Passing the Torch: What Gloria Steinem's Death Taught Me About My Own Quiet Revolution

The passing of the invincible Gloria Steinem fills me with sadness, but also with so many memories of my younger years and inspiration for this new season of life.

How I Discovered Gloria Steinem

I didn't know who Gloria Steinem was until my freshman year at Pomona College. I went to a predominantly Latino high school that was very Catholic and conservative-leaning when it came to gender roles. I first remember identifying as a feminist in middle school, and I proudly carried that label into high school. In classes or social conversations when gender inequities came up, I would become infuriated when my female peers would say, "I believe in equality, but I'm not a feminist." In that environment, feminism was a dirty word, and it broke my heart that negative propaganda around the movement was controlling the narrative at my school.

Fast forward to college and the full realization of myself as a FEMINIST. It was in my first sociology class that I was officially introduced to Steinem, Susan Faludi, Shirley Chisholm, Betty Friedan, Audre Lorde, Dolores Huerta, and Simone de Beauvoir, to name just a few. I consumed their writing, learning about their work, their struggle, and understanding my own place in the movement. Back then I was fierce and sharp with my words. I wanted to make change through my art, my writing, my voice.

From Activist to Exhausted Adult

Then college ended, and I had to become a full-fledged adult woman with a job. Economic survival became my guiding drive as I was forced to pay rent and bills with no outside support. I never abandoned my feminist values or ideals, but I fell into a gradual depression, and my days of voicing my beliefs through writing and art slipped away.

Then came marriage and children, a mortgage, and more work. Capitalistic patriarchy got me and kept pushing me further and further underwater. It's not that I didn't recognize what was happening, it's that I was too exhausted to handle daily life and continue being a driving force in the feminist movement. I tried. I attended meetings sporadically. And then, eventually, I traded my Riot Grrrl Dr. Martens for a seat on the PTA Board.

Lighting Other Women's Torches

I admire that Steinem had the fuel to fight the good fight until the very end of her life. I wasn't out there publicly the way I was in college, but reflecting now, I realize I fought the good fight in a different way. In one interview, Steinem was asked about passing her torch to the next generation. Her response: she wasn't going to pass her torch, she was going to keep it, and use it to light other women's torches instead. She explained that it's better for all of us to keep lighting each other's torches, so that light fills every space. I love this. And that's when I understood how I had helped make change from home.

Raising the Next Generation of Feminists

As a mother of three, two sons and a daughter, I have used my torch to light theirs. All three of my children have been raised in a feminist household, embracing feminist ideals. They're all active in social movements. I've encouraged them to use their voices for justice and peace. My contribution to the movement was raising three humans who will fight for change, quietly or loudly, depending on the season of life they're in.

As has become a theme in my writing this year: I'm in a new season of life, with adult children, so my quiet advocacy finally has the space and energy to again grow into a roar. Gloria Steinem's death reminded me that the young woman I used to be is still very much alive. And with so much in the world that needs fixing, it's up to us women to start cleaning house and get shit done. We are strong, and united, we are invincible. Rest in Power Gloria Steinem.

Joining the Movement Again

I've returned to working with the women's movement, joining a chapter in San Bernardino County to address local concerns. If you're interested in attending our first meeting in October, please DM me or email jmiura@miuramedia.net. It will be in persona and zoom, intergenerational, all welcome.