Gloria Steinem speaking with supporters at the Women Together Arizona Summit at Carpenters Local Union in Phoenix, Arizona. Photo by Gage Skidmore.
Gloria Steinem, an outspoken advocate for women’s rights since the late 1960s, was at the forefront of the Women’s March on Washington, revving up the crowd with her keynote speech.
“We must put our bodies where our beliefs are sometimes, pressing send is not enough.” She said to the crowd of at least 470,000 women, men and children.
Ms. Steinem has been heavily involved in the feminist movement since the 1960s. In 1963, she worked undercover at New York City’s Playboy club, as a scantily dressed waitress or a “bunny” as they were called, for an expose piece for Show magazine. The article was called “A Bunny’s Tale.” Through her writing - reporting on abortion, feminist essays such as “Black Power, Women’s Liberation,” “If Men could Menstruate,” and numerous books, she has become a voice like no other.
The march on Washington, one of 370 marches held across the country and world, was almost 3 times the size than that at President Trump’s inauguration.
“I’ve been thinking about the use of a long life, and one of them is that you remember when things were worse.” She said in a somber voice. “We remember the death of the future with Martin Luther King, with Jack Kennedy, with Bobby Kennedy, with Malcolm X. Without those deaths, for instance, Nixon would not have been elected, and there would not have been many of the wars we have had. Now our great leaders like Barack Obama and Michelle Obama are still with us. And remember how much we feared they might not be, and how much threat there was in fact on their lives and they are with us.”
Ms. Steinem read a public warning from the American Psychiatric Association about President Trump’s “hypersensitivity to slight for criticisms,” and his inability to tell the difference between “fantasy and reality.” These symptoms of his, which they concluded are symptoms of mental instability, was enough for them to question whether he was fit enough to handle the responsibilities of the White House.
Despite the uphill battle that women have begun fighting, Ms. Steinem was vigilant.
“We are linked, we are not ranked, and this is a day that will change us forever because we are together, each of us individually and collectively will never be the same again. When we elect a possible president, we too often go home. We’ve elected an impossible president. We’re never going home. We’re staying together, and we’re taking over.”
Gloria Steinem Giving the Keynote Speech at the Women's March