Gloria Steinem, women’s rights icon and political activist, spoke about domestic violence and gender equality to a packed Shriver Hall as the second speaker in this year’s Foreign Affairs Symposium (FAS).
Steinem has written several books on feminism and politics. A co-founder of Ms. magazine, the first national feminist magazine, Steinem has been at the forefront of many sociopolitical movements, including the pro-choice, anti-war and anti-Apartheid movements.
Steinem entered the room to thunderous applause, whistles and cheers of her supporters, who were a majority of the audience.
“I hope we all leave this room having learned something,” Steinem said. “We are both unique and part of the human family. Human beings are linked, not ranked.”
Steinem immediately addressed one of the major complaints about feminism, stressing that women are not better than men. Steinem explained that the countries with the most polarized gender roles were the countries with the most severe domestic violence issues.
“It’s violence against females. It’s not intrinsically more important than violence against males. People are people — What a concept!” she said.
Steinem spoke at length about patriarchy and discussed the dominance of patriarchal norms in religions that have affected how women have been and are treated.
She defined patriarchy as male control of female reproduction.
“Saying ‘This is just the way it is;’ that’s the worst argument. That’s the current great danger: Saying it’s over when we have far, far to go,” she said.
Steinem then shifted the focus to politics and the future of the Republican party, specifically in relation to abortion politics.
“Republicans used to support reproductive freedom. Those who took over the Republican party are old, racist Democrats. I hope there are some true Republicans here to take back your party,” she said.
Steinem also spoke about campus activism, stressing that practice makes perfect and that students should use all their resources to their advantage.
“Just take it in your hands and do it,” she said. “If you practice here, you will be empowered later in life. Get mad and make it fun too. When someone calls you a bitch, say ‘thank you.’”
On the topic of domestic violence, Steinem said that addressing the issue out in the open is the solution will help prevent sexual assault.
“If [George] Zimmerman was arrested for domestic violence, Trayvon Martin would still be alive. It’s impossible to be a feminist and not anti-racist. If they’re abusing you, they’re abusing other people,” she said.
Many students said they were inspired by Steinem’s speech and the energy in the audience.
“After seeing and hearing very negative views on feminism on Yik Yak and through word of mouth by some friends who were very against feminism, I was shocked and excited to see so many people were here — male and female,” freshman Kyra Meko said.
Freshman Olivia Sun said she was impressed by Steinem’s speaking style.
“For once I learnt that to sound authoritative and to ‘dominate’ the stage is not the only way to display confidence and blow the audience off their feet,” Sun said.
Throughout the event, Hopkins Voice for Life (VFL), a campus pro-life student group, protested outside, engaging students in conversation about what they say are the dangerous repercussions of abortion. They were also protesting Gloria Steinem’s pro-choice views.
VFL displayed banners that showed statistics and pictures of women who died during abortions. The majority of students ignored the demonstration, but some pro-choice supporters argued with the demonstrators.
“We believe that both sides of the issue should be presented,” VFL Capital Area Regional Coordinator Michele Hendrickson said. “A lot of people say that abortion should be safe, legal and rare, but in reality we’re only dealing with one of those. It’s not safe for the women, it’s never safe for the child and it’s certainly not rare.”
FAS continues on March 11 with a panel assembled to discuss the rise of ISIS. The panelists will be Hadi Al-Bahra, president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces; Robert Ford, Former ambassador to Algeria and Syria; Ryan Calder, Professor of Sociology and Islamic Studies; and David Faris, Roosevelt University Professor.
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