"DETROW: Her mother, Ruth, was 35 when she gave birth to Gloria. What Steinem didn't know until much later was that Ruth had given up a successful career as a reporter and editor to help her husband run the family business. After her parents' divorce when she was 10, Gloria was both daughter and caretaker to her mother who had nervous breakdowns and depression. In order to fit in with other kids, she would give herself her own curfew, something her mother couldn't do.
CHANG: Steinem remembered her mother in the essay "Ruth's Song (Because She Could Not Sing It)," and she spoke about that with NPR's Susan Stamberg in 1984.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
STEINEM: Because we live in a society in which women are less powerful, many of us have been motherless, and I suppose because our mothers had no power to be examples to us or to protect us. And so part of the women's movement is becoming each other's mothers and nurturing each other. Part of it is understanding that it was not our mother's fault. It's amazing how long we can as young women, especially, go through life saying, I'm not going to be anything like my mother. So we blame her. We blame the victim instead of seeing what the forces on her were. Now, I'm just beginning to meet young women who say something wonderful because their mothers are interesting and sort of powerful people who have been able to be individuals. And they say, oh, I hope I can have as interesting a life as my mother. And it's so wonderful to hear that change."
"Gloria Steinem in her own words : NPR"
https://www.npr.org/2026/09/03/nx-s1-5955470/gloria-steinem-in-her-own-words
No comments:
Post a Comment