The crowd in Emens Auditorium greeted feminist Gloria Steinem Wednesday evening on its feet after Associate Provost Beverley Pitts introduced her as "one of those role models who helps change lives."
Steinem accepted the ovation, clapping for the near-capacity crowd.
"Who said this is a conservative place?" she asked.
Steinem said she came to Ball State to help people understand the feminist movement. Students said she left a greater impact.
"She made me realize we don't need to focus on history, but need to be aware of it," freshman Sara Thompson said. "She told us it is more important to move on and improve."
Steinem also stressed the importance of men in the movement, senior Colin Root said.
"Feminism partially starts with men," Root said. "We need to change the way we raise boys and our view of masculinity. She helped me understand that."
Steinem began by saying the most important part of feminism is its understanding. Steinem said feminism is a transformational movement in which people of all sexes, races, religions, sexual orientations, etc. are equal in every way. She discussed its effects on men, women and any minority.
"Creativity, flexibility and compassion are wrongly called feminine," Steinem said. "These are characteristics of men as well."
Changing the stigma of men working outside the home and women giving up an outside job to only care for children is important for both sexes, Steinem said.
"Men should not be so excluded from care-giving," she said. "The work pattern makes it unacceptable for anyone to be a complete human being."
With that in mind, Steinem said American society is currently in the second stage of the feminist movement. Steinem said in the first stage most people saw the movement as impossible. Now, Steinem said, it is seen as unnecessary.
"When we are all finished, we will have a world where it is acceptable for men to be raising children as much as women are," she said. "We are becoming courageous enough to raise our daughters like sons, but we need to stop being fearful of raising our sons like daughters."
Being a homemaker and a care-giver should be seen as a career, Steinem said, who said she think most families could not afford to pay a homemaker for their time and work.
"During the women's movement, women said they were becoming the men they wanted to marry," Steinem said. "We have yet to arrange when men become the women they want to marry."
Steinem said women saw their husbands succeed as architects, doctors and lawyers and wanted the same careers for themselves.
Aside from sexual equality, Steinem said the feminist movement was not possible without racial and homosexual, bisexual and transgendered equality. She said the events of Sept. 11 left people more eager to understand human differences around the world.
As for American popular culture, women's magazines are the worst feminist offenders, Steinem said.
Offense is nothing new to her, she said, although she was unprepared for the backlash feminism received at the beginning of the movement.
"At the beginning, it was so vicious," she said. "Now the majority opinion has changed."
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