Feminist icon, social activist, writer and editor Gloria Steinem will discuss her travels in the United States and other countries as an organizer, lecturer and media spokesperson on issues of equality in a public lecture at Iowa State University on Tuesday, Oct. 11.
Steinem – who has served as a champion for women’s rights throughout her lifetime – will present “My Life on the Road” at 7 p.m. in Stephens Auditorium at the Iowa State Center. Her presentation is free and open to the public with no tickets required to attend. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for general admission seating.
In her lecture, Steinem will discuss her most recent book – a memoir, titled “My Life on the Road” – which details her more than 30 years as a feminist organizer. She is particularly interested in the shared origins of sex and race caste systems, gender roles and child abuse as roots of violence, non-violent conflict resolution, the cultures of indigenous peoples, and organizing across boundaries for peace and justice.
Her lecture is co-sponsored by the Ames Public Library Friends Foundation; the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics; the Margaret Sloss Women’s Center; National Affairs; the Society for the Advancement of Gender Equity; the University Library; the Women’s and Gender Studies Program; and the Committee on Lectures, which is funded by the ISU Student Government.
In 1971, Steinem co-founded Ms. magazine and served as an editor for 15 years. She continues to serve as a consulting editor for Ms. and was instrumental in the magazine’s move to join and be published by the Feminist Majority Foundation. Steinem also helped co-found New York magazine and the National Women’s Political Caucus.
Steinem’s other books include: “Doing Sixty and Seventy”; “Moving Beyond Words: Essays on Age, Rage, Sex, Power, Money, Muscles: Breaking the Boundaries of Gender”; “Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem”; and “Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions.” As a freelance writer, she has published in Esquire, the New York Times magazine, and women’s magazines as well as in publications in other countries. Her writing also appears in many anthologies and textbooks, and she was an editor of Houghton Mifflin’s “The Reader’s Companion to U.S. Women’s History.” Steinem has produced a documentary on child abuse for HBO and a feature film about the death penalty for Lifetime. She has been the subject of profiles on Lifetime and Showtime. She currently lives in New York City.