Tonight on HBO, a documentary about Gloria Steinem. And, so, an excuse to post my interview with her (such a cool gift!) for All About Women (For some reason the magazine took offline the first several years of issues.) From All About Women, 2/08:
In 1968 journalist Moses Znaimer conducted a lengthy, intimate interview with then 34-year-old Gloria Steinem in her New York City apartment, subsequently broadcast on the Canadian Broadcast Centre show entitled, The Way It Is. “New journalism” was the primary topic, Znaimer and Steinem discussing the new trend among an elite group of writers, including Steinem, who blended impeccable reporting with their own personal perspectives and connections with the story. Certainly it was interesting to learn about the origins of a journalistic style we now take for granted. But I found the interview’s equally overt sub-text even more fascinating.
Gloria Steinem was a “girl” and Moses Znaimer wove that fact into the interview with easy, casual frequency:
Do you distinguish in your work between the fact that you’re writing and you’re a lady writing?
I just want to get past one uncomfortable & fairly obvious fact … that you’re a pretty stunning woman. And I want to know whether you capitalize on that?
While Steinem inexplicably ironed a blouse during a portion of the interview, Znaimer asked, How many “ladies” things do you like doing? Do you cook? You iron … exceedingly well, too.
While discussing Steinem’s undercover expose as a Playboy bunny, Znaimer asked, “Forgive me, but I always thought you had to be stacked, absolutely stacked to be a bunny girl. How did you get the job?”
After the interview, the closing anchor, holding an iron in his hand, summarized with a smile, “[That was] Moses, ironing out a few things with a heck of a good writer, and not a hateful looker …”
