Women Who Make A Difference #2

Welcome back! You're in for a treat with our second princess-ified fabulous female! Read below for an exciting extended profile!



Who is Gloria Steinem?

She is a feminist activist, writer, lecturer and guest commentator on radio and television. 

What did Gloria Steinem do?

She has helped hound the Women's Action Alliance, the National Women's Political Caucus, Choice USA, Take Our Daughters to Work Day (how cool is that?!) and Women's Media Center, amongst others! She has more awards than anyone can possibly remember including her recent acceptance of the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest honor the US can give a civilian)!! She has even created a documentary for HBO on child abuse. Wow, that was a mouthful…. this just goes to show you how many amazing things Gloria Steinem has achieved and how you can follow her example to do the same!  

What can everyone learn from Gloria Steinem?

Like Susan B. Anthony (from our last Disney & Women post), Gloria was involved in a women's movement - the second women's movement. She became the face of change for women's all over the county between the 1960s and 1970s. She spoke up in a time where being an activist was associated with a lot of negative stigma, when it was often a dangerous thing to get involved in, and when she was opposed by so many (including other women)! She followed what she was passionate about, no matter what. 

Even after her work for the women's movement, Gloria continued to show an interest in activism. She decided to put her journalism skills, activism experience, public relation skills to use by starting companies that would continue inspiring girls and women to take every opportunity they wanted. She lectures at public events and universities so that her personal voice is never lost in her message. 

We must not forget that Gloria Steinem had humble beginnings. She shows us that you can definitely work your way up! She went to college like any other high schooler and later became a journalist. She was able to use her position in the media to get her voice out there. She wrote about topics she felt were important including contraception, mistreatment of women in the workplace and same-sex marriage. 

If you look back at Gloria's career you can see that she grabbed every opportunity she could to further her goals! No matter the opposition or difficulty. If she had stuck by the norms of her time she would have never achieved all that she has. 

Some fun facts about Gloria Steinem?

1) She went undercover to research her articles (my personal favorite!!!)
2) Her favorite show of the moment is HBO's Girls
3) Her favorite hairstyle in the 60s was Audrey Hepburn's from Breakfast at Tiffany's.
4) Her favorite sunglasses are aviators
5) She is a breast cancer survivor.

Go to these sites to learn more about the kind of work Gloria does and to get involved yourself! 
1) Ms. Foundation
2) V-Day
3) Equality Now

Remember to check back each week for the next special woman! Comment below if you respect Gloria too! Does she inspire YOU? If not, who does??

Information and photo courtesy of David Trumble, Wikipedia, Feminist and The Daily Beast