Thursday, October 16, 2008
Oprah welcomed her friend of 30 years and First Lady of California, Maria Shriver, to the show to discuss the California Women's Conference and 2 of this year's Minerva Award winners. The Women's Conference will be held on October 22, 2008 in Long Beach, California and features a number of celebrity speakers, including Bono and Condoleezza Rice. The 14,000 tickets sold out rapidly, but Oprah announced that she will be live streaming the conference on Oprah.com for the world to see.
The aim of the conference is to unify women and teach the idea that "you are the leader you've been looking for."
Maria explained that she hopes a stay-at-home mother sits next to a CEO of a Fortune 500 company and both understand that they each made the right choice, that both are equally sound choices. Part of the conference each year is honoring 5 women through the Minerva Awards that originated from the state seal of California. 2 of this year's honorees, Gloria Steinem and Billy Jean King, would soon join Oprah and Maria on stage to talk about their experiences as role models for women.Footage was shown of Gloria Steinem's 40 years as an activist and journalist. From the 1968 CBS interview when she was 34, to pictures of Gloria as an undercover Playboy Bunny, as an author and founder of Ms. Magazine, to her work in women's rights - Gloria Steinem is one of the reasons women have the opportunities that we do today.
When Gloria sat to talk to Oprah and Maria, Oprah asked how being in her 70s has made an impact on her life. Gloria shared that she now has to think about her mortality in a way that she never has before. Oprah also mentioned how young women today don't seem to have a grasp on the past.
Gloria responded by saying that gratitude never made women fight for change - young women today need to experience their own unfairness to get mad and fight for more change; to have higher expectations.
Rita Wilson filmed a message to Gloria sharing how she first heard of Ms. Magazine while in high school and was intrigued by the label for women that wasn't tied to marital status. Rita was hooked by the way Gloria looked like her but was saying new and different things. It was because of Gloria, Rita explained, that she was driven to become a producer and work to carry on the legacy of strong women.
Gloria, who was married for the first time at the age of 66 and was then widowed 3 years later, claimed that marriage was not something she ever aspired to; frankly she thought of it as death. Growing up in the 50s, Gloria was shown that once married, everything was up to your husband; she found she was happier without it. Gloria was shocked when she decided to marry at 66 - she figured she fought so hard to make marriage equal, why not. When her husband died, Gloria explained that she learned the difference between depression and sadness - with depression nothing matters, but with sadness, everything matters.
The death of her husband was very profound for Gloria and she found herself in a deep sadness. However, she has found a way to be fulfilled again, and it is not with dating. Gloria shared that she was happy not to date for 10 years before her husband, and is happy now not to as well.
There are still things, even at the age of 74, that Gloria wants to accomplish - she is still working with the election, going on book tours, traveling, enjoying discussing issues and learning from others - but what Gloria wants to do more now is stay home and write.
Billy Jean King, the great tennis legend, then joined Gloria, Oprah and Maria on stage. Footage was shown of Billy Jean in the Battle of the Sexes - the 1973 tennis matched where she competed against Bobby Riggs to see if a woman could beat a man. The Battle of the Sexes is still the most watched tennis match in history with 50 million viewers. Billy Jean won the match along with 20 Wimbledon titles - she was the first woman to win $100,000 in a single season.
Billy Jean was very influential in getting Title 9 passed that granted equal funding to boys and girls in education and sports.
Dara Torres, the Olympic swimmer, appeared via Skype from Idaho to tell Billy Jean how inspirational she has been to her career and how she made the great opportunities available for women in sports.
Venus and Serena Williams also filmed a message for Billy Jean sharing how she opened the door for women, especially for them in the game of tennis, and was a pioneer for women's sports. Billy Jean worked hard for women to receive equal prize money in sports - in 1968 when she won Wimbledon, she received just 37% of what the men earned, but in 2008 when Venus won, she received the exact same amount as the men.
Billy Jean King has released a new book titled Pressure is a Privilege where she speaks on how everyone has stress in their lives, but that we must use that to empower us and embrace the pressure and do something with it. Oprah commented how it really spoke to the mind/body/spirit connection and Billy Jean mentioned that how you deal with pressure lies in your attitude towards it.
Speaking to her experience with tennis, Billy Jean described how she uses the game as a metaphor for life - that each time the ball comes her way, she has to make a decision; she is always adapting and moving to react to the ball, to life.
