Gloria Steinem: Be an activist during this ‘time of danger’

March 07--Feminist icon Gloria Steinem warned Monday of grave threats to gender equality and hard-fought reproductive rights by President Donald Trump while sounding a note of encouragement about the heightened level of social activism sweeping the nation.

Speaking to 400 people gathered at Santa Rosa's Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, the co-founder of Ms. Magazine and leader of the women's movement in the 1960s and '70s lashed out at the man she said "rose up in a sealed tube of inherited wealth and reality TV" to become commander in chief.

But she said she was heartened by the feminist voices rising up in what she called a "time of danger," pointing to the historic women's marches in Washington and around the country the day after Trump's inauguration.

"I must say, I was worried for a while that pressing 'send' would be mistaken for activism," the 82-year-old revolutionary said to polite applause. "There's something about coming together in this room and coming together in a march that can't be replicated."

She spoke to a packed house as part of the Sonoma County Women in Conversation series, a production of Sonoma Media Investments, which owns The Press Democrat.

The series concludes April 6 with Laura Schroff, author of "An Invisible Thread."

Steinem gained fame by working undercover as a Playboy Bunny in 1963 to report on the mistreatment of women at the clubs. She went on to work with women in India, led political campaigns and founded Ms in 1972. She finished her sixth book, "My Life on the Road," in 2015. It chronicles her upbringing with a nomadic father.

On Monday, she spoke for about 45 minutes before taking questions. She ticked off a list threats to progressive values under Trump, whom she said suffers from an extreme case of narcissistic personality disorder.

"In many ways, he cannot know truth from fiction," she said. "In many ways, the people around him are guiltier than him."

She cited his attacks on the news media and environmental safeguards, and a rise in racist sentiment. She encouraged activism, in response, whether marching in the street, reforming the electoral college system or urging moderate Republicans to "take your party back."

During the Vietnam War, she said people refused in protest to pay taxes. She suggested that could happen again if Trump makes good on his threat to defund Planned Parenthood if it continues to pay for abortions.

But she expressed hope that the country could experience a rebirth of democracy with the renewed activism.

"In deep ways this is a time of change and danger and promise," she said.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 707-568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ppayne.

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