Walters Interviews Gloria Steinem
April 18 -- In the 1970's Gloria Steinem became the symbol of the strong, independent woman. She asked society to change some of its most fundamental beliefs about women, asking for equal pay and equal opportunity.
Steinem saw marriage as a legal trap, arguing that marriage laws were designed for a "person and a half." But last September, she made some shocking news. The person who told the world that "a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle," got married.
Her new husband is David Bale, a native of South Africa and the father of actor Christian Bale. Like Steinem, Bale has been a outspoken political activist — a fervent critic of Apartheid and supporter of animal rights.
Recently, Stienem and her new husband spoke together in there first interview. They told ABC's Barbara Walters about how they met, their wedding and their relationship.
On Marriage
Barbara Walters: OK, Gloria, here we go. I have to throw your own words back at you. Quote: "You become a semi-non person when you get married. The surest way to be alone is to get married." Gloria Steinem: Yeah, well I think that's often, that's often true. But to be against unequal marriage is not the same thing as being against marriage.B.W.: Did marriage change or did you change? G.S.: Both you know, but I think that the marriage law changed a lot because if the marriage law was the same law that it was before the women's movement thirty years ago. I wouldn't have been able to do it. You know, because I would have lost most of my civil rights. I would have lost my name, my credit rating, my legal domicile, the ability to start a business. You know really most civil rights. And also, I mean I was a happy single person for fifty years. I mean, this is a long time.
The New Husband
B.W.: Tell us about David, Gloria.G.S.: He's um, an adventurer, and intelligent, and funny, and compassionate, and a pilot. Um, you might look at him and think this is you know, a macho person or something. And he's a person who has also raised his own children. That plus many things in his life have made him somebody who totally defies the idea that men are from Mars and women are from Venus and who really proves that we're all from Earth.B.W.: You share values?G.S.: Yes, absolutely. We've lived very different lives and yet it's -
