Nikki McCann Ramirez writes:

Gloria Steinem never held elected office. She never ran for one, never seemed particularly interested in pursuing power inside the governing systems she strove so hard to change. Steinem was, over the course of her lifelong activism, a beacon of the manner in which Americans can shape their nation for the better, without ever having to put their name on a ballot.

Steinem died on Monday at the age of 92, after nearly seven decades as a leading figure in the women’s liberation movement, and a defining voice of American feminism. A writer, journalist, organizer, and activist, Steinem’s life was defined by a commitment to embodying one’s politics in service of others. She was often motivated by a deep rage at the injustices around her, and like every great icon of the civil rights movement before her, died with unfinished business on the table.

The politics of womanhood are perhaps in their most regressive moment since the women’s liberation movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The nation is governed by a far right political party intent on reimposing traditionalist gender dynamics and restricting women’s independence. The right to reproductive freedom has been burned out of federal law. The conservative movement openly endorses the elimination of hard won victories like no fault divorce, equal employment and opportunity protections, and access to birth control. They proudly proclaim support for male-controlled household voting, and see women’s departure from compulsory homemaking as one of the roots of social rot. The whole thing is headed by a president accused of sexual assault and misconduct by dozens of women over the course of his life.

And yet, the foundation built by Steinem and her contemporaries — Shirley Chisholm, Betty Friedan, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Bella Azbug — continues to stand. If anything, Steinem was proven correct when she wrote that her years of political activism had left her with “one clear message: Voting isn’t the most we can do, but it is the least. To have a democracy, you have to want one.” [Continue reading…]