Sonya Ellingboe
“Become a democracy circle that continues to meet together… with
all five senses,” author, editor and activist Gloria Steinem
advised the mostly female audience that packed the meeting room at
Bemis Library, Oct. 28.
“The public library is a perfect place. I’m sure you all have
stories about the meaning of a library for you. We need to make
sure about library funding,” she said and launched eloquently into
a survey of issues and opinions.
On a whirlwind 10-day tour of the Denver metro area in advance
of what she calls “the most important election in my lifetime,” she
encouraged ongoing activism, including efforts to make voting
easier for everyone in the future.
“In the U.S. it’s typically more difficult to vote than
elsewhere on Earth. In India, polls are open a week. In Canada,
registered names are posted. Make it a celebration the first time
you go to vote.”
Back to the value of group interaction: “Small groups have met
for centuries. …brains craving narrative and image. A general rule:
If you want kindness, humor and poetry at the end, you must include
it along the way.”
Discussion on women’s health care followed with the comment that
“Health care is not a widget!” And on equal pay for comparable
work, Steinem suggested “a conceptual leap forward” where
caregiving is adequately valued and perhaps rewarded with a tax
credit.
Regarding gender discrimination: “It’s important not to make
race and sex competitive. …It’s in our interest, and that of all
women, to uproot the racial caste system.”
Are younger women on board with the concerns of Steinem’s
generation?
“Young women are mad as hell about the lack of sex education;
about the unwillingness of some pharmacists to fill birth control
and after-sex prescriptions. Roe v Wade is 85 percent gutted … 85
percent of countries on US aid offer no family planning help …
military women have no services … one woman dies every minute from
an illegal abortion,” she said.
Questions followed about peace activism, education and more.
Advice: “Do the action that lies in our sphere.”
