Friday Feminist - Gloria Steinem on Marilyn Waring

I have only one remaining worry in the invisibility department: the author herself. Though her value is evident throughout this book, her impact may not be. Here is just one example. As a Member of Parliament in New Zealand, she crossed the floor to vote for transforming that country into a nuclear-free zone (including a refusal to harbour or fuel nuclear ships), withdrew from the government caucus, and thus was the lone voice that brought the government down and forced a successful national election. She also had been the major architect of the parliamentary political strategy that brought the anti-nuclear movement to that crossroads. Ironically, Prime Minister David Lange, who became enthusiastic about a nuclear-free zone only after its political victory, was nominated for a Nobel prize as a result of this successful effort; clearly a case of female invisibility in itself.

Gloria Steinem, "Preface", in Marilyn Waring, Counting for Nothing: What Men Value and What Women are Worth, 1988