"Legislative Lunch with Gloria Steinem"

Jamie Crenshaw

Professor Meredith Tweed

WST 3015-001

26 October 2012

“Legislative Lunch with Gloria Steinem” Campus Engagement Reflection

            The Pegasus Ballroom of the Student Union was packed long before Ms. Steinem was introduced. Seeing as my last class of the morning ended ten minutes before the event, I was planning on slipping in just as the speakers began, but fortunately my class was canceled and I was there well before the presentation started and ensured myself a seat. I was somewhat surprised to see other members of the community that did not seem to be from the university in the crowd.

            I had never heard of Gloria Steinem before I decided to attend her luncheon to fulfill my campus engagement requirement, but apparently I was the minority. After attending the event and telling my family and the woman that I babysit for that I saw her speak, they instantly knew who I was referring too and stated that they wished that they knew that she was coming so that they could have driven an hour to campus to attend.

            Ms. Steinem was utterly enchanting. Even without reading her literature or knowing of her reputation in the world of activism, I found myself captivated by the calm, thoughtful, and humble demeanor in which she stated her incredibly insightful speech and responses to questions from the audience. Personally, the candidates’ stances on the issue of women’s rights this year’s presidential election has been arguably the most influential factor in my choice of which candidate I have chosen to endorse. Surprisingly, this hasn’t seemed to be as much of reasoning in my friends and peers’ decisions as I would have supposed it to be, which made attending a seminar focused upon this connection of women and politics so enticing. 

            Ms. Steinem emphasized the importance of each individual’s vote in this campaign, particularly every woman’s vote, and how with each ballot casted we are essentially defining the values we are setting for our country. While Ms. Steinem never explicitly endorsed President Obama, in the current political context, it was clear that she was appealing to a significantly liberal audience. Although I found the focused topic of women and politics incredibly interesting, I wish that the “Legislative Lunch” would have lasted a little longer, giving Ms. Steinem the opportunity to expand upon general feminist activism and the correlation between fighting for women’s rights and fighting for other forms of oppression, such as racism and LGBTQ discrimination, as well as developing her thoughts on environmental activism. Overwhelmingly the most influential message she left with me was of the beautifully haunting metaphor that she used to describe inspiring activism, which she described not as just to “light (her) own flame, but to use (her) flame to light other’s torches.”