by Maya Brown
Last month, I was lucky enough to see Gloria Steinem speak at Colby College. Her talk was beyond fabulous, and really inspired me as a young activist and a SPARKteam member. It’s hard for me to pick out pieces to highlight because the whole talk was great, but there were three things she said that resonated with me and with our mission here at SPARK.
The first thing she said that really struck me was that when you get down to it, we are all a part of the same movement. Despite people
who claim that feminism is dead or isn’t necessary anymore, we, as young feminists are just as important as the suffragettes who made it legal for women to vote, or the women who worked so hard to legalize abortions (and who are still doing so today). My SPARK sisters and I are a continuation of this one movement dedicated to creating a world where all genders are equal. And, as Gloria Steinem so perfectly put it, all genders will never be equal until there is also racial, ethnic, LGBTQ, and all other forms of equality. In that respect, the feminist movement is linked very closely to all other movements. And while it’s important that we have these separate movements in order to allow everyone to be heard and to work against specific issues, it’s so necessary that we remember this connection and that we actively support one another. Because what we’re all working for is equality for everyone, and many of these movements are inherently connected already. (Plus, as with everything, we all need as much help as we can get.)
She also argued that inequality and oppression against women all comes down to patriarchy attempting to control women’s bodies. She pointed out a multitude of examples, including the fight for reproductive freedom and sexualization in the advertising industry, but even when she was talking about something seemingly unrelated, such as equal pay for equal work, she found a way to link it back to women’s bodies being turned into objects outside of their own control. This showed me without a doubt just how important the work SPARK does is, because that is exactly what we’re fighting against. We want to end women being seen as purely sexual objects made for the purpose of pleasing men. Gloria even did a quick shout-out to Hardy Girls and to SPARK, which was both awesome and super gratifying, because it means that one of the most powerful feminists has got our back.
But the piece of advice that most resonated with me from Gloria Steinem’s talk was broader. To paraphrase, she said to always remember not to live your life like a means to an end, but to live your life like the way you want your life to be. This may sound obvious, but it’s actually pretty deep. She’s saying that instead of hoping that at some point in the future you will be happy or write more or be more successful, just do it now–live your life the way you hope it will someday be. Enjoy the ride instead of focusing on the destination. This too can be applied to SPARK and the feminist movement. It’s important to dream of a better future, and if we’re pointing out sexualization and inequality and encouraging girls to create new media now, we are creating that future. We aren’t working towards some definite end, but we are changing the world by just being here, by doing the work that we do, and by being a positive influence on girls–that’s pretty amazing!
It was fabulous to see Gloria Steinem talk because she is one of the women I most look up to, but also because she really spoke to me and to SPARK. She made me even prouder to be a feminist and to know that I am a part of such a large and important movement with such a rich background. And to hear that she looks up to us young feminists was truly inspiring.