Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.
Activist and author Gloria Steinem is an icon of the global feminist movement. She’s spent her life defying stereotypes, breaking social barriers and fighting for equality. In conversation with TEDWomen curator Pat Mitchell, Steinem reflects on the revolutionary roots of the feminist movement, the fundamental need for intersectionality to combat prejudice, and how she overcame her fears with the support of friends. Now she urges future generations of women to advocate for each other in solidarity — and discover the freedom found in companionship and community.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You’re welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
TED’s videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at
Hippie Dippy
December 3, 2020 at 9:35 pm
Yes, the title is addressed to the future generations of women, but it only says we are the roots of change- not the whole tree, and I think you guys are looking past that. Yes, it’s true that we are definitely helping the change, but we can’t do it without the help of _everyone,_ _all_ genders, _all_ races… we’re not feminists, we’re leaders, and _together_ we’ll lead everyone to building a better world for tomorrow.
Colddrypasta Weponisedspaghetti
December 3, 2020 at 10:37 pm
This comment is bought to you by the great reset and you’ll be happy about it
Lisa Love Ministries
December 3, 2020 at 9:47 pm
God bless you Gloria repent from all that fake propaganda liberalism.
Romans 10:9
Jj Jjj
December 3, 2020 at 9:59 pm
U deleted ur other comment so i had to find ur new commemt
Lisa Love Ministries
December 3, 2020 at 11:06 pm
@Jj Jjj
Sorry my bad😀
The One On YouTube
December 4, 2020 at 1:09 am
Jeremiah 31:22
Scot Fretwell
December 3, 2020 at 9:48 pm
Expired ideology.
Jj Jjj
December 3, 2020 at 9:56 pm
They just never got loved
bravojr
December 3, 2020 at 10:56 pm
They never had a father.
ALMARC
December 3, 2020 at 11:17 pm
An ideology created by a man to cripple and destroy women and the family. Friedrich Engels created feminism for Marx if you want to know where the ideology came from
Clownphabet Man
December 3, 2020 at 9:49 pm
She is proud of the “3 black feminists” (marxists) who started BLM, like a vampire who created other vampires.
Jj Jjj
December 3, 2020 at 9:55 pm
So now youtube not letting me reply with facts about blm
Jj Jjj
December 3, 2020 at 9:55 pm
George sorros bill gates blm
Jj Jjj
December 3, 2020 at 9:57 pm
Rember to dislike
The One On YouTube
December 4, 2020 at 1:09 am
Comment disliked. 👍
Mark Hamric
December 3, 2020 at 9:57 pm
Graduate high school, get a job, get married, have kids, stop dikking around.
Jj Jjj
December 3, 2020 at 9:58 pm
If buy job u mean hooker then yea
Tech For Pick
December 3, 2020 at 9:58 pm
🙂
Tony Handerson
December 3, 2020 at 10:07 pm
stop victimizing women! they are too strong and confident and successful at this moment! going further, it would become hypocritical
El Gingersnap
December 3, 2020 at 10:08 pm
ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY, but less women like Candace Owens. No more perpetuating toxic masculinity and homophobia.
ozgoodphotos
December 3, 2020 at 10:08 pm
Gloria Steinem is one of the reasons our country has so many problems.
Nico Smets
December 3, 2020 at 10:17 pm
Haha, these comments are great.
Verena Satriani
December 3, 2020 at 10:21 pm
The future is in you.
bravojr
December 3, 2020 at 10:56 pm
no… The future is ahead of you. Always… The present is in you.
spaz tor
December 3, 2020 at 11:39 pm
Everyone’s in you
yung dead
December 3, 2020 at 10:27 pm
good lord these comments are yucky 🤮
bravojr
December 3, 2020 at 10:55 pm
Let me throw up in your mouth?
^ that’s yucky.
Justin Stewart
December 3, 2020 at 11:06 pm
Exactly…..a Hate Festival
GuitarZombie
December 3, 2020 at 10:27 pm
Have been since the Garden
pacostea
December 3, 2020 at 10:31 pm
– Again .. another crap from TED! Not so’ cool …
Billy Ray
December 3, 2020 at 10:43 pm
Gloria you are a piece of garbage that actively targeted traditional family values. One day you will have to stand before God.
Penfold
December 3, 2020 at 10:50 pm
So TED has become Fiday night Tv.
W W
December 3, 2020 at 11:11 pm
The incels in the comments 😂
The One On YouTube
December 4, 2020 at 1:06 am
Shhh, they’ll hear you! 😆
Janie Kilkelly
December 3, 2020 at 11:15 pm
Awesome woman. The comments are typical ageist. The interviewer could be better though.
STEPHEN Liggio
December 3, 2020 at 11:19 pm
Gloria “if you don’t vote for Hillary you’re not a feminist” Steinem…. ok, bye Felicia. Bernie was the only candidate who actually believed in empowering working women. You are elitism at its worst.
Karen S
December 3, 2020 at 11:39 pm
To the nay-sayers, to the ones resentful of Steinham’s rightful acclaim, to the ones who really believe that we should go back to the days when women weren’t even allowed to get a credit card in their own name, or buy a house without some man as a co-signer…just remember that we’re ALL raised up when the rights of the oppressed are recognized. (Yeah, my name is Karen, but I’ve had that name for 70 years. I’d feel the same even if my name were Melania.)
carlokrenzelak
December 3, 2020 at 11:59 pm
We haven’t all been raised up since women decided to no longer have families
StareNot
December 4, 2020 at 12:08 am
Here’s the actual obvious truth; woman are no more the “roots of change” than man, historically speaking, they are in fact way less likely to be the root of any change.
BEEMER
December 4, 2020 at 12:09 am
There’s an incredible amount of low-vibrational & simple minded comments in this section.
Let’s get this straight, when we are talking about the importance of one thing does not mean we are ignoring everything else or that the other thing(s) aren’t as important, etc. It means at this time, this conversation this is what we are talking about & addressing.
Now, a few things; don’t deny facts, chill & stop with this, “what about me?!” for just a damn moment.
Catherine Daoust-Pichette
December 4, 2020 at 12:46 am
Thank you so much Gloria for being such a powerful voice for women and leading by example! Your sense of community is truly inspiring. I look forward to see women being represented more and more in the future. Thank you once again for your amazing contribution to the movement.
LaToya King
December 4, 2020 at 1:27 am
She is a legend 💎
Sunflower L
December 4, 2020 at 10:50 am
❤️❤️
Free Wheel Burning
December 4, 2020 at 10:58 am
Candace Owens should be able to rebuttal her
theindian mom
December 6, 2020 at 2:16 am
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Nick
December 4, 2020 at 11:10 am
Only the weak need empowerment and guess what ladies… you seem to be the prime target and the primary consumers of these pandering ego-masseuses.
Here’s one of Gloria’s fan letters from a woman that I didn’t make up and invent completely in an attempt to insult people I feel are motivated by greed, laziness and insecurity, who try to make themselves feel better at the expense of others, while ruining relationships and convincing women to act against their own best interest and that of their families;
“Help me, I’m weak and need someone to tell me I’m strong so I can be overbearing, rude and use an inappropriate volume indoors in an attempt to make people think I’m smarter than I really am! Please! I need to get that promotion at work that I’m going to get anyway because I have a vagina and not because I work harder than anyone else (because I don’t) or because I know the job better (I definitely don’t.. I don’t really even know what I do here)! Also, can you teach me how to emasculate men? That’ll make me feel strong and powerful for sure! Hello six-figure income for keeping a chair warm for 4 hours and doing my make up and playing on my phone in the bathroom for another 4 hours!”
Stacey Gram
December 4, 2020 at 11:12 am
TED, still pushing feminist propaganda.
Koray
December 4, 2020 at 11:34 am
Future women! Dye your hair purple and be part of every braindead organization!!!
Eric Ho
December 4, 2020 at 11:56 am
LOok like zombie
Rohith
December 4, 2020 at 3:19 pm
Who thought this was Andrea Ghez seeing the thumbnail?
Rumo Notna
December 4, 2020 at 3:55 pm
Nhaa, we will see about this
Alka Soli SEER CREATORS
December 4, 2020 at 4:07 pm
Change comes with humans.. Not just with women
Soreya Noon Kleine
December 4, 2020 at 4:55 pm
♋♊💖
The One On YouTube
December 8, 2020 at 12:56 am
Cusp?
Shiwanokia
December 4, 2020 at 5:06 pm
Thw woman who built a movement and then ditched it to live a conventional life.
sanjuansteve
December 4, 2020 at 5:36 pm
We should all try to only support women and minorities into positions of power everywhere until proportionate representation is achieved.
Banti Saikia
December 4, 2020 at 6:10 pm
Thank u GLORIA..
Narcissistic Narcissus
December 4, 2020 at 6:17 pm
Can we stop this sexist crap?
Year after year this crap goes on. I don’t want to raise my son in this kind of world.
hgd
December 4, 2020 at 6:58 pm
What about your daughter?
Mai Mohamed
December 4, 2020 at 7:59 pm
I’m glad I found this😍✨
Molly D
December 4, 2020 at 11:50 pm
If you think it’s hard to leave a relationship, but you are experiencing any sign of infidelity you need to say to yourself, “I can do better,” and just leave. I had no choice but to contact a professional tech guy who I got introduced to by my friend, he helped me hack my partners phone and I found out he was cheating , I even got to see his deleted messages, pictures and videos. I had no choice but to confront him and leave the relationship Because it became too toxic for me. I know someday I would find the right man for me. Incase you need the same service from the professional tech guy , you can contact him through Gmail : cyberhackanswers @ gmail. com or Text/WhatsApp: +1 626 578 5544, or send him a dm on instagram @blonde_hacker_ infidelity hurts.
stating what you want him to do, he’s affordable. No one deserves to be cheated on. i confronted him . At first it hurt so much, but then suddenly, I felt free and good. Trust me, it’ll feel a lot better once you accept that the relationship is over.
‘];’.;][.’;
Daniel Hernandez
December 5, 2020 at 1:16 am
I’ll tell my son he’s not the root of change for the future.
Clownphabet Man
December 5, 2020 at 9:27 pm
@ST elevated I wouldn’t put my life in a woman doctor’s hands. For smaller stuff, maybe.
ST elevated
December 5, 2020 at 10:52 pm
@Clownphabet Man Lol
Zero Hero
December 6, 2020 at 4:10 am
@ST elevated I support a lot of women. But since many are non feminist/conservative, guess they don’t count according to many feminist groups. They have to support certain women and their viewpoints. Take Gloria for example, went after women that didn’t vote for Hillary.
academic contentx
December 6, 2020 at 7:40 am
so much drama…
ST elevated
December 6, 2020 at 8:52 am
@Zero Hero we must support one another. Hasn’t this pandemic taught that we are miserable when left alone?
anna rouki
December 5, 2020 at 1:42 am
Solidarity is the “point” today and forever ..!
תבל קופלר
December 5, 2020 at 11:11 am
8:47 Even tough I think that the slogan “follow the fear and do it anyway” has a very good meaning. It is slapping itself logically. For example: my fear is that I will die. So, by that slogan I need to commit suicide.
תבל קופלר
December 5, 2020 at 11:44 am
So the solution is to write: “follow your fear and do it anyway. When it doesn’t hurt you physically, mentally and when it helps you and other people. While this statement can be broke if other existing thing’s/things value is higher then yours, and by that it will reduce the number of potentiall casualties. And just then, if needed, you will have to hurt you for them.”
End quote
Mommyhood Deconstructed
December 5, 2020 at 12:21 pm
“Talking circles” – great point and so needed right now…
Mike Majewicz
December 5, 2020 at 2:14 pm
Today’s feminists are no longer oppressed so they just hate men amd prpretento be oppressed.
Phyllobates Terribilis
December 6, 2020 at 2:48 am
She taught millions of women to value career over children – because an impressive CV is so comforting in your golden years…
Remi Ogunsanya
December 6, 2020 at 3:18 am
Oh shut up. Women value what they value and sometimes that’s not children. There’s nothing wrong with that.
Phyllobates Terribilis
December 6, 2020 at 10:07 am
@Remi Ogunsanya No, you shut up. Women should have children, men too.
T G
December 6, 2020 at 3:23 am
On point. Thank you.
Gaasuba Meskhenet
December 6, 2020 at 3:29 am
“native americans” like they don’t have tribes with different cultures
Questy
December 7, 2020 at 8:40 pm
If theyre based
Gaasuba Meskhenet
December 7, 2020 at 8:44 pm
@Questy what
Questy
December 7, 2020 at 9:55 pm
@Gaasuba Meskhenet Chads are based fe.
The Golden Staff
December 6, 2020 at 6:00 pm
Gynocracy = oppression
The One On YouTube
December 8, 2020 at 2:20 am
Patriarchy = oppression
The Golden Staff
December 8, 2020 at 12:49 pm
@The One On YouTube Patriarchy is the greatest thing to happen to humanity. Matriarchy = Bonobo-level civilization
The One On YouTube
December 8, 2020 at 2:01 pm
@The Golden Staff
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
The Golden Staff
December 8, 2020 at 2:10 pm
@The One On YouTube Typical liberal, laughs when she doesn’t have the intelligence to argue points. Good luck with that glass ceiling you’ll never reach floozy
The One On YouTube
December 8, 2020 at 3:22 pm
@The Golden Staff
Typical toxic conservative—always mocking people when they have the audacity to disagree with them, and projecting their own lack of intelligence onto them.
Tell me something, Golden Shaft—do you think countless wars which use young men like you like condoms for the sake of fighting for a patriarchal elite sound like the greatest thing to happen to humanity?
BizzyBug Productions
December 7, 2020 at 5:04 pm
So please Do remeber to complain about gender inequality constantly
Questy
December 7, 2020 at 8:39 pm
Feminism
Amy Kay
December 7, 2020 at 11:27 pm
Yikes… That thumbnail 😬
Thúy Trương
December 8, 2020 at 2:13 pm
Thanks very much
Arlind 8
December 9, 2020 at 3:51 pm
Once upone time she said: By the year 2000 we will,I hope ,raise our childrens to believe in human potential,NOT GOD
….so she works for dangers agenda
magicninjasboy
December 12, 2020 at 3:28 pm
Crap