movement and destroyed an experimental woman's college. That's not their fault.
More and more, we ask why was she ever a leader to begin with?
In 1972, Gloria battled Betty Friedan for the media's crown of "feminist leader."
And Gloria won.
No surprise there, Gloria was of the press and they tend to circle the wagons.
At the time, Betty was 52 and seen as too old to be the leader of the feminist movement.
At 38, Gloria was no spring chicken but she hadn't hit the big 5-0 which allowed her to pretend she was youthful -- as did her streaked hair and mini-skirts.
Gloria likes to pretend like it was a one-sided battle but it wasn't and both women had their supporters fighting it out as well.
As a leader, Gloria was a repeated failure.
For more on that, people should read Germaine Greer's "McGovern, the big tease" (Harper's October 1972) and Veronica Geng's "Requiem for the women's movement" (Harper's November 1976) and discover how Gloria worked to dismantle support for abortion rights.
Gloria's political activism, like her personal life, has been one long compromise.
The real problem with Gloria is how she refuses to step aside.
At 81, she really can't and shouldn't be the leader of the feminist movement.
She gladly pushed Betty Friedan aside when Betty was only 52.
In a recent interview with COSMO, Gloria demonstrated her two greatest faults:
Oh, we can have a Beyoncé discussion. I was there when Beyoncé did Chimes for Change — you know, it's the biggest concert I've ever seen in my life, for the Violence Against Women Project — she came out and said to this audience of thousands of mostly women, "I know life is hard, but we're together for the next hour or so, and you're safe." And I thought, OK, you had me at hello. We need to build bridges to those folks, not sit and nitpick what they have on. A feminist is just someone who believes men and women are equal beings.
She's a star f**ker.
That's what destroyed Ms. magazine (read Susan Faludi's BACKLASH).
She's always been a star f**ker.
She's also deeply stupid.
Did Beyonce do nice at a Violence Against Women Project concert?
So that forgives her recent "Drunk In Love" which glorified Ike Turner's abuse and terrorism of Tina Turner, compared it being "drunk in love"?
Gloria's a stupid, old woman who needs to shut her damn mouth long enough to learn something.
But what do you learn in the paragraph above?
That star f**ker Gloria's happy to talk about Beyonce.
But actual feminists?
Activists doing the hard work?
Gloria doesn't have time to mention them.
After all, if she acknowledged them -- actually mentioned them -- she might lose her spot in the press as "leader" of the feminist movement.