WST Engagement #2

On Friday, October 19th I went to hear Gloria Steinem talk in the Pegasus Ballroom. Overall, the experience of getting to hear her speak was wonderful. Gloria spoke a lot about the upcoming election and the importance of going out and voting and encouraging others to go out and vote. She referenced a time she was at a speaking engagement at a college in Florida and found that about 100 of the 700 people in the audience that had gone to vote had been prevented for some reason. I didn’t realize there was so much going on to prevent people from voting. It is really disheartening really and shows the importance of why we NEED to go vote if we are able. Because even some people who do everything they can to exercise their right to vote are still not able to.

Gloria talked about a wide variety of wonderful things. She talked about how she has spent her life dedicated to the women’s movement. She said a question she gets a lot is “Aren’t you interested in anything other than the women’s movement?” and her response is “tell me one thing that is not connected.” I thought this was very powerful. Especially, in our class how we are trying to show the connection of each issue we discuss to larger institutional and macro level issues. There always seems to be a connection. I think recognizing this is important to the women’s movement and people who do not think the women’s movement is important or affects them. It affects us all and we need to be aware of that.

Another quote that Gloria said that stuck with me was in response to another common question she gets asked. “Who are you going to pass your torch to?” Gloria said when people ask this she says “I’m not, I’m using it to light other people’s torches. There will be a lot more light if everyone has a torch.” I thought this was a very powerful response. We have this idea that only one person can head a movement, but that’s not true at all. We all need to be fighting and working towards this common goal. Especially since there are so many different issues that all connect back to women’s issues. We can all take up a torch for a different part of the problem and still be fighting for the same cause.

All in all I had a wonderful time hearing Gloria speak and I came away inspired!