When I was a 7 year old child , I was living in a Chicago suburb (Riverside) and I walked almost a mile to and from school every day. Despite the harsh weather, Chicago schools did not allow girls to wear pants to school! Girls HAD to wear skirts. That was the beginning of my obsession with feminism. It inspired me to complain to the librarian at my school that they didn’t have enough books about GIRLS and their dogs and horses- just books about boys. So when Gloria Steinem came along I was thrilled. She made everyone realize that women were not being treated equally to men. Thanks to her, we have fewer miserable housewives, and we now have more women in medical school becoming doctors than men. She made the world a better place, for sure. Thank you Gloria.
GLORIA STEINEM CHANGED THE WORLD
Monday, September 7, 2026
Hilary
I knew a male magazine editor in NYC in the 1980s, and he told me he was a colleague of Gloria’s back in the 1960s. When he knew her, hes said, “Gloria was always looking for a cause to hang her hat on.” I remember he told me that she went through a farmworkers stage and a few other causes, and then sort of stumbled onto feminism. Once she found that, she was off to the races. I was at her 40th birthday party — held in a large banquet hall — and I remember her saying, “This is what 40 looks like!” I also marched close to her (one row back) at an anti-porn parade. Of course, she later became friends with Stormy Daniels, but by then, porn stars had more power, more opportunities and could make a LOT more money than the early 1980s. Also, I had a freelance magazine article published by MS. 🙂 She was quite the trailblazer. I’m so glad that “project feminism” stuck. : )
GnarlyG
What a nice story Janet! Heard Riverside was a lovely suburb. I too went to catholic school in Chicago, skirts only. I too took the bus in the middle of the winter. I didn’t mind at all. This was the 80’s, so I didn’t think about being a feminist. I wasn’t a catholic anyways. Lol
Dr Ken Loo- "Tv's Dr. Kenney"
Before Gloria Steinem married women got by using pills called “Mother’s little helpers” prescribed by their male doctors. The medical community gradually realized how addictive these “helpers” actually were. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, stricter regulations were put on refills, and prescription rates dropped significantly.
Newbie
YES! I love feminism and especially what that generation of feminists brought to the lives of women and girls. And, the down stream improvements it has brought to men, too. They do not have to limit their lives to rigid gender rules anymore, so their lives changed for the better too.
I am proud to be a feminist, Gloria was a huge role model for me. Thank you for the awesome and enthusiastic tribute. So many women wrinkle their nose at feminism like it’s a stain in their panties, and yet their lives are fuller for it!