The recent death of journalist and social activist Gloria Steinem has brought to light her decades of accomplishments, including her ability to galvanize generations of women with her courage, charisma and passion.
On this Labor Day weekend, the lives of women like Toledo native Steinem, Dolly Parton and a handful of other successful women show how women walk a tightrope in the workplace as they negotiate issues like unequal pay, sex discrimination and achieving work-life balance.
I interviewed Steinem in 1999 for a book I was writing about another powerful Ohioan, Charlotte Curtis, who rose to become the first woman top editor at the New York Times. How did Steinem think Curtis, a Columbus native, was able to thrive in the male-dominated Times of the 1970s, when she was usually the only woman in a roomful of men? Curtis was ambitious and particularly adept at knowing how to “act” and persuade in the male-dominated work environment, Steinem said. And she knew when to speak up and when to remain silent when surrounded by a group of men.
In my recent book about Jane Fonda, I show how Fonda’s ability to succeed as an actor and activist stemmed from her belief in the importance of collaboration, her flexibility and her refusal to back down when hitting roadblocks. She was one of only a few women producers in Hollywood when she made the drama Coming Home (1978); it took five years to get funding and outside support for the film because most people in Hollywood thought making a film about the aftermath of the war in Vietnam was a terrible idea.
Ultimately, Coming Home was a hit that earned Oscars for its two stars, Fonda and Jon Voight, as well as a Best Picture nomination.
Fonda also produced the comedy, 9 to 5 (1981), which she initially envisioned as a serious drama about workplace inequality and harassment.
Her co-stars, Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin, persuaded her that the film would draw bigger audiences if it were a comedy. And, indeed, it was the humor in 9 to 5 – as well as Parton’s iconic hit song by the same name – that ultimately brought women’s rights and workplace sexism to the mainstream.
In fact, humor was Parton’s ace in the hole throughout her career – she knew from an early age about the value of self-deprecation and timing. “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap,” was one of her most often-quoted lines.
There is little question on this Labor Day that women in the workplace still face some of the same obstacles as their mothers and grandmothers, but role models and trailblazers like Steinem, Parton, Curtis, Fonda and others, through their determination, creativity and vision, have inspired those of us who follow them.
