From being a well known feminist leader in the late 1960s to dedicating her life to vital political and social causes in recent years, Gloria Steinem has earned her title as an outspoken activist.
Less than two weeks from the presidential election, the co-founder and contributing editor of Ms. Magazine has a new cause. She told a crowd of more than 1,000 in the EMU Ballroom Wednesday that if they support the issue of women’s rights they must help make one thing certain — keep Texas Gov. George W. Bush from becoming president.
Steinem, who was a co-convener of the National Women’s Political Caucus, also gave the audience a top 10 list of reasons why she is not voting for Pacific Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, as a part of her mission to keep Bush out of the office.
“I’m not against raising money for the Green Party, but not at the expense of putting George Bush in the White House,” she said.
Steinem is also the president of Voters for Choice, a national group supporting Gore specifically because Gore is pro-choice. She spoke about one of her main concerns that the next president will be appointing two to four Supreme Court justices, and that while Bush has signed 15 anti-abortion bills in Texas and has expressed support in overturning Roe v. Wade, Gore has said he would appoint pro-choice justices.
Steinem also emphasized her belief that Nader “isn’t running for president,” but “running for funds for the Green Party.” But Maureen Britell, executive director of Voters for Choice, the event’s co-sponsor of the event along with the Hillel Jewish Women’s Collective, said Steinem has a close history with Nader and respects him.
Britell said that Steinem has campaigned with Nader, traveled with him, and done rallies with him. She said Steinem calls Nader her “parallel person,” especially after they were both voted non-parents of the year by Zero Population Growth, a national organization that works to slow population growth. But Steinem’s vote still goes to Gore.
“She appreciates the work he has done, but she recognizes the dangers of his campaign right now,” Britell said.
Heidi Grant, senior environmental science major and Nader supporter, said that many of Steinem’s points were difficult to swallow.
“I’m afraid of Bush getting into office, it keeps me awake at night,” she said. “But even though I know Nader isn’t going to be president, I want to see the Green Party endorsed.”
Steinem also raised the issue that many people don’t vote due to the skewed notion that there aren’t many differences between the two candidates. She said these kinds of representations are especially promoted by dominant groups who want to deter others from voting. She said that one of the big problems has been that conservative groups usually vote 70-80 percent of their memberships and progressive groups fall behind because not as many of them vote.
Steinem also said young people especially need to change politicians’ expectations and also get out and vote, a reason for her touring so many college campuses this fall.
Chris Bowling, senior computer science and math major who falls in the large Oregon swing voter population, said that Steinem’s speech was informational and helped him see different sides of the election. He said that although he’d considered voting for Nader to contribute to the 5 percent of the vote Nader needs to increase his party’s funding, the speech shed more light on reasons to vote for Gore instead.
But Steinem said that even if Gore wins the campaign, communities still need to work hard to pressure him to work towards progressive objectives.
ASUO Vice President Holly Magner said that though Steinem’s speech was thought-provoking and fair, it didn’t cover all of the issues people were expecting to hear about.
“A lot of people came expecting it to be a speech about feminism, but it ended up being more of a political rally and I think that was a surprise to them,” she said. “But she still did a good job of connecting and tying it in with women’s issues.”
Prior to Steinem’s address, State Representative Vicki Walker and State Senator Susan Castillo also spoke about election issues. And a few students took the podium to discuss ballot measures that would affect the University and community including measures 91, 81, 88, 98 and 9.
Steinem ended her speech by encouraging everyone in the room to vote, and especially to support the “rights women have worked so hard to obtain.” But she also said she didn’t want to tell anyone what to do.
“Feminism is about the power to make our own decisions,” she said. “But even if we don’t feel personally connected to the election, we have an obligation to support those who are affected by it.”