Feminist organizer, writer and civil rights activist Gloria Steinem dies at 92
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2026/09/03/gloria-steinem-dead/83531651007/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2026/09/03/gloria-steinem-dead/83531651007/
18 Comments
DagwoodIII@piefed.social · 28 pts · 7d
https://hrnews1.substack.com/p/feminist-icon-gloria-steinem-was
I always thought that she was a fighter for justice. Back in 1976 she was at the Democratic Convention in New York's Madison Square Garden. The NYPD had promised to arrest 'unaccompanied women' [i.e hookers] near the site. Steinem got a bunch of women to show up and confront the police. The cops didn't want to arrest a bunch of white ladies.
Turns out she was happy to take CIA money.
edit = https://archive.org/details/redstockings-on-gloria-steinem-and-the-cia_202404
She started with the CIA long before she got showed up as a feminist.
Even when she was publishing Ms Magazine people on the Left were wondering what her real deal was.
Freeposity@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 7d
Yeah at the time the CIA's goals aligned with the Independent Service for Information (ISI), where she worked.
During the Cold War, the CIA engaged in various programs to fund "non-governmental" organizations, student exchanges, and information services to promote Western-aligned perspectives and counter Soviet influence abroad.
She never denied this and has always been open about it.
So, if I worked in an organization promoting free speech in, let's say North Korea and the CIA comes in and provides a bunch of cash to keep us going, I'm not going to be upset about that.
DagwoodIII@piefed.social · 12 pts · 7d
She also kept the feminists from actually talking about things like the class struggle.
Was the USSR sleazy and underhanded? Yes. Did the CIA do everything the Soviets did? Also yes.
Freeposity@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 7d
This is more a critique of Liberal Feminism over Socialist/Radical Feminism. She has always promoted a version of feminism that seeks to work within the existing capitalist system rather than trying to overthrow it.
The goal of this movement is to achieve equality for women through legal reform, policy changes, and social integration.
Edit: Added quote for clarity
DagwoodIII@piefed.social · 3 pts · 7d
We'll never know how much she was handled, and what she was doing behind the scenes.
Bella Abzug and Shirley Chisholm were her 'allies' at the time. What could have happened if they'd gone further?
I would never give a CIA asset the benefit of the doubt.
Good bye
Freeposity@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 7d
We have(or had prior to Trump) CIA assets in Russia.
The point is, things are often more complex than we first understand and sweeping generalizations are rarely accurate.
yeahiknow3@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 7d
Tolc@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 7d
what do you mean by that?
yeahiknow3@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 0 pts · 7d
phutatorius@lemmy.zip · 0 pts · 7d
Well, yeah, except for the appearance of impropriety that comes with that dirty money.
Freeposity@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 7d
If your goal is to work within the system to make the system fairer for women, then it's not necessarily dirty. It's money from the very system you're trying to change.
jerkface@lemmy.ca · -4 pts · 7d
In 2026? I don't know what the situation was back then, but if the CIA came to you in 2026 with a bunch of funding for a project that was actually important and meaningful to you, you would take that money??
Freeposity@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 7d
I'm always going to choose harm reduction. If the CIA wants to help me with that, I'll take their money.
Tolc@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 7d
you people are beyond saving
Freeposity@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 7d
Winning friends and influencing people.
jerkface@lemmy.ca · -1 pts · 7d
That only makes sense if both you and the CIA genuinely want the same thing. That's bonkers to even put into type. If the CIA genuinely wants to do something good, then you saying, "find someone else to help you," does not stand in the way of that good being done. There is zero risk from an altruistic point of view, the perceived risk here is that you don't get money. That's so short-sighted.
And anyway, they don't want the same thing as you. Reducing harm is not their mandate. You are taking something you care about, and you are giving it to the CIA for their unstated ends. Congratulations, you no longer have something you care about.
Freeposity@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 7d
OK, tell me what bad thing happened as a result of this particular case of CIA funding.
phutatorius@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 7d
She was a boardroom feminist. She didn't want change, beyond the usual liberal micro-incrementalism. She just wanted her favored group to get a piece of the action.
MrNobody@quokk.au · 3 pts · 6d
You can tell who the .ml alts are pretty easily.
Tolc@lemmy.world · -2 pts · 7d
No one would miss that CIA puppet
bye bye bozo