I just finished watching “Gloria: In Her Own Words” on HBO. Watching the program took me back through my childhood and into my young adulthood. Watching what Gloria and those revolutionary women accomplished was inspiring and eye-opening. I was a toddler when Steinem wrote her 1963 expose on New York City’s Playboy Club. I was in elementary school when Steinem along with Bella Abzug and Betty Friedan formed the National Women’s Political Caucus, and when Steinem helped launch Ms. Magazine. In 1972, due to hard work by Steinem and other crusading women, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed the Equal rights Amendment. During my junior and senior high school years women and supporters worked to get three-fourths of the states (38 of 50) to ratify the ERA, which had to be accomplished by 1979. Despite a three year extension and more work by many women, the ERA fell three states short of ratification in 1982.

I think a hurdle that Steinem faced in getting out her message was her beauty. People have a hard time taking beautiful women seriously; they always think they aren’t really committed to the causes they champion. Any thoughts I had in that regard were put to rest by the HBO documentary on Steinem’s life. She was committed, but even more, she lived her life, as she wanted to live it. Never seemed to apologize for her choices but just kept fighting for what she believed was right. Now, in her 80th year, she must take some satisfaction from the fact that the world today looks very different for women than it did in 1934 when she was born in Toledo, Ohio. Job well done, Ms. Steinem.