BOOK POST 2: MY LIFE ON THE ROAD BY GLORIA STEINEM
As I mentioned
in my first blog post about Gloria Steinem’s autobiography titled My life on the Road, a main reason I
chose to read this book was because of my interest in traveling. When I
graduated high school back in 2015, I had never traveled outside of the U.S and
that was a large reason why I chose to spend my freshman year studying abroad
in Paris. While in Paris, I was able to travel to 17 different European
countries and my favorite part of all of the trips were getting to meet the
locals and learn about their lives. Those experiences motivated me to choose
this book, as I wanted to read traveling stories from someone else’s
perspective. Now that I’ve completed this book I can easily say that my
expectations were met and I would definitely recommend this book to others who
want to learn more about the lives of people from completely different
backgrounds than themselves.
My life on the Road told many different stories of Gloria
Steinem traveling through the U.S. and how listening to people’s stories was a
powerful tool for organizing collective action and bringing sociocultural and
political change. We live in a world that feels dominated by stereotypes where
everyone is too quick to judge a book by its cover. The best example of this
with Steinem realizing that she shouldn’t judge a book by its cover was in the
chapter titled “Surrealism in Everyday Life.” In that chapter Steinem told the
story of how she crossed paths with a construction worker who approached the
car she was in with her two woman companions. The three women were wearing “Ms.
Magazine T-shirts” and when the man approached them he shared that he was also
a reader of that magazine. Steinem explained how shocked she was that a huge
male who works in construction would be interested in the same type of magazine
that her and her fellow feminists were. I believe that this example said a lot
about how it’s human nature to assume the interests of someone before meeting
them but in reality you really never know.
My life on the Road shared many stories of Gloria Steinem’s
experiences traveling around the country. I have to admit that I am guilty of
stereotyping people before talking to them and I don’t believe that I’m alone
in doing that. The main thing I took out of this book was that we all have
initial impressions of others and believe that people who grew up differently
than us are different than us but actually we’re more alike than we think. Each
chapter of this book could easily have been its own book as each story she told
captivated me for its entirety. I’m very happy that I chose this book and was
able to read the many stories of Steinem’s travels. I plan to encourage my
family and friends to also read this book as I believe anyone can benefit from
reading these stories and know it’ll open up the mind of whoever opens up the
book.
I really enjoyed the book and all the stories that Steinem had to tell! I also liked the story of the construction worker coming up to the women in the car and talking about how he is a "Ms. Magazine" reader and how it relates to stereotyping. I also chose this book because I love to travel. That's also unreal that you were able to go to 17 different European countries, very cool.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first summary I've read about Steinem's book and it sounds very interesting! I share both of your love for travel and I am writing my expert article on unique travel destinations. I wonder if reading her book before our next assignment would have been beneficial. Regardless, I'm glad you enjoyed her story.
ReplyDelete-Ryan Baer
I like how you admit at the end that you are similar to the artist and that you judge people sometimes too harshly initially. Thats great because it shows that you learned some things from this book and you can apply it! Great summary and review!
ReplyDelete-KT
I feel like you that sometimes I have prejudices about people I have never met before. I should work a lot on that. However, I perfectly agree with that the best part of travelling is to meet local people and get to know the culture of the place you are visiting!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an interesting book to read. I also enjoy traveling and have lived in a couple different countries my self. I have enjoyed meeting people from different cultures. As an immigrant myself, I am always open to learning about other people's stories.
ReplyDeleteI also read this book and I appreciate that you focused on her theme of not judging a book by its cover. Through her stories, she met all kinds of people, and every single one of them surprised her. I also think that its very important to form you own opinions and to always keep an open mind, because you never know someone else's personal struggles!
ReplyDeleteI like how the book pointed out how people shouldn't judge others by their appearance. The world has a weird way of proving us wrong when we do so!
ReplyDelete