RICHMOND —
When Gloria Steinem and bell hooks took the stage Sunday evening at Berea College, the two lived up to their introduction as “two superstars of the women’s movement.”
Steinem, 76, and hooks, 58, wowed the audience with their commentary on age, race, gender, families and politics. Steinem, looking much the same as she did when she helped create the women’s liberation movement in the late 1960s, is a close friend of hooks.
Hooks, a celebrated author of 30 books, who spells her name with lowercase letters, is now distinguished professor in residence of Appalachian Studies at Berea College.
Earlier in the day, Berea College launched the bell hooks Institute for Critical Thinking, Contemplation and Dreaming.
Hooks said she struggled with a name for the institute which she hopes “will create an environment where people can talk intimately about issues that need to be brought to the forefront.” She recalled that she discussed possible names with Steinem, who said, “Well, that’s easy. Why not call it the bell hooks Institute?”
The audience of some 200 persons broke out with applause when Steinem praised Berea College and asserted, “Berea should be the model of education for the entire United States.”
Addressing the subject of feminism, Steinem said, “bell has always made clear that feminism is
for everyone. We are all part of the movement. Feminism is a safe place for everyone, and it is so important that we know each other. We don’t have to think the same thoughts. We simply need to know each other and to trust each other.”
Hooks said trust is “an earned sisterhood.” But, she continued, “because of race and representation, everybody acts differently. How do you build trust?”
“Competition keeps women apart,” Steinem said.
“Everyday fears keep white women and black women apart,” hooks observed. “So many of us think if we get close to a white woman they will betray us.”
She related how she was treated unkindly at a predominantly white school when she first went away to college. But, she found a white friend, April, who has become a lifelong friend. April was also treated unkindly at that school because she was from a working class immigrant family. Bell, then Gloria Watkins, a young woman from a working class black family in Hopkinsville, reached out to April with empathy one day as she recognized her misery.
Hooks told the audience that Steinem did not marry until she was 66, only to lose her spouse after three years of marriage. Steinem smiled when reflecting on her late husband.
She said that they were friends who decided they wanted to be together. “We did not think of each other as husband and wife. We were friends.”
Hooks asked her, “How do you deal with solitude?”
“Women can be alone and have an enormously fulfilling life,” Steinem said.
Hooks asked how the world looks from the vantage point of age 76?
Feminism made life interesting and fulfilling, Steinem reflected. “Feminism has saved my life,” she said.
A noted writer and editor, Steinem co-founded Ms. Magazine and served as editor for 15 years. She is widely recognized as a proponent of self-esteem for women and girls. She is author of several books, including the best-selling, “Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem.” Steinem is a magna cum laude graduate of Smith College and holds several honorary doctorates.
Hooks has focused her writing on the interconnectivity of race, class and gender.
In addition to authoring 30 books, including “Ain’t I a Woman? Black Women and Feminism,” she has written a number of scholarly and mainstream articles. She holds an undergraduate degree from Stanford University, a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the PhD from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
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Distinguished feminist writers Gloria Steinem and bell hooks, not shown, led a discussion at the Phelps Stokes Chapel on the campus of Berea College Sunday evening. The duo spoke of their kinship and issues women have faced and continue to face in today’s world. Tiffany Sokolowski
Gloria Steinem, bell hooks, lead discussion on women's issues
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