My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem Blog Post #2

Hello everyone!

Thanks for stopping by my blog! I am excited to say that I have finished My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem and WOW! I learned so much from this book. Like I mentioned in my first book post, Steinem talks about many different topics regarding feminism in the first half of the book. These include sexism, female oppression, reproductive rights, wage inequality, LGBTQ+ rights, and many others. She continues to talk about these issues in the second half of the book and raises some other important issues. These include the history and dangers of a patriarchal society (and the design of patriarchal buildings resembling the body of a woman), the harsh reality of prostitution in the United States, women's prison conditions, and many others.

There are so many things that struck me in this book and it is hard to focus only on a couple. I think Steinem has such a good grasp and understanding of society and I believe everyone can learn something from her. I was surprised to learn that with the U.S. only having 5% of the world's population, the U.S. accounts for almost 25% of the world's prisoners. And I was very saddened and concerned to learn that both African-American men and women are a lot more likely to be imprisoned than white men and women. I was also shocked to read her argument stating that the privatization of prisons may be linked to longer sentences for inmates (since corporate profits were/are based on a per capita basis).

I really enjoyed how Steinem shares her experiences with Native American culture. I was surprised to learn that Native Americans are sometimes falsely referred to as Indians because Christopher Columbus thought he was in India when he arrived here. It was exciting to read that women have and continue to play a more important role in this culture. I was also fascinated by the fact that Native nations were often matrilineal: clan identity passed through the mother, with a husband joining a wife's family. I broke down in tears towards the end when Steinem talks about Wilma's death, as Steinem describes how a soul leaves the body with a person's last breath.

I have a positive overall impression of the book and a great appreciation for Gloria Steinem. I like how the book is put together, as a collection of anecdotes with a lesson in each of them. It took me a while to figure out that there would not be a traditional plot, but I ended up enjoying the autobiographical style. I also admire her courage to put her whole life's work into a book. And her courage to talk about an illegal abortion in the "DEDICATION" section of her book. But my absolute favorite part of the book comes in the "AFTERWORD" section; where she finally answers her lifelong question and realizes that she doesn't need to choose a life on the road or a life in a home, but rather she can choose both.