Was anyone in Pittsburgh on the 27th? Turns out Gloria Steinem introduced Le Tigre’s show at Mr. Small’s Theatre. Steinem discussed the political process, especially the importance of voting in the upcoming election. It’s amazing that Steinem, second-wave extraordinaire, recognizes the influence music (Le Tigre, Ani Difranco, etc.) has on third wave women. “The ability of music groups of all kinds to go directly to the public without passing through the media is crucial,” she recently told Billboard. “People know and trust musicians based on their records and their lyrics. In this age of pretty skewed media, that’s precious.” Right on.
One Comment
Steinem has always struck me as being very savvy with regards to pop culture, the media, and how they affect feminism.
She came to a panel discussion on feminism at my college a few years back. An audience member asked the panel what they thought we could do about negative sterotypes in the media. One of the panel members said that we should just ignore the media and find our own role models outside of it.
Steinem had a much better answer: she said that the other woman was right, except that we cannot ignore the mainstream media altogether, or we risk not reaching large segments of the population. She said that we needed to look for other sources of inspiration, to find ways to share them with others, and minimize the impact of the negative sterotypes that are a part of the current media.
And she agreed that none of the above is ever easy.