What Would You Ask Gloria Steinem? I Will Ask Her For You This Thursday!

You can read it (and it's very thoughtful, articulate and inspiring) elisa@blogher.com
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... what her definition of Feminist is.

There are many women who won't identify with feminism because of the negative connotations, and yet when asked, they will admit they believe in social and political equality between genders.

At the core of feminism, what are the tenets?

Of course there are many varieties within the net of feminism, but one does not have to be a member of PETA to believe in humane treatment of animals, right? How can feminism be branded more inclusively so it gets away from the PETA-level of extremism?

( http://justlinda.net )JustLinda

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I would like to know if she thinks women have made any real progress in politics. Only two women were US Senators when Geraldine Ferraro ran for vice president. Now there are 17.

Dr. Mary Kennedy is a licensed psychologist in private practice in the northeast, and a mystery novelist. Visit her at www.marykennedy.net ( http://www.marykennedy.net )

Hi Heather,

I had never heard that term before, but I would definitely love to use it as we are currently looking at issues relating to the glass ceiling, supporting all women and the choices that they make. I will definitely have to ask my students what they think about this. Thank you!

Hi Elisa,

The shirt was sent to Ms. Steinem, but you are more than welcome to have one if we can get you here to speak. :) P.S. I found this site because of you and I love it. Thanks so much!

The maternal wall is what many of us women are experiencing, who have been able to reach our dreams -- in equal opportunity -- until we loose support and opportunities when we have babies.

For instance, moms are very much discriminated against at work -- quite openly. Women will hide that they have young children at a new job.

Another example, what mother has the time, energy and resources to run for political office? Women are not politicians because they are women -- it's because they bear children and we have not established mechanisms for mothers to do both things well.

Once I had a child I realized while I had the privilages to be whatever I wanted as a woman, doors close if you are a woman with a child.

We need to fix that and I was wondering her thoughts on this issue.

Heather blogs about Motherhood & Other Offensive Situations at http://www.ultimateoutcasts.com.

What advice does she have for those of us in our late fifties, sixties or seventies about how to deal with the onset of old age in a society which devalues older women and renders them largely invisible

Karen Bojar blogs about retirement life, feminist activism,  grassroots politics and gardening at http://www.the-next-stage.com/

What an opportunity! I heard her speak my senior year in college 30 years ago and can still hear her soft voice and powerful words in my mind. How does she think we can help our children wade through the corrosive media/entertainment images of women that permeate the cultural landscape? The American cult of celebrity draws kids like magnets.

As a second-waver, I was so buoyed by the womens movement in my early adult years, but now feel depressed at what appears to be utter regression. (I just posted about the difficulties of locating an appropriate and non-sexualized dress for my daughter's Confirmation.)

Mary

Flat Rock Creek Notebook: Memoirs of the Here and Now

http://flatrockcreeknotebook.com ( http://flatrockcreeknotebook.com/ )

I would ask Ms Steinem the same question. There is such a strong and amazing online feminist community right now, and news articles proclaiming that women rule the web. I wonder if she finds it as exciting as the rest of us do. I would also ask if there is anything that she feels we could be doing better to advance the rights of women via web-based media.

I've never heard "maternal wall" either but I'm pretty sure I know what it means and I like it. And that is what I would ask Ms Steinem as well.

First off, thank you for asking us all what we'd ask her! (I echo Fats here).

I'm really fascinated by the role women-owned media play in advancing (redefining? coopting? playing tug-of-war with?) feminist gains, socially. I'd love to know what parallels she sees between how women used media during the height of the 2nd wave women's mov't in the 1970s & how she sees women using media now. Particularly given the democratizing & amplifying potential of DIY blog publishing & social media.

Of particular interest to me would be her take on the parallels & differences between what she & the mov't was able to do with Ms. magazine & what BlogHer and its community members are doing in the early 2000s.

as I came of age, I watched with fascination and admiration while Ms. S. and her friends burned their bras and opened doors for me; and as they also opened my mind I became somewhat fascinated as to what made all those feminists tick.

And so,in that spirit--being a musician and a writer--I'd now love to ask Ms. S. what music she enjoys and what fiction she reads.

Thanks a bunch!!

telling her how much I admire and respect her. And how much I appreciate everything that she's done for women.

Some questions. Women's reproductive rights and services for women such as Planned Parenthood are under attack. How can we help make sure women don't lose much of what we've gained so painfully.

Along that same line of thought, what still needs to be done by/for women in the US?

What can we do to help liberate women in countries where they have almost no power or freedom?

Virginia DeBolt writes about web design education and web technology ( http://www.webteacher.ws/ ) at Web Teacher. She creates a daily writing prompt ( http://first50.wordpress.com ) at First 50 Words.

As I'm reading this, the post about Peggy Orenstein's "Cinderella" book is in the sidebar. I'd like to hear what Ms. Steinem makes of this whole phenom?

Also for these girls' mothers- the complaint I hear from many of my peers is the lack of opportunity to work in a part-time way that can bring better balance to work and family. It seems that for many professional careers, there is no middle ground between working a 50-60 hr. week and not working. What can be done to change the corporate world?

Enjoy your interview! How exciting.

Grace Hwang Lynch blogs at HapaMama ( http://hapamama.com ) and A Year (Almost) Without Shopping ( http://www.blogher.com/ A Year (Almost) Without Shopping ).

(duplicate comment)

Just in the last three months, I've had to deal with a room full of Hooters t-shirts at a professional science/tech meeting, gender-exclusive language on a press release that diminishes the contributions of women, and cheerleaders headlining the Women's History Month event (singular) at NASA.

I love my NASA. I want it to succeed with the help of both men AND women. I trained as a physicist and worked at NASA for years in that pursuit -- but it's letting me down, and the fights look a lot like what Steinem and her wave of feminists fought thirty years ago.

Why do we have to fight the same fights again? What can we do today to convince the establishment that language maters, that actions matter, and that we all can contribute to the work of science, regardless of our looks, our physical abilities, or our ability to work 9-5? (Yes, I threw that last one in. For young mothers today, the obstacle to choosing both work and family often these days is the lack of flexibility in work time and place. This is our generation's fight -- but the other ones, the other ones should have been resolved by now.)

Susan

Susan Niebur writes about life, kids, cancer, career, and balancing it all at http://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com ( http://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com/ ), http://motherswithcancer.com ( http://motherswithcancer.wordpress.com/ ), and http://womeninplanetaryscience.com

That is all.

Elisa Camahort Page
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What does she consider the high and low points of her years in public life?

nellewrites ( http://nellewrites.wordpress.com/ )

...while I have met Ms. Steinem once...at a function at her home no less! (thank you, Melissa Silverstein ( http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/ ))...this interview will be on the phone. She's so back to back while she's in town that I can only grab her while she's en route!

Elisa Camahort Page
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Ms. Steinem or me?

Cause I have received no tee-shirts :)

Elisa Camahort Page
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I've never heard "the maternal wall" before (maybe because I'm not a mom. Can you elaborate on what you mean? I think I can guess, but why guess? :)

Elisa Camahort Page
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...of asking a question to get a question in reply. What would she ask a young woman to get her thinking, check!

Elisa Camahort Page
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What question would she ask my very smart, very accomplished (Notre Dame student), very Catholic 19yr old granddaughter to open her thinking about what women's rights mean to her life?

What a thrill - it means a lot to me to be asked what I would ask. Also, it's great to try to put this question into words. Thanks! Linda

What wonderful opportunity!

I would ask her what she makes of the "maternal wall" in business, politics and economics and what she thinks we can do about it.

Heather blogs about Motherhood & Other Offensive Situations at http://www.ultimateoutcasts.com.

How can I motivate original trailblazers such as her to speak to emerging trailblazers such as my high school women's studies class? Everyone seems to speak about support, but few seem to follow through. Any ideas? Thank you! P.S. Did you happen to get the "Make the Break" t-shirt my students sent you in December? :)

I would ask her advice on how to frame the issues we still face when discussing them with young people. Even my own daughter wants to avoid being labeled a "feminist." :(

Donna Schwartz Mills
http://www.SoCalMom.net ( http://www.socalmom.net )