"Ruth's Song (Because She Could Not Sing It)" / 153

Are Barbie dolls or G.I. Joe toys or Star Wars figures artifacts that have had an impact on us? You bet. Does wearing lipstick or glasses or a watch in some way define who we are? Yes! (http://www.voicenet.com/~nancymc/gloriasteinem.html). In an interview with PBS for a series called "No Safe Place: Violence Against Women," Gloria Steinem points out the importance of social artifacts on how people relate to one another in society (http://www.pbs.org/kued/nosafeplace/interv/steinem.html). Specifically, when asked about the origins of male violence against women, Steinem points to our culture, which teaches men to dominate women:

The origins of violence against women by men are not biological. If that were the case, it would exist in every culture. And it doesn't exist in every culture. There are tribal and less patriarchal cultures in which there is very little violence, or in which the violence is almost equal, you know, especially among boys and girls. But in any case, there is no organized violence. There is no frequency of rape and so on. So it can't be biological. It has to be social.

It comes in a very deep sense from teaching men to dominate. ...

"Ruth's Song (Because She Could Not Sing It)" (1983), is both a personal narrative and an elegy for Steinem's mother, who experienced a nervous breakdown. In order to figure out how her mother came to be in a position to suffer such a breakdown, Steinem revisits her own past and sees herself--and her father--through her mother's eyes. She discovers she is "[. . .] no longer obsessed, as I was for many years, with the fear that I would end up in a house like that one in Toledo. Now, I'm obsessed instead with the things I could have done for my mother while she was alive, or the things I should have said" (166).

Is what you say or what you do just as important as what you wear in forming your identity? Of course. Consider how your actions affect others as you read this piece. This interview of Steinem might also be of interest (http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/interviews/gloria.htm). And keep an open mind as you read these critical readings.