Voices of Their Generation: Gloria Steinem Hosted a Book Party at Her Historic Home for Lena Dunham

Attendees ascended to the second floor for a confab between Dunham and Steinem, moderated by feminist writer, and organizer Amy Richards. “We’re used to coming up with creative seating,” Richards, a longtime friend and collaborator of Steinem’s laughed, encouraging guests to grab upholstered floor cushions and get close. “There’s loft stairs right there too—and there’s a bed up there if you really want to get comfortable!”

Once they got down to it, nothing was off the table. Steinem and Dunham expounded upon some of the slings and arrows of womanhood and feminism today—the splintering that’s taken place since the new wave first reared its head, the “not-nice feminist” stigma, the generosity economy (which demands hugely of women), and the resounding addiction to saying “yes” to offset it all.

“Do people still ask if you’re a feminist?” Steinem asked the crowd. (While it is mildly daunting to tell Steinem, oft considered the mother of latter-day feminism, that the term itself has become somewhat nebulous following its fever pitch in the 2010s—but her openness made room for even the most complicated truths, so guests matched it with honesty.)

“This book covers the period of time when feminism was becoming very commercialized,” Dunham said of Famesick. “Everybody’s underpants said ‘Feminist,’ everybody’s shirt said ‘The Future Is Female’—and I had them all. I’m judging none of them. They all went to the give-away pile, not because they weren’t chic but because they were of a time. It served its purpose.” The important part, beyond all the merch and the pink-washing, was something she says her mother had instilled in her: “Feminism is about protecting each other’s right to make choices—even ones that you don’t like.”

The chat played out like an endless ping-pong of snackable soundbites. Let’s call them Steinemisms (“Human is the answer. Dividing us into masculine and feminine is kind of crazy”) and Dunhamisms (“Anytime someone says to me, ‘I’m really selfless, I give and give and give until I don’t have any more, I run as far as I can in the other direction. Anyone who tells you how generous they are is usually not.”) Much to the audience’s amusement, Steinem even spilled some tea about literary men behaving badly—Philip Roth, were your ears ringing?!—making for a conversation that was invigorating, culturally loaded, and hilarious all at once. 

As for what Steinem and Dunham hoped guests would leave with? “A new friend,” Steinem offered simply, “or a curiosity.” Dunham, naturally, had another idea: “A souvenir. Take one of Gloria’s things,” she deadpanned. “No, I’m joking.”

There no petty theft was needed, as there were parting gifts for each attendee: signed copies of The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off! and Famesick, alongside Steinem’s favorite Warby Parker frames: a pair of sleek yellow gold wire-rimmed aviators. Summer reading list—and the eyewear needed to speed through it, sorted.