I Love Gloria Steinem, I am a Man and I am a Feminist

When I was a student at Harvard, I learned about Womanism and Feminism and I became a part of the pact. It was amazing that one of my colleagues there told me that a man cannot be a feminist. Such lack of understanding on her part. If more men became feminists or womanist, we would solve much of the social construct of sexism

Gloria Steinem

Gloria Steinem is a feminist leader, writer, editor and co-founder of Ms. magazine. She was also one of the original staff writers at New York magazine in the late 1960s.

A galvanizing figure in the women’s movement for the last 40 years, Ms. Steinem has been an outspoken champion of women’s rights — whether it was the Equal Rights Amendment, Roe v. Wade, the tax problems that all but doomed Geraldine Ferraro’s chances of becoming the first woman to run for vice president or even the presidency of George W. Bush (and his stance on reproductive freedom). 

Ms. Steinem is the author of many articles and books, including “Revolution From Within: A Book of Self-Esteem,” “Moving Beyond Words: Breaking the Boundaries of Gender,” “Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions” and “Marilyn: Norma Jean.”

Now 78, Ms. Steinem was the subject of a widely viewed HBO documentary, “In Her Own Words,” and the recipient of Glamour magazine’s lifetime achievement award.

For many in the women’s movement today the question is: Where is the next Gloria Steinem, and why — decades after the media spotlight first focused on her — has no one emerged as her successor? 

The question resonated recently, when the organization Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced plans to pull financing from Planned Parenthood, and when Rush Limbaugh’s tirade against a Georgetown law student and her congressional testimony over contraceptive rights became national news.

People like Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democrat of Florida; Planned Parenthood’s president, Cecile Richards; and Arianna Huffington made the television rounds. Facebook and Twitter percolated with links and commentary; bloggers weighed in. It was a roar heard on all platforms, from many individuals.

But none was seen as a singular voice of opposition on an issue — women’s reproductive rights — that was debated so intensely it felt like a throwback to the 1970s.

History’s most formidable figures have always been a tough act to follow, of course.

Reflecting on Ms. Steinem’s pivotal role in the women’s rights movement, the feminist author Susan Faludi said, “We’ve not seen another Gloria Steinem because there is only one Gloria, and someone with her combination of conviction, wit, smarts and grace under fire doesn’t come along every day.”