Ms. Foundation Event Reveals Movement in Transition

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“How can we explain that the women’s movement is part of everything?” Gloria Steinem asked Monday night at the Ms. Foundation’s annual Gloria Awards dinner. “I, for one, am tired of reporters asking if I’m interested in anything else.”

While Steinem was referring to the fact that women are an integral part of the world – every field, every debate, every discipline, every community – her comments also served as a powerful reminder that the work of feminism isn’t done. Until reporters, and people in general, understand that women’s continued inequality affects every single part of the world, and all of us, we still have a ways to go.

For someone like me, who was born in the ’80s, it is hard to imagine the rapid shift that has taken place over the past 50 years. The “Mad Men” days seem more like fiction than reality, or at least like historical circumstances to gawk at in more enlightened times. But the stories women shared on stage during the event illuminated the very real circumstances in which the movement was born, and the profound changes that have taken place the real world since.

Judging by the dismaying events that have occurred on the political stage in the past few months, we can not forget that the mission of 20th century feminists hasn’t been accomplished yet. What will 21st century feminists do to achieve it?

Stories from the Past

The first award was presented to Louise Gund, a woman who has anonymously donated to the Ms. Foundation for decades and recently stepped forward. “I was deeply affected the first time I heard you speak,” she said to Steinem. “It was the first time I had heard anyone speak about women’s issues in such a profound and clear way.”

Gund explained that the life of her mother, a talented musician who was denied the right to perform professionally because of her gender, inspired her to support women and girls. “I wanted to help women and girls be a strong voice in the artistic community and be able to [achieve] their dreams,” she said. “The dream is in all of us, and through us it must continue.”

The Foundation presented another award to Gert Boyle, Chair of the Board of Columbia Sportswear Company, who had to contend with discrimination in the business world. When her husband died in 1970, she was advised by her bankers to sell the company – for a measly $1,400.

Boyle had other ideas, she explained. Now, she said, Columbia Sportswear is worth $1.7 billion. “I confess I feel a little guilty in accepting this award,” she said. “But not guilty enough that I’d give it back.”

“When Gloria was leading the women’s revolution, I wasn’t much of a women’s libber. Burning my bra would have caused a three-alarm fire!” she joked. “I was a housewife and a stay at home mother.” She described how when she took over Columbia at the age of 46, she was treated as an oddity, even receiving phone calls protesting the fact that she, as a woman, could ever lead a company. “Despite having a woman in charge, Columbia has managed to succeed,” she said wryly.

Similarly, when Sheila Nevins, President, HBO Documentary Films, was presented with an award, she shared how her role in the workplace changed because of the influence of Steinem and the women’s movement. “While the feminist movement was going on, I wasn’t much a part of it,” she explained. “I was flirting with my bosses, wearing the perfume that they wanted me to wear. I didn’t know you could talk back. Then came the marches of feminism and all of the work you did. You changed the way I looked at myself.”

She continued, “Suddenly I realized that men were doing what I was doing, and making more money. And I summoned up all of my… courage and [asked for a raise], and lo and behold I got it.” Nevins described how the women’s movement helped her realize her own value. “If someone said they gave me a job because of the perfume I was wearing, I would wear a different perfume the next day.”

She added, “Thank you for waking me up.”

Movement in Transition

When Marie Wilson, former President of the Ms. Foundation and Founder of the White House Project, took the stage, she commented on her attendance at Barnard College’s commencement ceremony on Monday. During his commencement speech, she explained, President Obama listed achievements by individuals who have opened doors for women, and after each achievement, the young women in the audience cheered enthusiastically. But, she continued, despite their exuberance, “I doubt that they have ever thought about what they owe to women the Ms. Foundation has funded.”

Perhaps one reason it’s difficult for younger women to imagine the sacrifices made early in the movement is because we came into the world after its most visible accomplishments had been achieved. Quite simply: we live in a world now where it is repugnant to say outright that women deserve fewer rights than men. It’s easy to see the radical changes that happened in the early part of the movement because they were so visible and dramatic, but they seem very far away. Those inequalities that are continuing today are more complex and specialized. And while they are less obvious, they are no less real.

The individual award winners, Felicia Brown-Williams, Regional Director of Public Policy of Planned Parenthood Southeast; Klarissa Oh, Executive Director of Oregon Abuse Advocates and Survivors in Service; and Lois Uttley, Director of Merger Watch & Jasmine Burnett, Regional Coordinator of SisterSong NYC, are chipping away these inequalities. On the other hand, the final award winner, Women Moving Millions, is a global group of people who have donated over a million dollars each to organizations supporting women and girls.

The diversity in award winners – funders, achievers, and the women who are continuing the work of the movement – shows that each has an important role to play as we continue strive for equality. The Ms. Foundation manages to bring them all together in order to move that work forward. But we can not forget that we have still have much to do.