Here are 10 of the most insightful quotes attributed to Gloria Steinem, and the logic behind them.
1. On Character
[the] idea that sexuality is only okay if it ends in reproduction oppresses women—whose health de-pends on separating sexuality from reproduction—as well as gay men and lesbians.
The Meaning: This line from Gloria Steinem compresses a lived tension into a single readable moment. Read it slowly: it is not asking you to agree, but to notice where the same pattern shows up in your own life. If you take it seriously, it becomes a test—what would you change if this were reliably true for you?
2. On Clarity
Blatant or subtle, pornography involves no equal power or mutuality. In fact, much of the tension and drama comes from the clear idea that one person is dominating the other.
The Meaning: This line from Gloria Steinem compresses a lived tension into a single readable moment. Read it slowly: it is not asking you to agree, but to notice where the same pattern shows up in your own life. If you take it seriously, it becomes a test—what would you change if this were reliably true for you?
3. On Fear and Courage
I have met brave women who are exploring the outer edge of human possibility, with no history to guide them, and the courage to make themselves vulnerable that I find moving beyond words.
The Meaning: This separates fear from paralysis. Fear can be accurate information; the failure mode is when it becomes your only information. The point is to act with fear present, not to wait until fear disappears.
4. On Perspective
I wasn't going to let things happen to me. I was going to direct my life, and therefore it felt positive. But still, I didn't tell anyone. Because I knew that out there it wasn't [positive].
The Meaning: This line from Gloria Steinem compresses a lived tension into a single readable moment. Read it slowly: it is not asking you to agree, but to notice where the same pattern shows up in your own life. If you take it seriously, it becomes a test—what would you change if this were reliably true for you?
5. On Discipline
With fewer over-possessive mothers and fewer fathers who hold up an impossibly cruel or perfectionist idea of manhood, boys will be less likely to be denied or reject their identity as males.
The Meaning: This line from Gloria Steinem compresses a lived tension into a single readable moment. Read it slowly: it is not asking you to agree, but to notice where the same pattern shows up in your own life. If you take it seriously, it becomes a test—what would you change if this were reliably true for you?
6. On Thought and Judgment
Basically, I feel different from most other women. I feel I don’t have to put on an act. If I’m not feminine enough for someone, I don’t care, because femininity is different in everyone’s mind.
The Meaning: This line from Gloria Steinem compresses a lived tension into a single readable moment. Read it slowly: it is not asking you to agree, but to notice where the same pattern shows up in your own life. If you take it seriously, it becomes a test—what would you change if this were reliably true for you?
7. On Conflict and Power
Because we are not respecting the lives of the millions of women in the world for whom feminist issue is ending war, having food, ending poverty, ending disease.
The Meaning: This is a warning about escalation: once violence becomes the grammar of a conflict, everyone starts speaking it fluently. The deeper point is that the tools you use to win also train the world in how to fight you next time.
8. On Creativity
Like the spider spinning its web, we create much of the outer world from within ourselves. The universe is a joint product of the observer and the observed.
The Meaning: This line from Gloria Steinem compresses a lived tension into a single readable moment. Read it slowly: it is not asking you to agree, but to notice where the same pattern shows up in your own life. If you take it seriously, it becomes a test—what would you change if this were reliably true for you?
9. On Love and Devotion
Erotica is as different from pornography as love is from rape, as dignity is from humiliation, as partnership is from slavery, as pleasure is from pain.
The Meaning: This line treats emotion as something that steers decisions more than arguments do. The meaning is practical: if you ignore what you feel, you may still act—but often on autopilot. Naming the feeling is the first step toward choosing it, rather than being dragged by it.
10. On Creativity
I suppose I could be referred to as a journalist, but because Ms. is part of a movement and not just a typical magazine, I'm more likely to be identified with the movement. There's no other slot to put me in.
The Meaning: This line from Gloria Steinem compresses a lived tension into a single readable moment. Read it slowly: it is not asking you to agree, but to notice where the same pattern shows up in your own life. If you take it seriously, it becomes a test—what would you change if this were reliably true for you?
