Gloria Steinem Blames Rush Limbaugh for Ruining Word Feminism

October 23rd, 2015 9:23 AM

During an appearance on Friday’s CBS This Morning to promote her latest book, far-left feminist Gloria Steinem eagerly blamed Rush Limbaugh for making the word feminism a “bad word” because he “talks about feminazis everyday.” 

Co-host Norah O’Donnell teed up Steinem to bash Limbaugh by noting the Meryl Streep “doesn't consider herself a feminist. She says she considers herself a humanist. Why is it that the feminist label do you think has that--" bad connotation? 

After Steinem bashed Limbaugh for allegedly making the word feminism a “bad word” she then claimed that most Americans actually identify as feminists themselves:

But if people just go to the dictionary and discover that it means a person, male or female, who believes in the full equality of women and men then they do subscribe to it. And it is a majority now which it didn’t used to be. 

Steinem was likely citing a poll from the liberal website Vox, which stated that 18% of respondents “identified as feminists” but “[e]ighty-five percent of people favored ‘equality for women,’ and 78 percent agreed that they believe in the ‘social, political, legal, and economic equality of the sexes.”’

This view of feminism probably does not include Steinem’s radical views on abortion which the she argues women “need” because it is a “sacrament.” Ironically, the far-left feminist argued that “violence against women” was the most important women’s issue today but the CBS hosts did not press her on why we as a society don’t do more to stop the violence against unborn girls that occurs as a result of abortion and instead allowed to her rant about there being "so much violence": 

What is tied, I think, for first place is, first of all, violence against women. Because there is so much worldwide, whether it's sexualized violence and more time or domestic violence like here, or, you know -- I mean, there's just so many....Because there is so much violence, for the first time that we know of, there are now fewer females on Earth than males. So, you know, we really need to look at this and understand that when a country is violent against females it’s the biggest indicator that they will be militarily violent too. It needs to be part of our foreign policy. 

See relevant transcript below. 

CBS This Morning 

October 23, 2015

NORAH O’DONNELL: There is still some real issues at stake. I want to start with this. Meryl Streep who stars in the new movie "Suffragette” as Emmeline Pankhurst. She sounded almost like Emmeline Pankhurst in that clip there. She says she doesn't consider herself a feminist. She says she considers herself a humanist. Why is it that the feminist label do you think has that--

GLORIA STEINEM: Well, think she said she is a feminist and a humanist. So I take from that, I mean the tradition of humanism is that you believe in people rather than God, you know, so she may have been saying both things. But the word feminism has been turned into a bad word by Rush Limbaugh who talks about feminazis everyday. But if people just go to the dictionary and discover that it means a person, male or female, who believes in the full equality of women and men then they do subscribe to it. And it is a majority now which it didn’t used to be. 

CHARLIE ROSE: Is pay equity the most important issue on women's agendas? 

STEINEM: No, I don't think so. I mean, it’s very important and it’s also incidentally would be the biggest economic stimulus this country could ever, ever have. But what is tied, I think, for first place is, first of all, violence against women. Because there is so much worldwide, whether it's sexualized violence and more time or domestic violence like here, or, you know -- I mean, there's just so many. 

ROSE: It’s great to have you on the round table. 

O’DONNELL: You're in the circle. 

STEINEM: Yes, I'm in the circle but I have to say one more thing. Because there is so much violence, for the first time that we know of, there are now fewer females on Earth than males. So, you know, we really need to look at this and understand that when a country is violent against females it’s the biggest indicator that they will be militarily violent too. It needs to be part of our foreign policy.