Gloria Steinem Quotes

It is no longer acceptable to discuss women's rights as separate from human rights.

I don't like calling myself a "feminist" only because I don't think I've done anything active enough to call myself one. It'd be like calling myself a civil rights activist just because I'm not racist.

We are all benefiting from the great feminists who struggled and suffered and worked to give us everything women now enjoy... I refer to myself as a feminist, and I do it with pride.

The basic freedom of the world is woman's freedom.

I think I was a feminist before the word was invented.

I would love for people to know that the label 'feminist' is something that everyone should wear proudly, because it just means that you support women.

The battle for the individual rights of women is one of long standing and none of us should countenance anything which undermines it.

Women will no longer be silent when they suffer injustices against them.

I deplore the shying away that can go on, within women, from the term 'feminist.' I am, absolutely, all about being a feminist.

Why are we not valuing the word 'feminism' when there is so much work to be done in terms of empowerment and emancipation of women everywhere?

I believe that the rights of women and girls is the unfinished business of the 21st century.

Women’s rights are human rights and human rights are women’s rights.

The Proletariat cannot achieve complete liberty until it has won complete liberty for women.

Women's rights are human rights.

A feminist is a person who believes in the power of women just as much as they believe in the power of anyone else. It's equality, it's fairness, and I think it's a great thing to be a part of.

We believe women have rights in Islam that they've yet to obtain.

My parents realized the dangers of raising a daughter in a social, political, and legal climate that was growing increasingly oppressive toward women and girls. Although they fled to London when I was just three weeks old, the challenges facing women's rights in Iran became ingrained in my social consciousness.

Whether people identify as feminists or not, if they're doing work that furthers a feminist cause, I think that's wonderful, like if it works for me, right, it works for the movement. But I do think that personally they're missing out. If you don't identify as a feminist, you're missing out on this whole community that's out there that could really help you with your work, help you with your personal life, and just give you support.

For me, to be a feminist is to answer the question 'Are women human?' with a yes.

Some people ask: "Why the word feminist? Why not just say you are a believer in human rights, or something like that?" Because that would be dishonest. Feminism is, of course, part of human rights in general-but to choose to use the vague expression human rights is to deny the specific and particular problem of gender. It would be a way of pretending that it was not women who have, for centuries, been excluded. It would be a way of denying that the problem of gender targets women.

Women had always fought for men, and for their children. Now they were ready to fight for their own human rights. Our militant movement was established.

We think it is in our nation's interest that Afghan women - or any women around the world - not suffer.

I don't think people should think of women's issues as auxiliary issues - they are central.

The best thermometer to the progress of a nation is its treatment of its women.

There must be a remedy even for such a crying evil as this [abortion]. But where shall it be found, at least where begin, if not in the complete enfranchisement and elevation of women?