Gloria Steinem Interview

Not a lot new in this interview but I’m still always blown away by her intelligence and persistence.  She has some things to say about marriage that are relevant to some of the recent discussions here on Feministing as well. 

Steinem: We were more surprised than anyone else when we got married – I was 66 and he was 59 – but we loved each other and wanted to be together, and the women’s movement had spent 30 years equalizing the marriage laws, so why not? Of course, “husband and wife” still sounded like roles, not people, so we referred to each other as “the friend I married.” We got married legally in a Cherokee ceremony in Oklahoma. It turned out to be very important two years later when he became very ill with primary brain lymphoma and there were medical permissions and almost a year of huge expense that wouldn’t otherwise have been covered by my insurance. It made me realize even more deeply that marriage has to be an institution open to everyone.

I think the rock-bottom requirement for any good partnership is that you want what’s best for the other person. Then come such things as shared humor and sensuousness, loving to do the little stuff together, and respecting each other’s work and purpose in life.

I really enjoyed this interview and thought many of you would too.