Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions
    Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions
    Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions
    Ebook591 pages9 hours

    Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions

    By Gloria Steinem

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This New York Times bestseller from the legendary feminist featured in the film The Two Glorias is as relevant today as when it was first published.

    Spanning two decades—from the early sixties to the early eighties—the pieces in Gloria Steinem’s diverse, stimulating, and often prescient first collection dare to ask how our world might change for the better if we each behaved “as if everyone mattered.”
     
    An early assignment as a “girl reporter,” going undercover as a Bunny in Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Club, becomes an eye-opening exposé of appalling work conditions and sexual harassment. As Steinem observed, “I think Hefner himself wants to go down in history as a person of sophistication and glamour. But the last person I would want to go down in history as is Hugh Hefner.”
     
    In addition to “I Was a Playboy Bunny,” the essays in this collection challenge the practices and preconceptions that marginalize, exclude, exploit, and victimize women. Steinem understands that the political is always personal, and vice versa, and as such her writings range from the polemical—“Erotica vs. Pornography” and “The Politics of Food”—to the deeply personal—“Ruth’s Song,” a moving tribute to her mentally ill mother—to sharp satire like “If Men Could Menstruate.” One of the first to address topics such as female genital mutilation and transgenderism, Steinem has truly earned the right to be called a feminist pioneer, and this volume is both a testament to her legacy in the fight for equality and an entertaining, thought-provoking journey through the lives of modern women.
     
    This ebook features an illustrated biography of Gloria Steinem including rare images from the author’s personal collection.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Media
    Release dateMay 15, 2012
    ISBN9781453250181
    Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions
    Author

    Gloria Steinem

    Gloria Steinem (b. 1934) is an American feminist, activist, writer, and editor who has shaped debates on gender, politics, and art since the 1960s. Steinem was born in Toledo, Ohio. Cofounder of Ms. Magazine and a founding contributor of New York magazine, Steinem has also published numerous bestselling nonfiction titles. Through activism, lectures, constant traveling as an organizer, and appearances in the media over time, Steinem has worked to address inequalities based on sex, race, sexuality, class, and hierarchy. She lives in New York City.

    Read more from Gloria Steinem

    Related to Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions

    Related ebooks

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    Related categories

    Reviews for Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions

    4/5

    152 ratings8 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      A collection of Steinem's articles and essays written between 1965 and 1982. Interesting not only for it's exploration of issues within the second-wave of feminism but also as a historical document. While I don't always agree with Steinem's stance or arguments, I did find the reading to be mentally provoking leaving me considering where I stand as a feminist.
    • 3/5
      Useful advice on organising, historically interesting and even if all the issues are still relevant, the texts are anchored in the 70s and 80s and feel dated. Glad i read it, but won't recommend it to others than those with an interest in the history of feminism.
    • 4/5
      Gloria Steinem is a good writer and an interesting public figure. I've never been ashamed to call myself a feminist and reading this book of essays makes me proud of that. The memoir section is the strongest with its heartfelt storytelling. The profiles of five women are also intriguing. The shorter essays about issues are a bit repetitive but they do serve to remind us how far we've come since the 1970s and how far we have yet to go.
    • 3/5
      This is the sort of book that on one hand, can remind me of why I think it is a good thing that feminism exists, and why, on the other hand, I stopped calling myself a feminist.Gloria Steinem's piece about her mother is a moving, stark example of the problems of mental illness. I dislike it, on the other hand, because I feel that Steinem, as well as other feminists such as Germaine Greer, twist feminism to transfer responsibility from family members to society. Greer's excuses for her father are somewhat sickening. As I expected, I didn't agree with her about the subject of work. When she claimed that feminism honored virginity, I threw the book across the room so hard it hit the opposite wall.Still, worth reading as a view of society from a respected (by some) activist.
    • 5/5
      It’s interesting how relevant these essays are to the modern feminist struggle as they were when written in the 60s, 70s and 80s. While victories have been won in the movement, many battles continue.
    • 3/5
      By far the best essay in this book is "Ruth's Song (Because She Could Not Sing It)". It's the story of Steinem's relationship with her mother, and it hits you like a blow to the solar plexus. If nothing else, read this book for that essay and the brilliant satirical "If Men Could Menstruate." Otherwise, trigger warning for transphobia and colonialist attitudes.
    • 5/5
      The feminist classic, Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, a collection of essays by Gloria Steinem, remains largely relevant to today's society. In fact, I was a little surprised (and disheartened) by how few of these essays appear dated at all! Of course that means that the book itself is still essential reading, and brilliantly written, but it is disheartening that as a society we have not come further, that we can not look at these essays as examples of history.In particular, Steinem's defense of abortion in her very clear, intelligent and eloquent treatises on the subject, remains desperately relevant in North American society. Her examination of right-wing political bodies and the patriarchal male supremacist reasons behind their anti-abortion and "profamily" "values" are as relevant as when they were written. "According to our current right-wing and anti-equality backlash, a major goal is to protect and restore a family clearly defined by them as male-led and hierarchal. Thus, they condemn as "antifamily" any direct federal guarantee of rights to women or to children by law. ... So is any individual right to sexual expression outside the family, whether homosexual or heterosexual. So are abortion, contraception, and any other means of separating sexual expression from childbirth." (p. 324)Houston and History provides important historical context for the important of women's long struggle for equality, and If Hitler Were Alive, Which Side Would He Be On? is absolutely excellent in its well researched debunking of the right wing's (still popular) equation of the left with Hitler. Words and Change is an eloquent examination of how subtle changes in language can push a philosophy forwards and propel change. "New words and phrases are one organic measure of change. They capture transformations of perception, and sometimes of reality itself. We have terms like sexual harassment and battered women. A few years ago, they were just called life." (p. 149)There is a very excellent essay that explains and highlights the differences between pornography and erotica - one being a medium which promotes the abuse and domination of women, or a partner taking the role of the "conquered woman," while the other is an expression of mutuality of love. In this way, Steinem is able to condemn pornography, but explain how other expressions the right considers "pornographic" or "obscene" such as sex education or gay romance are not at all the same thing. This is a well thought out examination of a subject which is usually only evaluated in terms of knee-jerk reaction either for or against. I had read some criticism that Steinem's essay on transexuals condemned their lifestyle, but I found that the reality is far different. In her essay titled Transsexualism Steinem writes that "...transexuals themselves are also making a positive contribution by proving that chromosomes aren't everything." Her criticism lies mostly in the way the press reports on transsexualism, "as a testimony to the importance of sex roles as dictated by a society obsessed with body image." (p. 209) She expresses concern that men and women may be forced into "self-mutilation" because they feel the need to conform with society's expectations of what a "man" or a "woman" should be, but she acknowledges the right of an informed individual to make that choice and be identified as they wish. The horrific facts of The International Crime of Genital Mutilation remain true in many parts of the world and essays such as In Praise of Women's Bodies will remain true as long as we live in a society obsessed with its own rigid ideas of "beauty" and the equation of this with self-worth. Taken as a whole, this collection of essays is eloquent, informational and still hugely relevant. I highly recommend this to everybody.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 3/5
      This is the sort of book that on one hand, can remind me of why I think it is a good thing that feminism exists, and why, on the other hand, I stopped calling myself a feminist.Gloria Steinem's piece about her mother is a moving, stark example of the problems of mental illness. I dislike it, on the other hand, because I feel that Steinem, as well as other feminists such as Germaine Greer, twist feminism to transfer responsibility from family members to society. Greer's excuses for her father are somewhat sickening. As I expected, I didn't agree with her about the subject of work. When she claimed that feminism honored virginity, I threw the book across the room so hard it hit the opposite wall.Still, worth reading as a view of society from a respected (by some) activist.

    Book preview

    Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions - Gloria Steinem

    rܯdbook_preview_excerpt.html}ْ#Ǖ寄hLjiZEiY+ڦ2~tD8`ƒ(I0zǞ?ї=@Ւ٘J ]]7_wo⪜"tU!*qK_ʏC)]l?onwXn04ǢU]_U1cy:!>{X<里v[]_b7nNǢ0Na*B1vx뾙V\紓Uo);Ʀ>]gC;у,U h 6^_sˏ q'8y*ilu&#_7bU\m[,^&نNvt},dX(oۇ]9=WچA c11J(毛҆(Ylֲ!baEUW?'W󱗓*6t>8LK ,Gv]}t2 zKZ{]?0d}R[<.wv£la۾2rW7^6l.'G[~2r-3fQāz}}eaVOd2?vS1xܦݱ2зvNf;$f䝝j/c#ܔсw7l8ӌmøT!**rT1GrVVܸzxDKԪ>xS K$ dou,{Y&t:.E>ÚAXw+އap6p[t[}n j,]vl_]K0㈔EZX΃ :Y~7 M˴d ' SjA>B-m= D"&FyLB$rO:<W*="4 G3co ((/PK.)sjW%q;y*#dI 8c.6+Ֆ!rxo^z.#<]?Eg1@N|:7=˫}Wm>x珉){uoƳ@cDcl3E}zKz :Oz!-V5wBg߂D؎ ɳXYF"Sug}oΞJ<jbCGhyWY]Е1?t )*Bg߾5㛊[x#|E6%IM}'gIiC1~]"+1}"W?O=vKDG~}6Wn^Z,<*3>G`}) |'F(⭨ߞs'n S0|o03euRdg,Mw0M V8/085DJ^66i`Of{s6D=g yB]%qg ~ߏbyɑ|9xV;b3}ggwȣ? oVhZ8 DS  &(KpٕAxTݷ+-(saH1`pݕ,_g4#Jh~TtCh2^0( 18~84qV4TC\۞{b=OE43uW"bl7arAl fz1Ojvs;KsY]b='LqCW?.˟J}cCփ0eY#<*|AQ\4ijiӼև7ЬkɖK~/OV _jidPtdbreU a\ Ё|u@SN{<%1b|nˏ qgb񀹅B_z\Q ck B k{O=C!mL#;>OI6rC湩(S!vA{tD㠅QX' Js9vk8QNc`'U, R#@z;ڵ4@[` A#9^NG Z9L o9^pib@aD?$h/@@6 *3HE|ɒG@@C/3lv*~\!ݽO 8+QyGWH+f-ρ(5WIw'}0ݢL Wuk]*| '؛k8aq!iځnD*a=Q4]_*;[6rO0^<®|(o몒 *^~<1.iiUQY} {!%| 4W[,r8/A4FGYk8= Vun/ѓUEKg4 DM׃,FLWDh/ zr HtX₅h}ܑTmg!j Oq2Ox7 N&ΆE%Ce[xW1p8+"~O%,gF{`L8 A4\uYQg[GlduRC/~I+]3="$P*"2쫹@Ee 2h F߂rĥ*i&h('d'ګ _*v3 uj߈ ~j8YA^4&iYdKߋEfO j l”oKYhZJpIr3Q~Hض ŧ̲Ka<ata?%0ɪ/5 f`&z+'('RVC M"ٞ2db&Vc VzRFc92"ުI,sF獍$~Oem ةH X*S˝32 FWyG_طMM`5o 9}9XXDiBg j8MF-L'|qY:T/hgl5/T+oĜ @wGzC)cK3muTSE h$gHn8SPَU7:p2w;:d}xl$!n 0j֑7wt 'XDcNzP,{WQ8F66뺓^ ۿCz~BEs\Yk7=oW&OyаM/.IL6B<ߴmȼJf3B :z9Xe=s1-e`5q=3@W)fˉwTh]?޴M 2Wf@VQ%`o!&rQD,C $PyT9?XնNɻ^7j+.NSG{e^=VLF <ޢ6Asj"Ѡ[e#rSD$wA 9؊1%_r`-J"ǘT6L4qI&#Ywi6 N4 BbתI:ѵmg{`bYB^[7EwHKQ?$߉ Dʉ<,Gה'%9@y V3Hvom([,O_+{Ap؋&$"(ȣX%Wdql%dHx13ȀϺ1*KZG~҃oWwBdt=ɱ1bݜRl GY760)Y*TTҿRd&쑜OJ4;{,DZT!Lu2-H9fD]if"MPB C<MiS;szGd ~an`'N )G"nA .㻫:*ɉf:Ń) c=5Hny`p\}٘l6k c Hyh <,lܕX/)<!򂢗ä{A6q4m2A~BLK衙v,T5AGJV1-n P_'!%YFDfا1|aBHffL#<Q‡[e`N~2iR_+fM<|DiaoI\qW5 @`Bs6;XZ)Ō+ opD݄qƝ'jS  \̓Eid\y4.y09nQ(.?'a"B}Ǵer:4+  VA&!-A(RB+-@aqM-)_b,Lt3)+$Nffb lNSvlwb 80b5~0 c('Z'b*䀻G5(ESTh(.<9#h@C_WgsT6Vb %* Ɩ .=ƭr"<6e5Vl=rcLf-x#w}SAwȏUۻn]_ Vr*nXv|)xO=Nۅ1ȏQY@AM̀ZGY~OfZ}]zALPU,*Y'Od 3w/6[ZX]jLIa`D~O1}t]bN¬ȭbɰiSe}+МthzɭVGšѨ9g#ƑiNSa)t^z_oS@^/{S uVL^ ӾbR2:iiKX`U蒐}"A^+z*7@~!`Asw2b0FX+zI9.d=6ZFXGayFk<E=#amKRhJ'&;s2W]ARݞ4vVTedqGX[LRe=˙).ɬf z,; <#_GH`Lu3_2KNuW~aIkYsXOT*%/\^#')B24,͂_'K7.$9.A3ce]Cw2pF$aoX3Ta֚ BrN^+B,JYlHЌiP]Dzeh˝Xe#QӜf$\in$mD)3ݲfBC1=J^*[IN9rJx]?j{%rAlN6=z[YusfⲤQn5u(T;ډ{x[%kj͙Y<-7^}]S\_O宁&4<(ux h8CfͶcZ_o"\ u<鳦(1eU- ^OZjxLՅ^5O@bQ/uPW = p \gJX ~  J=S:@^pO`ak&oC+g U 1dZXm85| )؁ZE$d-={#Jxόmp<&`2Sۄ~Jj%;ϲyVTGjLn}o".}oR`)5&=&)adeLN$L"[o*P118㕷g@h#J&ds߭mr)#k|!{@H`a^#|ԫ.n/F,| ʐw+sM#)zS]֯,-R>JOl d+/|v@_yRGኴsK@L=vt*vGGRa*tX-?j>H{T 2f[^61p`Ѳb(_|% istM&2Hmę [u}T(:PoCېi# |b>]A%izFP +c%|xx.e8 %(j޶28Վ #5oC۸Z#_Rϣd 5bLZVr-{e <2/Q7F&5=ԱM"FVc~k8y!ɇZ%:Ńb*^XY6JJjq?2Ԙk&spB'\40sǴLzCX;MfגW-(3(GS/^{'zò,ܦCG,M7cSW⢘dQD Go0DZT 1W^`4kK\z<볚- Q hrih'5xJRX  I\e*4G]gp\h"aog6!Ѧ0o2L6W[|*64햲FOJu@x#IiZfPİ\fAȲ]BǞI8T)T-Y(6f=$'.D%cpŁStD .yzנwoR(hX^-(hf*=\!~E[ۆa&0JmcAnYwqF4+ @ ["`4|+[J,`,\J=MA~ou6h'í;Xg[ )ୣwԲS2粸|gEEH",B],@?Ź4]s>N.<;J]JreH0[2B.eTŸ^U{]@'. z;"߄y)7nrZ1)1 h$0ȳϛyMb"^ ''mzCކ t[sR\7Sl=_hy~XTe;: Y Z2N3,+~BKJI' 'RU^\|c,3~I`C<|[pp1(P\Z`#ևFl"lb1N]GÃ1*1\N)KaAޒr c?u̦|g@,]M@*cL '14/",\i1=u;?Ʌ-an;ͱ/n_[ua@Q,ƺY{DD,(*Yڱ>ŕ.r=~T|kqDvP D ؼ0DO)G苄b{!:y]b=gbns|ʟ:f.F4}IVD*p Ƿ$R8iF+YSY5(j/bvY h<^lKMSv%w/,2._Ċٲ^:gpkk$\{ .f:>@7SZ7 hMـhmb n )]) CrE}jH`ցmҭ*yh}D0OOLm!)Qƕב/La+ɺV&:ymWr8A{ZjN/+OgTh W(qq׺zɛKi7֓2b|Xj*~E-2NS-de*rj``_i߈i]qdb}o<]o>.#!ZM* 5H+% Z 36TGd]mojँ fz,O)1$L#Z=("Sl YC:rzK° g#):UnHVbZsv zK=2y.ݕFo͚ؽVGYufY8 V`R)^v#4 䬸;'w 2PA/VͿKzo=x}YDQE.ʼ:x}swWo/^\iի_->\ݾ)n^~w}V~'?H@2vÍ[oO+QfK=CnhrYԡ ӤYm?GUA,J_^SoB w6!aoޢ;^v#l B8{+@;oǧ H# z>Zu3t-e?.?{;s[zUv9? f˗e;Mo+k'y䣡_^~F'޸&3^ )Ya ۊ?ef=%8R"R?9?j.$!A7_ (>. h.TEk%~:=ḩj;_H28ܚ221uls*Y+k\L=jٍCbdOz$?.3$zr{Z*VܠNQWN^VCJܶP}&*Kt"f|ܫTi[ClYƉ?$^6e.u;فm܅F*.p[0ܜ7_֯eŋU~Q>.K_atv̈Quf~{J(eԔ'[z0ƣLXT/4͟Nw*F R[J >Q~m0 |* 0;\ҹ y!I$-8>ڠ_Eܔ.Oά9!иw92o⧵d"4zK?\d G5;@R, <\P>(رRghbx&^}3Pz07Qa3ꭵ.nBowfɼeur8x.=y/W~Y<{]o\5~&5ex-r*{``Xgl!McYM4ׂ˺zS[0PQ];Xy4jeه^bH{T_GCdX,W}l}ЧLzƏ.AT :ZM4-ҳF&t^Ux/Ed?KER!x,Pf^vYDXOU.}V^:&+T[&=K*ts; t-s*FG͗a.d?⓮xbB{*@{pYuv OVM# Cl!]w ;p$PqTn¦l >o#AQV7W5&˘[\9ie\Z]*Yi&Vf푣:'eFˁ,&h93jyG[E[4 ױX8%{7 QMVרSǬΒ9d9B;h̬X&NU 2v-!}i G}Yhdj,@xwE_>aBYEjA1Yt<`ذnq墼pr I|AٝGԦ1޻2) lczþfyrx>]7fiŖXF A7f!'Ԟ>uIg(m!b NgO)u+]E.N B^-A]eM:Gt2^-%bwR jbx!ԃLuvSpj=fa̻X?˰=jU6aP Hc➌.Tь51p*MR[261gКt [ijޣ[#)iɠ9uڲR d"&9q=.>*h#Yh<*ěhsU 9)|%6j<^z=LYӌEsI˱ZJrk*]<7:kԳwY1|@ޕ 5y)0q}3e)'JPBMo`YvZ/f l5k44Y|2[FUsXhvyU*) L(Lq L5f;iia%EyɠsuT3Lz*ZRBc986z)*^z[0n=2-,-C+N00k5YBo&+RuߘZ#Y: +X!2[ah- Kr5}\#)T֭X5T S; =0sot/=g\Rv;U5S #=Bn5[ryGs3kvK.GM• gGOO R<^ OPLﳭ:S8)%cb'<˓5ݕQ5(M<4իлPZIm'[hݬt1FL}Ǥڇ܊;4^xi{tw&Ii'I0a1j+D`{ͭY(zY!Gl[Wsf({U]_߄@OWYg2OL`pJnn*]9ꕈSӲ%ԄkŠ`kG5!ȃiC]4}?ʠdo1x5]ȟs'M5O iQɄ_yeE$qA!^(:I3/!׬_NAzU]CyK&_D҄{YRR˾tZWЧːH7!_ H{lD^DJ,1%mrTV\LW\˦'N\&"JM~W-G8ZB ?dҳ֝B*mSL 譊_ `rמּY޶6jca!CC/"wLteDu]A00b^-Uqjjot*w@Z63v2W(#v J|W";N(SBiQqj:WL y;݋ڹ0$ pCi KxCAO8W`~)A y52+KCG׵ \oݭp7r=:/rBTo < s]TJu5!&6o{ߴI *Ln6ըM:P틥 RB ɌéѵBmv3Hr/qK* V'(E>fz +WFpCmD`wU޲/1cI&ъj g%]|/+e'cT<')y otuM)ÞxQS$%Įk>z$4WP.\I2\r;ߧG'B-njNCڊP8/y*"~n8|A5,5Dj +O \K\zOd75`mL& rWeu_:~'r%U12 +hx #X\PGƳh]Mny3<˓Pw+KSR^# XP#oK|!ָg+QVo} Ĭ'mcٳëL2 kX.HA*#,:n.74oI@^e"턕umAn0-XjQuٖo[-lV*i y}@sqL =3@ 8d#Ll37FZ|''#uf#o9K|Ylļ攌nڭx{19O`mA#Ii;75xU 燾Vևo'ΎvD\m [chbR/jBDY͎Jmɺίv.6^~5E/r7D ofGK"t PcT~ _5[ki"Pvk?ީ[{16;`MxPj337q mX.vjƃ1u>4ny5a:,i[:FP+O}l̆jmU5p;]+gin\9׋ҥygo5;*+g39XC2UcǼX}X}f~U[j,ۅiEZh#q/= R<0У"GzJ4anO5YP7Wf&\E`ސ1)Bk?O@-&JF,O=fhB |P- 3nIKݨdg蜪ܛ 9~3fU}q?o2g:y]!sl{]+:.#$^@` $Y9ά+ 3U+ 3]4x:d;$]y݇Ԟ e"Z% y/'׈^5$vE67`t)wC>v@i\CLs$$nz..zz BX) >y! Ї;7K,zn - QM 靦^{Ζd%δR%F*A\3Z@u7N;EQ/R-n1SH:L#Vߣ(*ka}[!N!(ӄf K|^&}~0JEWя}Bkp0jL'ioRl=bi@x֤%Y[c5_gܧꙭP{ZE#8o-_SSyk[Ϣ mq˜Uj%|Byn,{jXBh5E*bhmifO8R|5O5hhlܤvjE>,,ٮnQ޻O%g%GB:7[aF1x{^/j7![O+$1ښ7nXJ\.fXT?:q6XRەٛu+ղ>ۚY38YE|]C?׶ ‡@.c^TY Gœe՛A.Te\IѭU*P #itnJ$Fl'a<n8ˋV)ߥ<-@p@Sѥ"0:DJw' A Y5)EhW{ϡfUʏM5,s)LLNL=wۘB*],KNj$﬿YJнA(]c͛Z2d֘(4-ke|LRkWKsE E^
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1