“At my age, most people are dead,” Gloria Steinem said to a thunderous applause. “I am 82.”
Gasp!
You just took another look at that photo, didn’t you?
I had walked out of the 900-seat auditorium, wishing I could have seen her a little closer. And who do I run into at the street corner!
It was a birthday gift from my son Saqib and daughter-in-law Saadia, “My Life on the Road,” by Gloria Steinem. Only halfway through the book, and I knew I had to meet this woman. Had to.
She spoke, I listened, I share.
On the Election
- The voting booth is where the least powerful & the most powerful are equal.
- The election is not about one woman getting power; it’s about making life better for all women.
- If Hilary were Harry, I would still be voting for her. I did not vote for Sarah Palin.
On Equality
- If we don’t have democracy at home, we cannot have it outside the home.
- We are linked, not ranked.
- Be in a circle, not in a pyramid.
- Raising our sons more like our daughters, and raising our daughters more like our sons.
- Best economic stimulus: equal pay for women of all races.
- Tell each other at the workplace how much we make. Share that knowledge, and make change.
On Empowerment
- A tree does not grow from the top down.
- Nobody can have it all. Our job patterns have to be adjusted for women and men.
On Freedom
- The years beyond the mid-fifties are the best. The gender role is over, and you are free. The biggest indicator of who we are after age 55, is what we were at age 9.
- Do not listen to me. Listen to yourself.
- If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, but you think it’s a pig; it’s a pig.
LISTEN TO YOURSELF
