Gloria Steinem: "Power will always try to control a woman's body"

• The feminist Gloria Steinem, Princess of Asturias Award for Humanities

• Gloria Steinem: "For a woman, her own home is more dangerous than the road"

This Friday, the most famous feminist on the planet will collect the

in Oviedo

for, according to the jury, being

.

Steinem, 87, has been active in activism, writing and advocating for more than six decades to improve the lives of millions of women around the world. "The award has been an unexpected blessing," he confessed a few days ago by phone from his home in New York, "he has never been to Spain, but I think I will feel at home because the United States is already a bicultural country."

What are the challenges of feminism today? Women's lives are still at stake. In the case of some, in the most literal sense of the word because their physical safety is not guaranteed on the streets or in their own home. For others, feminism has to do with the right to decide how and when to have children, to charge the same as men or to distribute domestic responsibilities such as childcare. It is important to listen to each other and support each other, even if we need different things. As a protagonist of the second wave of feminism in the 70s, did you imagine that you would experience a fourth wave like the current one? When you are in a movement you do not you see it as a chapter in history. The expression 'second wave' was coined after the second wave passed, no one used that expression.Today it is much easier to speak of patriarchy and racism as two systems that what they try to do is reduce us to a group, instead of letting us be unique individuals.What are the differences between the struggle of then and the current one? What has changed is that feminism is today another part of our lives, not a phase. In the 70s we were so optimistic that we thought that things could change in five, ten or twenty years, that we could defeat our enemies. We were not aware of how incredibly deep the roots of racism and patriarchy are. Today injustices are seen more clearly. Is the enemy stronger or weaker? It is weaker because it is no longer invisible. We are all capable of identifying machismo and calling it by name when we see it.And the mere fact of not considering it inevitable or normal is a big step. Seeing that a system can change is the first step to a real and profound transformation. Today we know that feminism is something that will be there forever, for life. Since its award was announced, the withdrawal from Afghanistan has left millions of Afghans in a miserable situation and the right to abortion has suffered a severe setback in Texas, is women's rights a bargaining chip, something that comes and goes? It is shocking to see that 20 years have not changed anything about the patriarchy that surrounds Afghan women. Watching activists flee the country or be attacked at home has been like going back in time. I don't know if it's a reaction to progress or worse, a complete regression. It is a very complex situation.And reproductive rights in Texas have always been one of the priorities of power. At the top of all hierarchies of power is always the control of the woman's body. In Texas, four out of five citizens believe that women should be able to decide whether to have children or not, but the lack of democracy when it comes to deciding legislative representatives has made that almost impossible. It is a defeat. For many women it must have been a shock because the contrast between public opinion and the new law is huge. There has been a response: support groups have organized, even taxi drivers have offered free rides to women who were going to have an abortion. What has happened there is a sober reminder that political power will always try to control a woman's body.The system needs it to perpetuate racism and classism. Do you fear a conservative legislative wave supported by the Supreme Court? The possibility of a reactionary wave is something we always have to contemplate. But even before the feminist movement of the 1970s, when abortion was prohibited, one in three women in the United States had had one. That means unsafe abortions were performed, especially for those who had no money. That gives us a lesson: there is nothing that can force a woman to give up control of her body, I imagine that many women approach her and tell her about their experiences, have the stories changed a lot? Abortion is no longer taboo. It has been a journey. In France,Simone de Beauvoir made lists of women who confessed to having abortions to ask for legislation and in Ms Magazine we did the same. The silence has been broken and today it is much easier to talk about it. Uma Thurman recently told her own experience, is it useful for celebrities to open up? Social movements always emerge from the testimony of people who, wherever they come from, tell the story. truth about their lives. Telling the truth almost always helps. Thurman described it as a "dark secret" and it seems that society continues to tolerate the abortion story only if it is sad or traumatic, when it can also be a huge relief. The dedication of his memoirs to the doctor who practiced his at the age of 22 is almost celebratory and, for that very reason, very courageous. Whatever the nature of your experience,it is important to be able to tell it. In the 60s and 70s, in front of the apartment in which she lived, there was a clinic where women went to have an abortion. I used to see many get out of rickety cars, helping each other in and out of the clinic, and many would later go to the liquor store on the corner to buy a bottle of wine to celebrate. For some, the experience is traumatic, but it is true that, in general, the truth of many women has been suppressed: that abortion is a relief and can be a cause for celebration. What is the balance of the MeToo four years later? Very positive. In the end it is about telling the truth. It started in Hollywood, it was immediately supported by the press and also by working women. Seeing women leaning on is always important.What would you say to those who see a revenge-seeking movement in MeToo? Well, they have probably never been forced to abort. I would tell them that the gift of making your own decisions about your body also belongs to them. What is not discussed is the reprisals that many women have suffered for reporting harassment. Totally, it is very easy to talk about your personal experiences as long as you do not your job is at stake. It is not the same to talk about sexual harassment if you work, for example, in a factory. You signed the letter from Harper's magazine that denounced a climate against open debate, do you think it is difficult to express opinions freely? It depends, it cannot be generalized . I think we always come out stronger when we do things in company.Finding other men and women who stand up together to be able to tell the truth is always going to help. Are you afraid of being criticized or, as they say now, canceled? No. I take rigor very seriously when I write. Fact checking is still a command for me. I am aware that because I am a journalist I have access and presence in the media, which is still incredibly powerful. That is why I think it is good news that millions of people now have access to social networks and can share their stories. Although the attention is still uneven: it is not the same when you have a name and people know you. How have you combined being a freelancer all your life and having to pay the bills with maintaining your independence? It has not always been easy.For a long time I shared the apartment in which I now live with an artist and we both had a terrible time making ends meet. We would get up in the morning and ask ourselves: How are we going to earn the 50 dollars it costs to live here today? On the other hand, I have not had children, I just had to take responsibility for myself. I have lived through many times of uncertainty. But it never crossed my mind to have an office job. The closest I came to having a stable salary was a column that I wrote during a season in New York Magazine.In Spain this last year we have experienced a bitter dispute between different factions of feminism over the Trans Law, which facilitates gender self-determination,What do you think about the subject? It gives me the feeling that at the base of this situation is the right of one to recognize oneself, right? The truth is, I don't know of a better system than the one in which everyone can affirm themselves. In the last two years they have shot a movie and a television series about their figure, how do you bring so much attention to your figure right now? Movements are made up of people and each one of them tells a story, so I hope mine can inspire, as do many others. When Julia Taymor asked me if I could adapt my memoirs to film, On the road (in Spain published by Alpha Decay) I said yes without thinking because Julia is one of the best filmmakers of our time. Ms America was the opposite experience. The entire premise of the series is a lie.Phyllis Schlafly did not stop the ERA, the Equal Rights Amendment, it was the insurance industry, who did not want to stop doing business segregating by sex because that would have made them lose a lot of money. Do you have any regrets? Of course! But almost everything falls into the category of wasted time. Because in the end, life is that: time. I regret that I did not write more or have been distracted. It is 20 years since Bill Clinton was impeachment, would things be different today regarding the treatment Monica Lewinsky received? In perspective, I think one of the things that was most misunderstood is that between the two there was a real respect and affection. I do not remember all the details of the case exactly, but I think that that part, that of the friendship between the two,it was misunderstood because there was so much difference in power between the two. And then there is the role of Linda Tripp, who betrayed Lewinsky. How about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? She is an excellent example of democracy in action. The fact that she has no prior political experience and has held ordinary, waitressing jobs allows her to represent the experience of the average American citizen in an extraordinary way. His ability to express himself and communicate with others seems directly to me a miracle. It is helping to democratize Congress. What if I could become a good president? I don't know, there have been so many women who could have been excellent in this position: Shirley Chisholm in 1972, Hillary Clinton in 2017 ...What was it like to infiltrate the Playboy mansion to write a report on the working conditions of the "bunnies"? Working at the Playboy mansion was not glamorous at all, it was horrible and it was very poorly paid. They hired anyone. I was hired without seeing my identity documents, which is illegal in New York, especially if you are going to serve alcohol. The food was terrible, the service a real horror and I remember that in the only previous interview I did, the boss told me: if you know how to type, this is not your place. I only stayed a month. They were so racist that the black women who worked there were called chocolate bunnies. I am happy because the report brought to light the miserable conditions of women in all the Playboy clubs around the world.Although when the story was published there was too much emphasis on the physical and I don't know if that sent the wrong message, the impression that being a bunny was a desirable thing. I don't know if I would do it again. How would you say that men handle feminism? Many are changing: they take care of their grandchildren and their children, they are no longer the type who returns home with the check. They see reflected in the feminist movement how they would like their daughters to be in the future and that is why they support it. A man can also be a feminist, he can be in favor of justice, equality between men and women and defend the fact that, beyond groups, we are all unique human beings. Everyone can change their attitude, whether at work or at home, to make the world a little fairer. Doing so is incredibly satisfying.It is about expanding democracy, that all power is not in the hands of a few rich white men. That's still the world we live in. Have you seen Clint Eastwood's latest movie, Male Cry? No, I haven't seen his movies in a long time.

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