Gloria Steinem spent more than five decades speaking up for women’s rights and challenging ideas about what women could do, say, and become. The feminist writer and activist passed away this week at age 92, leaving behind a legacy that has influenced generations of women.
There will be many tributes looking back at Steinem’s life, and understandably so. But let’s not just remember her and look at the past. Let’s see how we can remember her as part of an opportunity to look forward and continue to make positive changes.
That leads to the question of what happens to the work when someone who devoted so much of her life to it is gone? In Steinem’s case, perhaps the answer can be found in the many people she encouraged to speak up, get involved, and create change of their own.
She Spoke Up to Make Space for Others
Steinem became one of the most recognizable faces of feminism, but the movement was not just about her or any single woman. Throughout her career, she worked with other activists and helped create organizations that could carry the work forward.
For example, she co-founded the National Women’s Political Caucus. She later helped establish the Women’s Media Center. She was also a co-founder of Ms. magazine, a publication giving women a place to talk about issues and experiences that mainstream media often ignored.
What stands out is that Steinem didn’t just use the platform she had. She helped create more platforms for other women.
That collaborative approach was also an important part of Gloria Steinem’s leadership style, particularly the idea of helping others recognize and use their own power. It’s an idea that still feels like one we need to encourage today: Having a voice matters, but helping someone else find hers matters too.
She Helped More Women’s Voices Be Heard
Before Steinem became widely known as an activist, she was a journalist. Often, she wrote about what was affecting women’s lives at a time when their perspectives were often absent from mainstream conversations. Eventually, her work as a journalist intersected with her activism.
It wasn’t a time when there were blogs or social media, at least not at first. Women have many more ways to tell their own stories today. Blogs, books, podcasts, social networks, and online communities allow people to speak directly to audiences in ways that weren’t possible when Steinem began her career.
Of course, just because there are more places to speak now doesn’t necessarily mean everyone is heard equally. That’s the unfortunate reality. That’s leading to: Whose voices are we still not hearing?
Change Can Start With Listening
When thinking about leadership, you might imagine a person giving the speech or standing at the front of a room. Gloria Steinem didn’t necessarily do that, although of course there were times she did.
Listening was key to how she connected with people, not just talking to them. She spent years traveling, meeting people, speaking with groups, and supporting local groups.
Sometimes making a difference starts by listening to other people and trying to understand their experiences. It could mean asking another woman what she needs rather than assuming you already know. Or giving someone else the chance to speak and be heard.
Sometimes, the best leaders know when to step back and let someone else take the lead.
There is Still More Work to Do
It would be easy to tell Steinem’s story as one of how far women have come. Looking back at the history and myths surrounding the Women’s Liberation Movement also shows how complicated that history can be. Resa explained a lot in that post.
Sometimes history is oversimplified on purpose, or things are left out on purpose. Women certainly have opportunities today that previous generations fought hard to make possible. But history also shows that progress can be undone and that there’s more work to do.
Women have gained rights over the years, but some of those rights can still be challenged. There’s also still inequality, which means those to come have more work to do.
So while part of writing this tribute is to remember women who helped create change, like Gloria Steinem, and celebrate what has been accomplished, I also want to encourage you to use this time to ask: What still needs to change?
Steinem continued advocating for women’s equality well into her older years. We can’t let those conversations she started end now.
We Don’t Need Another Gloria Steinem (Let Me Explain)
When an influential person dies, it’s natural to think about who might take her place. But instead, I challenge you to think about the present and future differently.
We don’t need another Gloria Steinem. We need women willing to make a difference in ways that make sense for their own lives. Please reread that and let it sink in.
For one woman, that could mean running for office. For another, it might be mentoring a younger colleague, starting a business, writing about an overlooked issue, volunteering in her community, supporting another woman’s work, or speaking up when something doesn’t seem right.
Each woman has her strengths and way to enact change. Each woman is wonderfully unique and able to make a difference. And advancing women’s equality isn’t only up to women. People of all genders can and should champion making change; it requires everyone to come together for real progress.
By the way, not everyone will have a huge public platform, and not everyone needs one. Many actions that change people’s lives will never make the news or appear in a history book. They still matter.
What Comes Next Is Part of Gloria Steinem’s Legacy
In the days ahead, many people will remember Gloria Steinem as a journalist, feminist, organizer, author, and activist. They will look up Ms. magazine, the women’s movement, her books, her speeches, and the organizations she helped build.
Those are important parts of her story. But perhaps her legacy can also be found in what happens next. For instance, her legacy is there when a woman realizes her experience deserves to be taken seriously. Or when someone genuinely listens to her.
Her legacy is there when women support one another rather than believing there’s room for only one woman at the table. It’s there when someone notices that something isn’t fair and decides not to simply accept it.
And her legacy is there in younger generations asking new questions and finding their own ways to make things better.
Gloria Steinem’s work is over. The work she started isn’t.
Photo credit: RDNE Stock project from Pexels.