Death of an Icon…

…and that word fits perfectly.

I don’t think when Gloria Steinem was growing up she planned on being an icon in the history of the American woman.

She probably didn’t even plan on it as an adult.

But that’s what she was, in every sense of the word, and when she died this past week at the wonderfully full age of 92, we lost a piece of living history.

Like I did with the death of Dolly Parton the week prior, I had to sit on writing this piece for a while because there was so much to say about her and how she influenced my life that I needed time to coordinate those thoughts and sit with those feelings.

How do you summarize a person’s life in less than 500 words and still show the impact that individual had on every single American woman alive today?

One thing I know for sure is that many female Millennials, or any of the letter/symbols that came after them, truly don’t understand how much Gloria Steinem did for them while she was fighting for the rights of their grandmothers.

They probably don’t realize that until the late 1970s, women couldn’t have a credit card if a man didn’t co-sign the bank agreement for them.

They probably don’t know that a married woman couldn’t hold a credit card in her name but only in the name of her husband, thereby never allowing her to establish an actual line of credit. This meant that a single, unmarried woman couldn’t apply for a loan, a mortgage, or even own a business outright without a male co-signer, usually a father, uncle, or brother – even one younger than she. If she didn’t have a male in her life…she wasn’t granted any financial help.

Let that sit for a moment and try to understand how this kept women under the thumbs of men because of their lack of financial independence.

Young women today probably don’t know she was one of the female driving forces behind getting the Equal Rights Amendment adopted and worked tirelessly for years, lobbying Congress and traveling state to state to help see it come to fruition.

I’m sure they don’t know that she was the driving force behind MS Magazine, the first of its kind; a magazine dedicated to giving knowledge, encouragement, and courage to women. One of the major tenets of the magazine was that no advertising within it showed women in an objectified way. During a time when that’s all advertising did – show women in subservient, objectified ways- this was a major shift in the publishing world. Topics and essays dealt with everything female-related, and included political discourse, medical advances,and first-person accounts of simply being a woman in a world where being one was viewed as being less than.

I was a faithful subscriber.

And the world ate it up – even the most conservative of women read MS, if for no other reason than to learn something new about their own gender, their bodies, and their sisters.

Gloria was a fierce advocate for female body autonomy, human rights, and speaking the truth, and never shied away from lecturing or writing about abortion, cultural gender mutilation, domestic violence, childcare issues for working women, unequal pay practices, and any topic that chose to make a woman’s body the main thrust of her humanity. She wrote and spoke extensively on the hot and divisive topic of racism in our society.

I’m just not sure the girls of my daughter’s and granddaughter’s generation fully understand the impact she’s had on the lives and freedoms they have today.

But I do.

I was a young adult woman in the 70s and 80s when Gloria was fighting the good fight. Her activism shone like a beacon to my entire generation of women who were coming into their own – and learning how to fight to be heard.

Gloria, and all the brave women who came before her, made it possible for women to have a place at the table, then own that table.

She was incredibly intelligent, educated, and articulate. Listening to her speak on several occasions at rallies and on television showed me the power of a well-prepared, articulate, and fact-based voice. A voice used to elevate, never denigrate. A voice that couldn’t understand why half the population wasn’t treated equally, fairly, or respectfully. This petite, thin woman could cut off a person at the knees with one well-timed, killer quip, and ever raised her voice, interrupted, or bullied her way in doing so.

In a time when shouting was the norm, she spoke quietly, firmly, and factually, so much so you were forced to listen.

And people – women and men, listened.

In 2013, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama, who said, “Because of her work, across America and around the world, more women are afforded the respect and opportunities that they deserve.”

True words.

Gloria knew her power and lived it, every day of her 92 years.

And in so doing, made the world – and me – better.

RIP, dear lady. You deserve the rest.

~ Peg