‘Hope Is Practical and Necsssary’: Gloria Steinem on Activism, Jewelry, and Life at 90

In the spirit of birthday gifts, can you recall the most touching gift you’ve ever received, whether it’s something tangible like jewelry, or, perhaps, a gesture?

I would say the most touching gift I ever received was my older sister offering to take care of our mother so that I could go to India, where I lived for two years. This was not a simple task, as my sister was in the course of having six children. That was such a freedom and such a big gift which profoundly changed my life.

Given that sales of these accessories will benefit your foundation, whose first goal is to preserve your brownstone, what’s your long-term vision for your home? How important is it to you to provide people with meaningful spaces to convene?

My living room has long been a place for meetings. I can accommodate up to 20 people. Over time it became clear to me how difficult it was to find a place that was quiet, private, and free, so I’m happy to be able to supply my living room. One time when I was in London, I saw a building with a plaque outside that noted how it had been a suffrage headquarters, and it still served as a place to have meetings. So my hope is that every city might have at least one place where it’s possible to meet without having to pay.

Reflecting on your nine extraordinary decades of life, what have been your most challenging lessons and gratifying moments?

The hardest moments are sitting down to write instead of answering the phone or email—you may share that. Most rewarding moments are more individual. If I’m walking in the street or in an airport, usually women—sometimes men—stop me and thank me as if I was responsible for the global women’s movement—which I’m not—and tell me how it changed their lives. Those stories are the most precious.

We don’t know how what we are doing—or what the movement is doing—affects individual human beings. But because of Ms., especially, I would not only get people stopping me in the street, but also writing letters to the magazine. In fact, there are books of letters to Ms. from women saying how it changed their individual lives: how they left a violent marriage; how they went back to college; how they traveled or attained a job. Our minds work on stories, on narrative. We don’t remember statistics, and so I remember those stories.