Iconic feminist Gloria Steinem grew up on the road. Throughout her childhood, her family would pile into a trailer and head out across the country; her father bought and sold antiques to pay their way.
As an adult, she stayed on the road, traveling across the country, organizing for political and social causes. This is the story of Steinem’s new book, "My Life on The Road."
As a freelance writer, she, like her father, never had a regular job for much of her adult life. Then, when the women’s movement began, she said she couldn’t publish what she wanted to about what was happening. So, she went out on the road, traveling around the country to speak about it.
“That slowly began movement travel, organizing travel, which is so exciting and wonderful because you, first of all, you get to listen … and see how diverse and amazing people are and how magic it is to be in the same space together so that you can empathize with each other,” Steinem said.
That was how most of her time was spent until she was in her 50s, she said, and she found, she was exhausted.
“I think was still living in an either or world,” she said. “The idea that either you travel or you settle down.”
Now, at 82, she said she has discovered that we all need both.
“Even birds have nests,” she said. “I needed a home of my own as well as the road.”
In an interview with KJZZ, Steinem talked about her experience working with Native American women across the country, her work as a prominent feminist for the last five decades, her support of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and what she hopes for the next generation of women.