Steinem tells U. to 'organize for change'

Gloria Steinem spoke about feminism and campus activism to a sell-out crowd. The song Gloria by Laura Branigan seemed a fitting introduction for this year's big fall campus speaker -- feminist activist Gloria Steinem. The Connaissance division of the Social Planning and Events Committee welcomed Steinem to Zellerbach Auditorium last night to tell a sold-out audience of 900 people about her accomplishments and the motivations behind them. Steinem, a political activist and writer, used the 70-minute address entitled "Acting Globally and Thinking Globally" to explain the feminist revolution that has guided her political and intellectual work. Focusing on the current election, marriage, children and the role of women in the labor force, Steinem explained the way in which feminism hopes to lead society away from a hierarchical structure based on patriarchy. "Brace yourselves," the 64-year-old Steinem said. "If all goes well, each of you will leave here tonight with a new thought or idea." A feminist, according to Steinem, is a person who believes in the social and economic equality of men and women. Feminism also coincides with anti-racist thought. "We are currently witnessing the second stage of resistance to the term," said Steinem. "The first stage of resistance suggested that feminism was unnecessary and dead, while the second stage suggests that it used to be necessary but not anymore." Steinem went on to explain that feminism lost some of its followers as the result of people either misunderstanding the meaning of the term or understanding it but not believing the movement to be an "effort to undo the current social and racial conditions of the deep rooted caste systems of our society." But she emphasized that the more and more young people have embraced the movement in recent years. Steinem said that some students' reluctance to identify themselves as feminists only leads them to lose their self-respect. Turning to Penn, Steinem urged female students to join the feminist movement, stressing the importance of its role on campus and beyond. "The feminist movement at Penn and the Penn Women's Center are a microcosm to teach us to organize for change around the world," Steinem said. "I know you will do so much better than my generation." Steinem went on to explain that women become more radical with age, while men tend to be more radical at a younger age. Radicalism among women, according to Steinem, is analogous to a thread that is deep rooted in the "caste system of society." As women experience the social conditions of society though marriage, children and the labor force, the thread of radicalism is woven deeper and their views become more extreme in response to the recognition of injustice, Steinem explained further in an interview before the speech. In her talk, Steinem also said that American citizens vote less than those in any other democracy. She urged students to vote in order to move away from political passivity and create majority support for important issues. Steinem also praised the results of the elections Tuesday. "The right-wing extremists have taken over the Republican party and the trend toward voting less gives more control to the right wing," Steinem said. "This worries me, but thankfully the right extremist control was stopped with the elections [Tuesday]." When an audience member asked her to comment on marriage and children, Steinem described how marriage today is different from marriage in the 1950s and 1960s. Then marriage was considered to be designed for "a person and a half;" women put more into the marriage, while men entered it half-heartedly. "We are only halfway there today in moving toward equal marriage, as society is aware that women can do what men can do outside the home," she said. "Until men are seen as equals inside the home and with child rearing, women cannot be equal outside the home." Equality in the paid labor force is therefore impossible, according to Steinem, without eliminating the differences between men's and women's roles in raising families. Regarding the Lewinsky scandal, Steinem said in the interview that consensual sex between two adults should not be confused with harassment. "I believe the right wing has attempted to use the sexual harassment law to democratically remove the president from office," she said. Steinem concluded her address with an explanation of a lesson she learned through years of organizational work. "Trust your instincts and the voice inside of you that is the result of both your environment and heredity," said Steinem. "Listen to that voice to help you master the art of behaving ethically and effectively as if everything you do matters." A 40-minute question-and-answer session followed the speech, as audience members lined up to talk to the feminist. When asked what message she wished to give college students, Steinem answered, "Dream the biggest dreams and don't let anyone discourage you."

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