The Roots of Change: Remembering Gloria Steinem

With Gloria Steinem's passing, we remember a woman who spent her life asking an inconvenient question: Why should half the population settle for half the opportunity?

Steinem helped found Ms. magazine and the National Women's Political Caucus, challenged discrimination, and brought women's experiences into conversations that had comfortably ignored them. Her career took her from undercover reporting as a Playboy Bunny to receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom. That is quite a resume - and probably a challenging one to fit on LinkedIn.

The changes she helped inspire are visible in Congress, statehouses and workplaces - and right here in Rotary.

When the modern women's movement gained momentum in the early 1970s:

Rotary had some changing of its own to do. Until 1987, women were barred from membership in Rotary clubs in the United States. And by 'changing,' I mean that it took a decision by the United States Supreme Court to encourage us. Rotary International formally opened membership to women worldwide in 1989.

For an organization that asks, 'Is it fair to all concerned?' we took a surprisingly long time to check our own guest list.

But we changed. Today, women serve throughout Rotary - as club presidents, district governors, directors, mentors, fundraisers and leaders of projects that strengthen communities around the world. Their service demonstrates how much talent had once been left waiting outside the door.

I had the privilege of meeting Gloria Steinem in 1983, when she spoke at Kane Hall at the University of Washington. I stood in line afterward, clutching my copy of Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions and feeling increasingly nervous as my turn approached.

When I reached her, I held out my hand and said, 'Ms. Steinem, it's an honor to meet you.'

She took my hand in both of hers and asked my name.

'Mardie Rhodes,' I replied.

'Mardie Rhodes,' she repeated. 'It's an honor to meet you as well.'

More than four decades later, I still remember how she made me feel in that brief moment - not merely like an admirer standing in line, but like someone worth meeting.

That small act of generosity reflected something Steinem understood deeply: change does not belong to one famous person at the top. It grows through the dignity, courage and contributions of ordinary people.

As she once observed:

“We tend to forget that every revolution or social change is like a tree - it grows from the bottom up, not the top down.”

When people asked whether she was ready to pass the torch to a younger generation, she had another characteristically spirited response:

“I'm keeping my torch, thank you very much - and I'm using it to light the torches of others.”

That should sound familiar to Rotarians.

Community change begins with ordinary people showing up, building friendships, recognizing a need and deciding to do something about it. We don't have to hold high office to make a difference. We do have to make room for people whose talents have not yet been recognized - and help them light torches of their own.

So here's to Gloria Steinem, to the women whose torches she helped light, and to Rotarians everywhere who continue bringing a little more light into their communities.

Sources for historical figures: Center for American Women and Politics; Rotary International.

Photograph by Warren K. Leffler, Library of Congress.