in praise of difficult women by karen karbo

Gloria’s own childhood would make for an excellent show on premium cable. She shows no signs of putting her feet up and getting caught up on her binge-watching. Known informally as the World’s Most Famous Feminist, Gloria has been pushing the women’s lib rock uphill for 55 years. I was impressed that she’d taken the time-especially considering that the sentence in question was misleading, but the facts weren’t technically incorrect. The tone was classic Gloria Steinem: cool, calm, and witty. And David Bale, her late husband, was not simply the father of a famous actor, but actually had an identity of his own, as an entrepreneur and animal rights activist. She had never been a Playboy Bunny, but donned the outfit to go undercover for 10 days to write an exposé. She was not a CIA operative, but had attended two Soviet-backed youth festivals in the 1960s, her travel financed by a foundation subsidized by the agency.

Within the week, she fired off a response to the Times piece with a letter to the editor, clarifying facts behind the racy lead. Unauthorized use is prohibited.īut that’s why Gloria Steinem is a difficult woman. After all, what could it possibly matter? As I polished off a tiny bottle of Dewar’s, I would congratulate myself for letting go of my irritation. Yes, the lead was stupidly reductive, but nothing a little self-soothing at the minibar couldn’t fix. The piece was a little flip, but generally balanced and positive-and if I were Gloria, slogging from city to city on a book tour, my roller bag bumping along behind me, I would be fine with it. The story began: “Gloria Steinem started her career as a CIA operative, got her break as a Playboy Bunny, married Christian Bale’s father, and now produces a show for the cable television channel Viceland.” At 82, the story continued, Steinem still kept a “rock star’s schedule,” organizing, lecturing, fundraising, stumping for political candidates, and promoting her new book, My Life on the Road. On October 7, 2016, the New York Times published a profile of Gloria Steinem and her love of New York.

National Geographic's book In Praise of Difficult Women by Karen Karbo profiles women throughout the world who have pushed societal norms and boundaries in areas spanning the gambit from politics, art, media, books, and more.

In praise of difficult women by karen karbo