education.
Pauline also rescued many members of her family from the
Holocaust.
The Steinems lived and traveled about in a trailer, from which Leo carried out his trade as a roaming antiques dealer.
Before Gloria was born, her mother, Ruth, then age 34, had a "nervous breakdown," which left her an invalid, trapped in delusional fantasies that occasionally turned violent.
She changed "from an energetic, fun-loving, book-loving" woman into "someone who was afraid to be alone, who could not hang on to reality long enough to hold a job, and who could rarely concentrate enough to read a book".
Ruth spent long periods in and out of sanatoriums for the mentally ill.
Steinem was ten years old when her parents separated in 1944.
Her father went to California to find work, while she and her mother continued to live together in Toledo.
While her parents divorced under the stress of her mother's illness, Steinem did not attribute it at all to male chauvinism on the father's part—she claims to have "understood and never blamed him for the breakup". Nevertheless, the impact of these events had a formative effect on her personality: while her father, a traveling salesman, had never provided much financial stability to the family, his exit aggravated their situation.
[Marcello, Patricia. ''Gloria Steinem: A Biography.'' Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004.] Steinem concluded that her mother's inability to hold on to a job was evidence of general hostility towards working women.
She also concluded that the general apathy of doctors towards her mother emerged from a similar anti-woman animus.
Years later, Steinem described her mother's experience as pivotal to her understanding of social injustices.
These perspectives convinced Steinem that women lacked
social
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives from ...
and
political equality.
Steinem attended
Waite High School in
Toledo and
Western High School in
Washington, D.C., graduating from the latter while living with her older sister
Susanne Steinem Patch
Susanne Steinem Patch (February 19, 1925 – November 2, 2007) was an American gem expert and staff lawyer at the Federal Trade Commission.
Early life
Susanne Steinem was born in Toledo, Ohio, the daughter of Leo Steinem and Ruth Nuneviller Steine ...
.
She then attended
Smith College,
an institution with which she continues to remain engaged, from which she received her
A.B. ''
magna cum laude'' and graduated as a member of
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
.
In 1957, Steinem had an
abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...
. The procedure was performed by Dr. John Sharpe, a British physician, when abortion was still illegal. Years later, Steinem dedicated her memoir ''My Life on the Road'' (2015) to him. She wrote: "Dr. John Sharpe of London, who in 1957, a decade before physicians in England could legally perform an abortion for any reason other than the health of the woman, took the considerable risk of referring for an abortion a twenty-two-year-old American on her way to India. Knowing only that she had broken an engagement at home to seek an unknown fate, he said, 'You must promise me two things. First, you will not tell anyone my name. Second, you will do what you want to do with your life.'"
In the late 1950s, Steinem spent two years in India as a Chester Bowles Asian Fellow. After returning to the United States, she served as director of the Independent Research Service, an organization funded in secret by a donor that turned out to be the
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
.
She worked to send non-Communist American students to the 1959
World Youth Festival.
In 1960, she was hired by
Warren Publishing as the first employee of ''
Help!'' magazine.
Journalism
''
Esquire'' magazine features editor
Clay Felker gave freelance writer Steinem what she later called her first "serious assignment", regarding
contraception
Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...
; he didn't like her first draft and had her re-write the article.
Her resulting 1962 article about the way in which women are forced to choose between a career and marriage preceded
Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan ( February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book '' The Feminine Mystique'' is often credited with sparking the se ...
's book ''
The Feminine Mystique'' by one year.
In 1963, while working on an article for
Huntington Hartford's ''Show'' magazine, Steinem was employed as a
Playboy Bunny at the New York
Playboy Club
The Playboy Club was initially a chain of nightclubs and resorts owned and operated by Playboy Enterprises. The first Playboy Club opened in Chicago in 1960. Each club generally featured a Living Room, a Playmate Bar, a Dining Room, and a Club R ...
. The article, published in 1963 as "A Bunny's Tale", featured a photo of Steinem in Bunny uniform and detailed how women were treated at those clubs.
Steinem has maintained that she is proud of the work she did publicizing the exploitative working conditions of the bunnies and especially the sexual demands made of them, which skirted the edge of the law.
However, for a brief period after the article was published, Steinem was unable to land other assignments; in her words, this was "because I had now become a Bunny—and it didn't matter why."
However, on the upside, the article compelled the owner of Playboy,
Hugh Hefner, to review and improve the working conditions of the Bunnies.
In the interim, she conducted an interview with John Lennon for ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine in 1964. In 1965, she wrote for NBC-TV's weekly satirical revue, ''
That Was The Week That Was (TW3)'', contributing a regular segment entitled "Surrealism in Everyday Life".
Steinem eventually landed a job at Felker's newly founded ''
New York'' magazine in 1968.
In 1969, she covered an abortion speak-out for ''
New York Magazine'', which was held in a church basement in
Greenwich Village, New York.
Steinem had had an abortion herself in London at the age of 22.
She felt what she called a "big click" at the speak-out, and later said she didn't "begin my life as an active feminist" until that day.
As she recalled, "It
bortionis supposed to make us a bad person. But I must say, I never felt that. I used to sit and try and figure out how old the child would be, trying to make myself feel guilty. But I never could! I think the person who said: 'Honey, if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament' was right. Speaking for myself, I knew it was the first time I had taken responsibility for my own life. I wasn't going to let things happen to me. I was going to direct my life, and therefore it felt positive. But still, I didn't tell anyone. Because I knew that out there it wasn't
ositive"
She also said, "In later years, if I'm remembered at all it will be for inventing a phrase like 'reproductive freedom' ... as a phrase it includes the freedom to have children or not to. So it makes it possible for us to make a coalition."
In 1972, she co-founded the feminist-themed magazine ''
Ms.
Ms. (American English) or Ms (British English; normally , but also , or when unstressed)''Oxford English Dictionary'' online, Ms, ''n.2''. Etymology: "An orthographic and phonetic blend of Mrs ''n.1'' and miss ''n.2'' Compare mizz ''n.'' The pr ...
'' alongside founding editors
Letty Cottin Pogrebin
Letty Cottin Pogrebin (born June 9, 1939) is an American author, journalist, lecturer, and social activist. She is a founding editor of ''Ms.'' magazine, the author of twelve books, and was an editorial consultant for the TV special '' Free to B ...
,
Mary Thom,
Patricia Carbine, Joanne Edgar, Nina Finkelstein,
Dorothy Pitman Hughes
Dorothy Pitman Hughes (born Dorothy Jean Ridley; October 2, 1938 – December 1, 2022) was an American feminist, child-welfare advocate, activist, public speaker, author, and small business owner. Pitman Hughes co-founded the Women’s Action A ...
, and Mary Peacock; it began as a special edition of ''New York'', and
Clay Felker funded the first issue.
Its 300,000 test copies sold out nationwide in eight days.
Within weeks, ''Ms.'' had received 26,000 subscription orders and more than 20,000 reader letters.
In 1974, ''Ms.'' collaborated with public television to produce the television program ''
Woman Alive!'', and Steinem was featured in the first episode in her role as co-founder of ''Ms.'' magazine.
[Woman Alive! Collection, 1974–1977: A Finding Aid.](_blank)
MC 421. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. Accessed May 18, 2020. The magazine was sold to the
Feminist Majority Foundation
The Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) is a non-profit organization headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia, whose stated mission is to advance non-violence and women's power, equality, and economic development. The name Feminist Majority come ...
in 2001; Steinem remains on the masthead as one of six founding editors and serves on the advisory board.
Also in 1972, Steinem became the first woman to speak at the
National Press Club
Organizations
A press club is an organization for journalists and others professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news. A press club whose membership is defined by the press of a given country may be known as a National Pre ...
.
In November 1977, Steinem spoke at the
1977 National Women's Conference
The National Women's Conference of 1977 was a four-day event during November 18–21, 1977, as organized by the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year. The conference drew around, 2,000 delegates along with 15,000-20,0 ...
among other speakers including
Rosalynn Carter,
Betty Ford,
Lady Bird Johnson,
Bella Abzug,
Barbara Jordan,
Cecilia Burciaga,
Lenore Hershey, and
Jean O'Leary.
In 1978, Steinem wrote a semi-satirical essay for ''Cosmopolitan'' titled "If Men Could Menstruate" in which she imagined a world where men
menstruate
Menstruation (also known as a period, among other colloquial terms) is the regular discharge of blood and mucosal tissue from the inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. The menstrual cycle is characterized by the rise and fall of ho ...
instead of women. She concludes in the essay that in such a world, menstruation would become a badge of honor with men comparing their relative sufferings, rather than the source of shame that it had been for women.
On March 22, 1998, Steinem published an op-ed in ''The New York Times'' ("Feminists and the Clinton Question") in which she claimed that
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
's alleged behavior did not constitute sexual harassment, although she did not actually challenge the accounts by his
accusers.
The op-ed was criticized by various writers, as in the Harvard Crimson
and in the ''Times'' itself.
In 2017, Steinem, in an interview with the British newspaper ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'', stood by her 1998 ''New York Times'' op-ed, but also said: "I wouldn’t write the same thing now."
Activism
In 1959, Steinem led a group of activists in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
, to organize the Independent Service for Information on the Vienna festival, to advocate for American participation in the
World Youth Festival, a
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
-sponsored youth event.
In 1968, Steinem signed the "
Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the
Vietnam War.
In 1969, she published an article, "After Black Power, Women's Liberation" which brought her to national fame as a feminist leader.
As such she campaigned for the
Equal Rights Amendment, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in its favor in 1970.
That same year she published her essay on a utopia of gender equality, "What It Would Be Like If Women Win", in ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' magazine.
On July 10, 1971, Steinem was one of more than three hundred women who founded the
National Women's Political Caucus
The National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC), or the Caucus, describes itself as a multi-partisan grassroots organization in the United States dedicated to recruiting, training, and supporting women who seek elected and appointed offices at all ...
(NWPC), including such notables as
Bella Abzug,
Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan ( February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book '' The Feminine Mystique'' is often credited with sparking the se ...
,
Shirley Chisholm, and
Myrlie Evers-Williams.
As a co-convener of the Caucus, she delivered the speech "
Address to the Women of America
On July 10, 1971, at the founding of the National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC) in Washington, D.C., NWPC co-founder Gloria Steinem delivered an Address to the Women of America. The speech furthered the ideas of the American Women's Movement, ...
", stating in part:
In 1972, she ran as a delegate for
Shirley Chisholm in New York, but lost.
In March 1973, she addressed the first national conference of
Stewardesses
A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are primar ...
for Women's Rights, which she continued to support throughout its existence.
Stewardesses for Women's Rights folded in the spring of 1976.
Despite her influence in the feminist movement, Steinem also earned criticism from some feminists as well, who questioned whether she was committed to the movement or using it to promote her glamorous image.
The
Redstockings also singled her out for agreeing to cooperate with the CIA-backed Independent Research Service.
It was also acknowledged that Steinem worked as a CIA agent when this operation was taking place.
Steinem, who grew up reading
Wonder Woman comics, was also a key player in the restoration of Wonder Woman's powers and traditional costume, which were restored in issue #204 (January–February 1973).
Steinem, offended that the most famous female superhero had been depowered, had placed Wonder Woman (in costume) on the cover of the first issue of ''Ms.'' (1972)—
Warner Communications, DC Comics' owner, was an investor—which also contained an appreciative essay about the character.
In doing so, however, Steinem forced the firing of Samuel R. Delany who had taken over scripting duties with issue #202. Delany was supposed to write a six-issue story arc, which would culminate in a battle over an abortion clinic where Wonder Woman was to defend women trying to use their services, a critical feminist issue at the time. The story outlines and the work already done on the issues was scrapped, something that Steinem was not aware of and made no attempt to rectify.
In 1976, the first women-only Passover seder was held in
Esther M. Broner's New York City apartment and led by Broner, with 13 women attending, including Steinem.
In 1977, Steinem became an associate of the
Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press (WIFP). WIFP is an American nonprofit publishing organization. The organization works to increase communication between women and connect the public with forms of women-based media.
In 1984, Steinem was arrested along with a number of members of Congress and civil rights activists for disorderly conduct outside the South African embassy while protesting against the
South African apartheid system.
At the outset of the
Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
in 1991, Steinem, along with prominent feminists
Robin Morgan and
Kate Millett, publicly opposed an incursion into the Middle East and asserted that ostensible goal of "defending democracy" was a pretense.
During the
Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 1 ...
sexual harassment scandal in 1991, Steinem voiced strong support for
Anita Hill
Anita Faye Hill (born July 30, 1956) is an American lawyer, educator and author. She is a professor of social policy, law, and women's studies at Brandeis University and a faculty member of the university's Heller School for Social Policy and ...
and suggested that one day Hill herself would sit on the
Supreme Court.
In 1992, Steinem co-founded
Choice USA Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity (URGE) is a national youth-led reproductive rights and justice non-profit organization in the United States based in Washington, D.C. that began as Choice USA in 1992. Choice USA changed its name to URGE in Jul ...
, a non-profit organization that mobilizes and provides ongoing support to a younger generation that lobbies for reproductive choice.
In 1993, Steinem co-produced and narrated an Emmy Award-winning TV documentary for HBO about child abuse, called, "Multiple Personalities: The Search for Deadly Memories".
Also in 1993, she and Rosilyn Heller co-produced an original TV movie for Lifetime, "Better Off Dead," which examined the parallel forces that both oppose abortion and support the death penalty.
She contributed the piece "The Media and the Movement: A User's Guide" to the 2003 anthology ''
Sisterhood Is Forever: The Women's Anthology for a New Millennium'', edited by
Robin Morgan.
On June 1, 2013, Steinem performed on stage at the "Chime For Change: The Sound Of Change Live" Concert at Twickenham Stadium in London, England.
Later in 2014,
UN Women began its commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the
Fourth World Conference on Women, and as part of that campaign Steinem (and others) spoke at the
Apollo Theater in New York City.
Chime For Change was funded by Gucci, focusing on using innovative approaches to raise funds and awareness especially regarding girls and women.
Steinem has stated, "I think the fact that I've become a symbol for the women's movement is somewhat accidental. A woman member of Congress, for example, might be identified as a member of Congress; it doesn't mean she's any less of a feminist but she's identified by her nearest male analog. Well, I don't have a male analog so the press has to identify me with the movement. I suppose I could be referred to as a journalist, but because ''Ms.'' is part of a movement and not just a typical magazine, I'm more likely to be identified with the movement. There's no other slot to put me in."
Contrary to popular belief, Steinem did not coin the feminist slogan "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle." Although she helped popularize it, the phrase is actually attributable to
Irina Dunn. When ''Time'' magazine published an article attributing the saying to Steinem, Steinem wrote a letter saying the phrase had been coined by Dunn.
Another phrase sometimes wrongly attributed to Steinem is: "If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament." Steinem herself attributed it to "an old Irish woman taxi driver in Boston," whom she said she and
Florynce Kennedy
Florynce Rae Kennedy (February 11, 1916 – December 21, 2000) was an American lawyer, radical feminist, civil rights advocate, lecturer and activist.
Early life
Kennedy was born in Kansas City, Missouri, to an African-American family. Her fat ...
met.
Steinem joins Women Cross DMZ
On May 24, 2015, International Women's Day for Disarmament, thirty women— including two Nobel Peace laureates and retired Colonel
Ann Wright— from 15 countries linked arms with 10,000 Korean women, stationing themselves on both sides of the DMZ to urge a formal end to the Korean War (1950-1953), the reunification of families divided during the war, and a peace building process with women in leadership positions to resolve seventy years of hostility following WWII. It was unusual for South Korea and North Korea to reach consensus on allowing peace activists to enter the tense border area, one of the world's most dangerous places, where hundreds of thousands of troops are stationed in a heavily mined zone that divides South Korea from nuclear North Korea.
In addition to Steinem, participants in crossing the DMZ included organizer Christine Ahn from Hawaii; feminist
Suzuyo Takazato from Okinawa; Amnesty International human rights lawyer
Erika Guevara of Mexico; Liberian peace and reconciliation advocate
Leymah Gbowee; Philippines lawmaker
Liza Maza
Liza Maza (born 8 September 1957) is a Filipina activist who was the lead convenor of the National Anti-Poverty Commission under the Duterte administration from August 2016 until her resignation in August 2018. She was a member of the Philippine ...
; Northern Ireland peace activist
Mairead Maguire
Mairead MaguireFairmichael, p. 28: "Mairead Corrigan, now Mairead Maguire, married her former brother-in-law, Jackie Maguire, and they have two children of their own as well as three by Jackie's previous marriage to Ann Maguire." (born 27 Januar ...
and Colonel Ann Wright, a retired officer who resigned from the U.S. military to protest the US invasion of Iraq.
Steinem was the honorary co-chairwoman of 2015 Women's Walk For Peace In Korea with
Mairead Maguire
Mairead MaguireFairmichael, p. 28: "Mairead Corrigan, now Mairead Maguire, married her former brother-in-law, Jackie Maguire, and they have two children of their own as well as three by Jackie's previous marriage to Ann Maguire." (born 27 Januar ...
, and in the weeks leading up to the walk Steinem told the press, “It’s hard to imagine any more physical symbol of the insanity of dividing human beings."
The group's main goal is to advocate disarmament and seek Korea's reunification. It will be holding international peace symposiums both in Pyongyang and Seoul in which women from both North Korea and South Korea can share experiences and ideas of mobilizing women to stop the Korean crisis. It is especially believed that the role of women in this act would help and support the reunification of family members divided by the split prolonged for 70 years.
She is also the chair of the advisory board of Apne Aap Women Worldwide, an organization fighting sex trafficking and inter-generational prostitution in India, founded by
Ruchira Gupta. She has also written extensively on her travels, experiences with women and the Indian feminist movement with her colleague and friend,
Ruchira Gupta.
In 2014, Steinem and Gupta traveled through India to meet the country's young feminists, writers, and thought leaders. A diary was kept documenting their travels, "Notes on A Tour of the Indian Women's Movement".
Involvement in political campaigns
Steinem's involvement in presidential campaigns stretches back to her support of
Adlai Stevenson in the
1952 presidential campaign.
1968 election
A proponent of civil rights and fierce
critic of the Vietnam War, Steinem was initially drawn to Senator
Eugene McCarthy because of his "admirable record" on those issues, but after meeting him and hearing him speak, she found him "cautious, uninspired, and dry".
As the campaign progressed, Steinem became baffled at "personally vicious" attacks that McCarthy leveled against his primary opponent
Robert F. Kennedy, even as "his real opponent,
Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing ...
, went free".
On a late-night radio show, Steinem garnered attention for declaring "
George McGovern is the real Eugene McCarthy." In 1968, Steinem was chosen to pitch the arguments to McGovern as to why he should enter the presidential race that year; he agreed, and Steinem "consecutively or simultaneously served as pamphlet writer, advance 'man', fund raiser, lobbyist of delegates, errand runner, and press secretary".
McGovern lost the nomination at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, and Steinem later wrote of her astonishment at
Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing ...
's "refusal even to suggest to
Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley that he control the
rampaging police and the bloodshed in the streets".
1972 election
Steinem was reluctant to re-join the McGovern campaign, as although she had brought in McGovern's single largest campaign contributor in 1968, she "''still'' had been treated like a frivolous pariah by much of McGovern's campaign staff". In April 1972, Steinem remarked that he "still doesn't understand the Women's Movement".
McGovern ultimately excised the abortion issue from the party's platform, and recent publications show McGovern was deeply conflicted on the issue. Steinem later wrote this description of the events:
However,
Germaine Greer flatly contradicted Steinem's account, reporting, "
Jacqui Ceballos called from the crowd to demand abortion rights on the Democratic platform, but
Bella
Bella is a feminine given name. It is a diminutive form of names ending in -bella. ''Bella'' is related to the Italian, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese and Latin words for beautiful, to the name Belle, meaning ''beautiful'' in French. It increased in ...
bzugand Gloria stared glassily out into the room," thus killing the abortion rights platform," and asking "Why had Bella and Gloria not helped Jacqui to nail him on abortion? What reticence, what loserism had afflicted them?"
[Harper's Magazine October 1972.] Steinem later recalled that the 1972 Convention was the only time Greer and Steinem ever met.
The cover of ''Harpers that month read, "Womanlike, they did not want to get tough with their man, and so, womanlike, they got screwed."
2004 election
In the run-up to the 2004 election, Steinem voiced fierce criticism of the Bush administration, asserting, "There has never been an administration that has been more hostile to women's equality, to reproductive freedom as a fundamental human right, and has acted on that hostility," adding, "If he is elected in 2004, abortion will be criminalized in this country." At a
Planned Parenthood event in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Steinem declared Bush "a danger to health and safety," citing his antagonism to the
Clean Water Act, reproductive freedom, sex education, and AIDS relief.
2008 election
Steinem was an active participant in the
2008 presidential campaign, and praised both the Democratic front-runners, commenting,
Nevertheless, Steinem endorsed Senator
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
, citing her broader experience, and saying that the nation was in such bad shape it might require two terms of Clinton and two of Obama to fix it.
She also made headlines for a ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' op-ed in which she cited
gender
Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most culture ...
and not
race as "probably the most restricting force in American life".
She elaborated, "Black men were given the vote a half-century before women of any race were allowed to mark a ballot, and generally have ascended to positions of power, from the military to the boardroom, before any women."
Steinem again drew attention for, according to the ''
New York Observer'', seeming "to denigrate the importance of
John McCain's time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam"; Steinem's broader argument "was that the media and the political world are too admiring of militarism in all its guises".
Following McCain's selection of
Sarah Palin as his running mate, Steinem penned an op-ed in which she labeled Palin an "unqualified woman" who "opposes everything most other women want and need," described her nomination speech as "divisive and deceptive", called for a more inclusive Republican Party, and concluded that Palin resembled "
Phyllis Schlafly
Phyllis Stewart Schlafly (; born Phyllis McAlpin Stewart; August 15, 1924 – September 5, 2016) was an American attorney, conservative activist, author, and anti-feminist spokesperson for the national conservative movement. She held paleocons ...
, only younger".
2016 election
In an
HBO interview with
Bill Maher, Steinem, when asked to explain the broad support for
Bernie Sanders among young Democratic women, responded, "When you're young, you're thinking, 'Where are the boys? The boys are with Bernie.'" Her comments triggered widespread criticism, and Steinem later issued an apology and said her comments had been "misinterpreted".
Steinem endorsed Democratic candidate
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
in the run-up for the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Steinem was an honorary co-chair of and speaker at the
Women's March on Washington Women's March may refer to:
* Women's March on Versailles, a 1789 march in Paris
* Women's Sunday, a 1908 suffragette march in London
* Woman Suffrage Procession, a 1913 march and rally in Washington, D.C.
* Women's March (South Africa), a 1956 m ...
on January 21, 2017, the day after the inauguration of
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
as president.
CIA ties and leader of Independent Research Service
In 1967, Steinem revealed in an interview with ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' that she worked full time from 1958 until 1962 at the Independent Research Service, which was largely financed by the
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
. In May 1975,
Redstockings, a
radical feminist group, published a report that Steinem and others put together on the Vienna Youth Festival and its attendees for the Independent Research Service. Redstockings raised the question of whether Steinem had continuing ties with the CIA, which Steinem denied. Steinem defended her relationship to the CIA, saying: "In my experience The Agency was completely different from its image; it was liberal, nonviolent and honorable."
Personal life
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Steinem had a four-year relationship with the publisher
Mortimer Zuckerman.
On September 3, 2000, at age 66, Steinem married
David Bale, father of actor
Christian Bale
Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. He has received various accolades, includin ...
.
The wedding was performed at the home of her friend
Wilma Mankiller, the first female
Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Steinem technically became stepmother to Bale's four adult children; she has no biological children. Steinem and Bale were married for only three years before he died of brain
lymphoma
Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include en ...
on December 30, 2003, at age 62.
Steinem was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1986 and
trigeminal neuralgia in 1994.
Commenting on aging, Steinem says that as she approached 60 she felt like she entered a new phase in life that was free of the "demands of gender" that she faced from adolescence onward.
Steinem lives alone in New York's
Upper East Side, where she owns the first three floors of her historic
brownstone apartment. In 2021, on her 87th birthday,
Google Arts & Culture launched a virtual tour of her home, where she has lived since 1966.
Political positions
Although most frequently considered a
liberal feminist, Steinem has repeatedly characterized herself as a
radical feminist. More importantly, she has repudiated categorization within feminism as "nonconstructive to specific problems," saying: "I've turned up in every category. So it makes it harder for me to take the divisions with great seriousness."
Nevertheless, on concrete issues, Steinem has staked several firm positions.
Female genital mutilation
In 1979, Steinem wrote the article on
female genital mutilation that brought it into the American public's consciousness; the article, "The International Crime of Female Genital Mutilation," was published in the March 1979 issue of ''Ms.''
["The International Crime of Female Genital Mutilation," by Gloria Steinem. ''Ms.'', March 1979, p. 65.] The article reported on the "75 million women suffering with the results of genital mutilation".
According to Steinem, "The real reasons for genital mutilation can only be understood in the context of the "
patriarchy": men must control women's bodies as the means of production, and thus repress the independent power of women's sexuality."
Steinem's article contains the basic arguments that would later be developed by philosopher
Martha Nussbaum.
Feminist theory
Steinem has frequently voiced her disapproval of the
obscurantism and abstractions some claim to be prevalent in
feminist academic theorizing.
She said, "Nobody cares about feminist academic writing. That's careerism. These poor women in academia have to talk this silly language that nobody can understand in order to be accepted
..But I recognize the fact that we have this ridiculous system of tenure, that the whole thrust of academia is one that values education, in my opinion, in inverse ratio to its usefulness—and what you write in inverse relationship to its understandability."
Steinem later singled out
deconstructionists like
Judith Butler for criticism, saying, "I always wanted to put a sign up on the road to Yale saying, 'Beware: Deconstruction Ahead'. Academics are forced to write in language no one can understand so that they get tenure. They have to say 'discourse', not 'talk'. Knowledge that is not accessible is not helpful. It becomes aerialised—and I think it's important that women's experiences be given a narrative."
Kinsey Reports
In addition to feminism, Steinem has also been a prominent advocate for analyzing the
Kinsey Reports.
Pornography
Steinem has criticized
pornography, which she distinguishes from
erotica, writing: "Erotica is as different from pornography as love is from rape, as dignity is from humiliation, as partnership is from slavery, as pleasure is from pain."
[''Erotica and Pornography: A Clear and Present Difference''. ''Ms.'' November 1978, p. 53. & ''Pornography—Not Sex but the Obscene Use of Power.'' ''Ms.'' August 1977, p. 43. Both retrieved November 16, 2014.] Steinem's argument hinges on the distinction between reciprocity versus domination, as she writes, "Blatant or subtle, pornography involves no equal power or mutuality. In fact, much of the tension and drama comes from the clear idea that one person is dominating the other."
On the issue of same-sex pornography, Steinem asserts, "Whatever the gender of the participants, all pornography including male-male gay pornography is an imitation of the male-female, conqueror-victim paradigm, and almost all of it actually portrays or implies enslaved women and master."
Steinem has also cited "
snuff films
A snuff film, or snuff movie, or snuff video, is a type of film that shows, or purports to show, scenes of actual homicide. The concept of snuff films became known to the general public during the 1970s, when an urban legend alleged that a cland ...
" as a serious threat to women.
Same-sex marriage
In an essay published in ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' magazine on August 31, 1970, "What Would It Be Like If Women Win," Steinem wrote about same-sex marriage in the context of the "Utopian" future she envisioned, writing:
Although Steinem did not mention or advocate same-sex marriage in any published works or interviews for more than three decades, she again expressed support for
same-sex marriage in the early 2000s, stating in 2004 that "
heidea that sexuality is only okay if it ends in reproduction oppresses women—whose health depends on separating sexuality from reproduction—as well as gay men and lesbians." Steinem is also a signatory of the 2008 manifesto, "Beyond Same-Sex Marriage: A New Strategic Vision For All Our Families and Relationships", which advocates extending legal rights and privileges to a wide range of relationships, households, and families.
Transgender rights
In 1977, Steinem expressed disapproval that the heavily publicized sex reassignment surgery of tennis player
Renée Richards had been in her opinion characterized as either a frightening look at what feminism could cause or as proof that feminism was no longer necessary. Steinem wrote that the issue was at minimum "a diversion from the widespread problems of sexual inequality." She also wrote that, while she supported the right of individuals to identify as they choose, she believed some transsexuals "surgically mutilate their own bodies" in order to conform to a gender role that is inexorably tied to physical body parts. She claimed that "feminists are right to feel uncomfortable about the need for and uses of transsexualism."
On October 2, 2013, Steinem clarified her remarks on transgender people in an op-ed for ''
The Advocate'', writing that critics failed to consider that her 1977 essay was "written in the context of global protests against routine surgical assaults, called female genital mutilation by some survivors."
Steinem later in the piece expressed unequivocal support for transgender people, saying that transgender people "including those who have transitioned, are living out real, authentic lives. Those lives should be celebrated, not questioned."
She also apologized for any pain her words might have caused.
On June 15, 2020, Steinem co-wrote a letter with Mona Sinha to the editor of ''The New York Times'', in which they opposed the elimination of civil rights protections for transgender healthcare by the
Trump administration
Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...
. In it, they made note of precolonial American traditions of gender variance and claimed that "the health of any of us affects the health of all of us, and excluding trans people endangers us all."
Awards and honors
*
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
of Southern California's Bill of Rights Award
*
American Humanist Association's 2012 Humanist of the Year (2012)
* Biography magazine's 25 most influential women in America (Steinem was listed as one of them)
* Clarion award
*
DVF Lifetime Leadership Award (2014)
*
Emmy Citation for excellence in television writing
* ''
Esquires 75 greatest women of all time (Steinem was listed as one of them) (2010)
*
Equality Now's international human rights award, given jointly to her and
Efua Dorkenoo (2000)
* FAO CERES Medal
* Front Page award
* ''
Glamour'' magazine's "The 75 Most Important Women of the Past 75 Years" (Steinem was listed as one of them) (2014)
*
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, better known as Lambda Legal, is an American civil rights organization that focuses on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities as well as people living with HIV/AIDS ( PWAs) through impa ...
's Liberty Award
* Library Lion award (2015)
* The
Ms. Foundation for Women's Gloria Awards, given annually since 1988, are named after Steinem.
* National Gay Rights Advocates Award
* National Magazine awards
*
National Women's Hall of Fame inductee (1993)
*
New York Women's Foundation's Century Award (2014)
* ''
Parenting
Parenting or child rearing promotes and supports the physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the intricacies of raising a child and not exclusively for a ...
s Lifetime Achievement Award (1995)
*
Penney-Missouri Journalism Award
*
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2013)
*
Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...
announced the Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair in September 2014. The Chair was created to fund teaching and research for someone (not necessarily a woman) who exemplifies Steinem's values of equal representation in the media,
and to have this person teach at least one undergraduate course per semester.
*
Sara Curry Humanitarian Award (2007)
*
Simmons College
Institutions of learning called Simmons College or Simmons University include:
* Simmons University, a women's liberal arts college in Boston, Massachusetts
* Simmons College of Kentucky, a historically black college in Louisville, Kentucky
* Har ...
's Doctorate of Human Justice
*
Society of Professional Journalists' Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award
*
Supersisters
''Supersisters'' was a set of 72 trading cards produced and distributed in the United States in 1979 by Supersisters, Inc. They featured famous women from politics, media and entertainment, culture, sports, and other areas of achievement. The c ...
trading card set (card number 32 featured Steinem's name and picture) (1979)
* United Nations' Ceres Medal
* United Nations' Society of Writers Award
*
University of Missouri School of Journalism Award for Distinguished Service in Journalism
* Women's Sports Journalism Award
* 2015
Richard C. Holbrooke
Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke (April 24, 1941 – December 13, 2010) was an American diplomat and author. He was the only person to have held the position of Assistant Secretary of State for two different regions of the world (Asia from 1977 ...
Distinguished Achievement Award of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize
* Recipient of the 2017
Ban Ki-moon Award For Women's Empowerment
* On May 20, 2019, Steinem received an honorary degree from
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
.
* On May 19, 2021, Steinem received the
Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities.
In media
In 1995, ''Education of a Woman: The Life of Gloria Steinem,'' by
Carolyn Heilbrun, was published.
In 1997, ''Gloria Steinem: Her Passions, Politics, and Mystique,'' by Sydney Ladensohn Stern, was published.
In 2005, Steinem appeared in season 2, episode 13 of
The L Word
''The L Word'' is a television drama that aired on Showtime from January 18, 2004 to March 8, 2009. The series follows the lives of a group of lesbian and bisexual women who live in West Hollywood, California. The premise originated with Ile ...
In the musical ''
Legally Blonde,'' which premiered in 2007, Steinem is mentioned in the scene where Elle Woods wears a flashy Bunny costume to a party, and must pretend to be dressed as Gloria Steinem "researching her feminist manifesto 'I Was A Playboy Bunny. (The actual name of the piece by Steinem being referred to here is "A Bunny's Tale".)
In 2011, ''Gloria: In Her Own Words,'' a documentary, first aired.
In 2013, ''Female Force: Gloria Steinem,'' a comic book by Melissa Seymour, was published.
Also in 2013, Steinem was featured in the documentary ''
MAKERS: Women Who Make America'' about the feminist movement.
In 2014, ''Who Is Gloria Steinem?,'' by Sarah Fabiny, was published.
Also in 2014, Steinem appeared in season 1, episode 8, of the television show ''The Sixties.''
Also in 2014, Steinem appeared in season 6, episode 3, of the television show ''
The Good Wife.''
In 2016, Steinem was featured in the catalog of clothing retailer
Lands' End. After an outcry from anti-abortion customers, the company removed Steinem from their website, stating on their Facebook page: "It was never our intention to raise a divisive political or religious issue, so when some of our customers saw the recent promotion that way, we heard them. We sincerely apologize for any offense." The company then faced further criticism online, this time both from customers who were still unhappy that Steinem had been featured in the first place, and customers who were unhappy that Steinem had been removed.
In
Jennifer Lopez's 2016 music video for her song "
Ain't Your Mama
"Ain't Your Mama" is a song recorded by American singer Jennifer Lopez. It was written by Meghan Trainor, Theron Thomas, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Gamal "Lunchmoney" Lewis, Henry "Cirkut" Walter and Dr. Luke, while production was handled by the l ...
", Steinem can be heard saying part of her "
Address to the Women of America
On July 10, 1971, at the founding of the National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC) in Washington, D.C., NWPC co-founder Gloria Steinem delivered an Address to the Women of America. The speech furthered the ideas of the American Women's Movement, ...
" speech, specifically, "This is no simple reform. It really is a revolution."
Also in 2016, the television series ''Woman'' premiered, featuring Steinem as producer and host; it is a documentary series concerning sexist injustice and violence worldwide.
The Gloria Steinem Papers are held in the
Sophia Smith Collection
The Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College is an internationally recognized repository of manuscripts, photographs, periodicals and other primary sources in women's history.
General
One of the largest recognized repositories of manuscripts, ...
at
Smith College, under collection number MS 237.
The play ''Gloria: A Life'', about Steinem's life, opened October 2018 at the
Daryl Roth Theatre
The Daryl Roth Theatre is an off-Broadway performance space at 101 East 15th Street, at the northeast corner of the intersection with Union Square East, near Union Square, Manhattan, New York City. The theater, opened in 1998, is housed in the ...
, directed by
Diane Paulus.
''
The Glorias
''The Glorias'' is a 2020 American biographical drama film directed and produced by Julie Taymor, from a screenplay by Taymor and Sarah Ruhl. The film is based upon ''My Life on the Road'' by Gloria Steinem who is represented by four actresses i ...
'' is an American biographical film about Steinem which premiered in 2020. In the film, she is played by four actresses who portray her life at various ages: Ryan Kiera Armstrong as a child,
Lulu Wilson
Lulu Wilson (born October 7, 2005) is an American actress known mostly for the horror films '' Ouija: Origin of Evil'' (2016) and '' Annabelle: Creation'' (2017), as well as the television series adaptation of ''The Haunting of Hill House'' (2018) ...
as a teen,
Alicia Vikander between the ages of 20 and 40, and
Julianne Moore as an older woman.
In 2020, Steinem was portrayed by
Rose Byrne in the
FX miniseries ''
Mrs. America'', depicting the movement to ratify the
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
Works
* ''The Thousand Indias'' (1957)
* ''The Beach Book'' (1963), New York: Viking Press.
* ''Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions'' (1983), New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
* ''
Marilyn: Norma Jean'' (1986), with George Barris, New York: Holt.
* ''Revolution from Within'' (1992), Boston: Little, Brown.
* ''Moving beyond Words'' (1993), New York: Simon & Schuster.
* ''Doing Sixty & Seventy'' (2006), San Francisco: Elders Academy Press.
* ''As if Women Matter: The Essential Gloria Steinem Reader'' (2014), co-written wit
Ruchira Gupta
* ''My Life on the Road'' (2015), New York: Random House.
* ''The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off!'' (2015), illustrated by Samantha Dion Baker. New York: Random House.
* ''My Life on the Road'' (2016), New York: Random House.
See also
*
Feminism in the United States
*
List of women's rights activists
This article is a list of notable women's rights activists, arranged alphabetically by modern country names and by the names of the persons listed.
Afghanistan
* Amina Azimi – disabled women's rights advocate
* Hasina Jalal – women's empower ...
References
Further reading
* ''Education of A Woman: The Life of Gloria Steinem'' by
Carolyn Heilbrun (Ballantine Books, United States, 1995)
* ''Gloria Steinem: Her Passions, Politics, and Mystique'' b
Sydney Ladensohn Stern(Birch Lane Press, 1997)
External links
*
Gloria Steinem papersin the
Sophia Smith Collection
The Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College is an internationally recognized repository of manuscripts, photographs, periodicals and other primary sources in women's history.
General
One of the largest recognized repositories of manuscripts, ...
, Smith College Special Collections
Profileat Feminist.com
Gloria Steinem Video produced by ''
Makers: Women Who Make America'' (affiliated with
Women Make Movies)
Gloria Steinem Papers at the Sophia Smith Collection*
* Michals, Debr
"Gloria Steinem" National Women's History Museum. 2017.
Interview with Gloria Steinem ''A DISCUSSION WITH National Authors on Tour'' TV Series, Episode #97 (1994)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steinem, Gloria
1934 births
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Activists against female genital mutilation
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American expatriates in India
American feminist writers
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American people of German descent
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Living people
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