Gloria Steinem, Pioneer of Modern Feminist Movement, Speaks at UB Law March 7
February 15, 2008
Contact: University Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
Gloria Steinem, a legendary leader in the modern feminist movement and an activist, writer and publisher with decades of experience in the struggle for equal rights, will deliver the keynote address for the University of Baltimore School of Law conference, "Can You Hear Us Now?: How New Feminist Legal Theories and Feminisms Are Changing Society," on Friday, March 7, at 6 p.m. in the Langsdale Library Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required. The auditorium is located at the intersection of Maryland Avenue and Oliver Street, across Maryland Avenue from the School of Law.
Steinem's work as an activist and commentator takes her across the United States and to other countries, where she organizes, delivers lectures and frequently appears in the media as a leading voice on issues of equality. She is particularly interested in the shared origins of sex and race caste systems, gender roles and child abuse as the root causes of violence. She works to further the cause of nonviolent conflict resolution, the cultures of indigenous peoples and the power of organizing across boundaries for peace and justice.
In 1972, after being in the spotlight for years on issues of equality, Steinem co-founded Ms. magazine. She served as an editor there for 15 years, and continues to serve as a consulting editor. She was instrumental in the magazine's recent move to join and be published by the Feminist Majority Foundation. Four years prior to establishing Ms., she helped to found New York magazine, where she was a political columnist and wrote feature articles. As a freelance writer, she has been published in Esquire, The New York Times Magazine and many women's magazines as well as in publications in other countries. Her books include the bestsellers Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem, Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, Moving Beyond Words, and Marilyn: Norma Jean, on the Life of Marilyn Monroe. Her writing also appears in many anthologies and textbooks, and she was an editor of The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History.
Steinem was a founder of the Women's Action Alliance, a pioneering national information center that specialized in nonsexist, multi-racial children's education, and the National Women's Political Caucus, a group that continues to work to advance the numbers of pro-equality women in elected and appointed office at the national and state level. She was president and co-founder of Voters for Choice, a pro-choice political action committee for 25 years, then with the Planned Parenthood Action Fund when it merged with VFC for the 2004 elections.
She was also co-founder and serves on the board of Choice USA, a national organization that supports young pro-choice leadership and works to preserve comprehensive sex education in schools. She was the founding president of the Ms. Foundation for Women, a national multi-racial, multi-issue fund that supports grassroots projects to empower women and girls, and also a founder of its Take Our Daughters to Work Day, the first national day devoted to girls that has now become an institution here and in other countries. She is currently working with the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College on a project to document the grassroots origins of the U.S. women's movement.
Steinem's writings have earned her the Penney-Missouri Journalism Award, the Front Page and Clarion awards, National Magazine awards, an Emmy Citation for excellence in television writing, the Women's Sports Journalism Award, the Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Society of Writers Award from the United Nations, and most recently, the University of Missouri School of Journalism Award for Distinguished Service in Journalism.
She has also received the first doctorate of human justice awarded by Simmons College, the Bill of Rights Award from the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, the National Gay Rights Advocates Award, the Liberty award of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Ceres Medal from the United Nations, and a number of honorary degrees. Parenting magazine selected her for its Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995 for her work in promoting girls' self-esteem, and Biography magazine listed her as one of the 25 most influential women in America. In 1993, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. She has been the subject of two biographical television documentaries as well as The Education of a Woman, a biography.
Steinem graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Smith College in 1956, followed by two years in India on a Chester Bowles Fellowship. She wrote for Indian publications, and was influenced by Gandhian activism.
Steinem now lives in New York City, and is currently at work on the book Road to the Heart: America As if Everyone Mattered. She is also writing for other books and publications, and is part of an effort to form a women's media center and a woman-controlled radio network.
Prior to Steinem's address, "Can You Hear Us Now" will take place on Friday, March 7 with a day of presentations by legal scholars, practitioners and activists in an exploration of the evolution of feminism and feminist legal theory. The complete conference agenda is available here. These events also are free with registration. Visit the conference registration page for more information.
For more information about Steinem's talk and the conference, send an e-mail to lawevents@ubalt.edu or call Margaret E. Johnson, assistant professor in the University of Baltimore School of Law, at 410.837.5779.
The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the School of Law, the Yale Gordon College of Liberal Arts and the Merrick School of Business.