Before she even opened her mouth, Gloria Steinem received a standing ovation from the audience at the Big Wood Church of the Presbyterian could summon up their own activist selves as they listened.
Steinem is softer in person, however, than many remember her or expected her to be. At 75, she is still as striking and as vital as ever. But the messages of the past—equal rights, fair pay, legal abortions—are not the issues on her mind.
Instead, her talk on Wednesday, sponsored by the Sun Valley Center for the Arts, was focused on issues of the home.
"It's time to say 'to family' is a verb, not a noun," she said. "The point is the nurturing and respect, the content, not necessarily the form, of a family. It's like iron filings on a sheet of metal, with a magnet underneath, the patterns follow. We have to take the magnet out and set free the patterns."
It's as if the movement has matured to a new all-inclusive level.
"Let's not forget these movements are all connected," she said.
To wit: Global warming has to do with the environment and population. Child abuse has to do with an individual's rights and the cycle of violence. What happens in the home stays with an individual throughout life.
"The home itself is a symbol of the self and a subject that is just not taken seriously," she said. "Why can't we understand that if we don't have a democratic family, we can't have a democratic society?"
Gender, Steinem said, penalizes us all, in work, school, family, even in war. More than a third of the workforce in the country is in caregiving at home. And yet it's not considered when computing workforce numbers, unlike in other countries. And it's not just women who are mothers or take care of elderly parents—men, too, are devalued when they are the caretakers.
"There is nothing more important than a democratic family," she said. "Imagine what it might be like if an entire generation of children were raised without violence."
Steinem said later that she felt a bit off, but that many people expressed a deep sense of connection after her talk.
"She was so engaged," said Richard Smooke, a sponsor of The Center's Speaker Series.
His wife, Judy, agreed. "What she talked about was day-to-day relationships. These are issues that are all encompassing."
Steinem said feminism is alive and in action.
"It would be wrong to say the women's movement is over," she said. "We can stand on the side of the river and pluck people out But we haven't yet gotten to the head of the river to keep people from falling in."
Journalist and activist Gloria Steinem spoke to a sold-out crowd Wednesday night in conjunction with the Sun Valley Center for the Arts’ new exhibition, "Domestic Life."
Photo by David N. Seelig
