Our Shared Shelf Read #1: 'My Life on the Road' by Gloria Steinem

As you might have heard by now, Emma Watson started a Feminist book club, called Our Shared Shelf, to which everyone is invited and where we'll work our way through some amazing books. The first one up for this month is My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem!


Personally I'm very excited because I had started reading My Life on the Road already but to those who don't know her yet, let me give you a tiny introduction to Gloria Steinem!

Gloria Steinem is probably one of the most well-known feminist of the 20th and 21th century. And I'm not even exaggerating. Born onto the road, Steinem started her career as a freelance journalist in the early 60s and wrote a number of influential articles such as 'A Bunny's Tale' and 'After Back Power, Women's Liberation' before co-founding the feminist magazine Ms. which proved to be a hit. Politically active all her life, she was a big supporter of both Obama and Clinton in 2008.

Steinem has been outspoken on a lot of feminist and gender issues, from abortion to transgender rights. With her wide spread of topics and her refusal to be cowed she has been an example to a lot of feminists and I myself consider her an inspiration.

“A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men.” 

 My Life on the Road may be the best introduction to Steinem and her beliefs that you will ever get and it's straight form the prophetess' mouth!

Gloria Steinem—writer, activist, organizer, and one of the most inspiring leaders in the world—now tells a story she has never told before, a candid account of how her early years led her to live an on-the-road kind of life, traveling, listening to people, learning, and creating change. She reveals the story of her own growth in tandem with the growth of an ongoing movement for equality. This is the story at the heart of My Life on the Road. 

The book is relatively new so you might have some trouble finding it in second-hand book stores but Amazon, Book Depository (currently 10% off!) and even Ebay do have it!

So, will you be giving My Life on the Road a try? And have you joined Our Shared Shelf on Goodreads?