To create a magazine written by women, for women, within an industry subject to the authority of men- during a time when the word “feminism” induced a shudder across the room, when the American landscape for women meant living within the lingering cult of domesticity- Steinem combated these obstacles and worked to build her community of women writing for each other. “At The Ladies Home Journal where I was an occasional consultant and writer, one of its two top editors (both men, of course) was so convinced that I was nothing like its readers (whom he described as ‘mental defectives with curlers in their hair’) that he used to hand me a manuscript and say, ‘Pretend you’re a woman and read this.’”Īnd thus Ms. was created to disrupt a history of men telling women’s stories in the media. Read this particular anecdote that Steinem shares, undoubtedly an event that sparked the creation of her own magazine: As it happened, these magazines were not written by women at all. In her introduction to Outrageous Acts, Steinem discusses the birth of Ms., divulging that she had previously worked as a consultant for famous literary publications targeted at women readers. Magazine,described as a “landmark institution” in women’s rights and American journalism. Steinem is also famously remembered for starting Ms. During the ‘60s-‘70s Steinem toured the United States, giving lectures and organizing the second wave of feminism, and as such made herself a household name that endures today. Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions (1983) is a collection of essays from Steinem’s vastly influential career in feminist activism and journalism. We are still creating this world for ourselves, one in which we can follow our dreams instead of marrying them.

Steinem, in all of her liberation-movement-groovy-glory, wrote something so boldly unapologetic about the phenomena of women leaving “the home” for the predominantly male work force. “Now, we are becoming the men we wanted to marry.”

And before this movement, I internalized my beliefs, keeping my desires for change to myself. Before knowing the current wave of feminism, I was not aware of my own power, my rights to move through this world. The ideologies have lived in me my whole life - it is only in recent years that I have found the right words for it. It is such a part of me that it is difficult to remember a time when it wasn’t so deeply attached to my identity. Throughout my young adulthood, and particularly since the creation of Boshemia, I have taken for granted my feminism. This question, simple and sharp, shook me profoundly. I was beginning to recognize the secondary status of women.

Who was I? I was an angry teenager, trembling on the brink of self, uncomfortable in my own body and exceedingly frustrated with my place in the world. I open the book to this line: “Who were you before this wave of feminism began?”

Gloria steinem outrageous acts