Gloria Steinem in Fort Lauderdale Proves You're All Feminists
For the 40th anniversary of Ms. Magazine (cofounded by Steinem) Wonder Woman, feminism embodied, graces the cover. A warrior woman with the lasso of truth -- oh the things she could accomplish in Washington with that lasso.
Steinem is like a Wonder Woman herself. One of the greatest feminist pioneers and the subject of HBO's amazing documentary, Gloria: In Her Own Words, she is currently touring Florida encouraging voters to vote against Florida's Amendment 6, known as the Florida Abortion Amendment. It prohibits the use of public funds for abortions except as required by federal law and to save the mother's life. Additionally, the measure stipulates that the state constitution cannot be interpreted to include broader rights to abortion than those contained in the United States Constitution. It basically allows Florida to flip the bird to the Supreme Court in regard to abortion.
And while opposing Amendment 6, as well as Amendment 8 (which would fundamentally allow tax payer money to go to religious organizations), Steinem talked at length about an underlying political issue: Voter suppression.
She relayed some of the stories she was told about how Florida voters in the 2000 election were disenfranchised. "One of my big regrets was not coming back to Florida in 2000 and standing up for the recount. I don't know if I could've made a difference, but the only way to be effective is to behave as if everything you do matters, because we have no idea what actually will."
She explained that part of the reason Republicans began to put so much money towards negative ads was so they could turn off voters from politics. If you make voters hate politicians -- they won't vote.
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