THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 24, 1994 TAG: 9407210072
SECTION: HAMPTON ROADS WOMAN PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: BY IRENE NOLAN, SPECIAL TO HAMPTON ROADS WOMAN
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
GLORIA STEINEM, one of the nation's most influential women, has turned 60. And she's celebrating with a new book, ``Moving Beyond Words.''
The better part of Steinem's 60 years has been devoted to the feminist movement. A founder and now consulting editor of Ms. magazine, Steinem is perhaps the most well-known activist, lecturer and writer for and about women.
``Moving Beyond Words'' (Simon & Schuster, $23) is a collection of six essays by Steinem, three of which have been published in Ms. in a different, and presumably shorter, form.
In her preface, Steinem notes that she spent quite a bit of time on her last book, ``A Revolution From Within,'' and that she thought this one could be turned out with merely an introduction and a few transitions - ``refrying the beans.''
But instead, she says, each essay found a life of its own as she added new ideas and examples. She explains the final product: ``If you added water to any of these parts, it would become a book.''
Steinem's writings have value because of who she is and where she has been. But this collection of essays is not exactly riveting.
``A Revolution From Within'' was important and thought-provoking. In it, Steinem has fought to remove external barriers to equality, wrote about her realization that internal barriers were just as daunting for most women. Even as the external barriers were being removed, women were still not progressing as they should because of their low self-esteem. ``A Revolution From Within'' thus plowed new ground in the movement for equality of the sexes.
``Moving Beyond Words'' plows little new ground and offers few new ideas. The essays are tedious.
The first, ``What if Freud Were Phyllis,'' springs from a witty, clever idea. Steinem rewrites Sigmund Freud's biography from a woman's point of view. But, as presented, with copious footnotes that are sometimes more interesting than the text itself, the essay is difficult and redundant.
Steinem developed ``What if Freud Were Phyllis'' from a speech she gave to the American Psychiatric Association. It was probably an effective speech. But the expanded essay doesn't work.
The three essays that are new versions of Ms. magazine articles are interesting, but were probably more satisfactory in their shorter form. They include:
``Sex, Lies and Advertising,'' the story of how advertisers control editorial content of women's magazines and the decision of Ms. magazine to become ad-free.
``The Strongest Woman in the World,'' the story of Bev Francis, a body builder and power lifter who challenged the traditional image of the female body.
``The Masculinization of Wealth,'' which explores how women in families of inherited wealth devalue themselves.
Steinem also looks at the worth of women and their work in ``Revaluing Economics'' and comments on her recent personal milestone in ``Doing Sixty.''
Those who have read more than enough about what Gloria Steinem thinks about various milestones in her life won't buy this book. But those who want to know what one of the world's leading feminists is thinking as she enters her seventh decade will buy it.
Steimen's answer, by the way, is the title of her poem: ``I Hope To Be an Old Woman Who Dresses Very Inappropriately.'' MEMO: Irene Nolan is editor of ``The Island Breeze'' in Hatteras, N.C., and a
free-lance book reviewer. by CNB