European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 22, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Worlds no. 1 feminist says insecurity fuelled her drive by Dana Kennedy the associated press the world s most famous feminist sits in an overstuffed armchair in her living room stroking her fat persian cat Magritte and explaining Why she can t have any food in the House wearing a pair of baggy Black pants and an Amber Turtleneck Ersey with a Hole in the right armpit Gloria Steinem Serene and Distant smiles when she talks but always looks a Little sad Quot obesity runs in my family it s our Way of coping says Steinem. Who is rail thin Quot my father weighed Over 300 pounds and my sister has always had a serious weight problem in a a food Junkie but i keep it under control if t had food Here it would ust overwhelm  it May seem unusual that Steinem a Symbol of leadership and liberation for thousands of women is concerned with so personal a subject. Even More Peculiar Are these admissions of weakness Long at Odds with her poised glamorous image but at 57, for the first time in her life Steinem is taking her crusade closer to Home she s spent More than two decades guiding the women s movement in the pages of is Magazine which she helped found at rallies on television and in hundreds of speeches. Now Steinem has come out with a new Book that helps guide the individual and has helped her come to terms with herself called revolution from within a Book of self esteem. The Book was intended to explore How Low self Worth cripples people especially women Steinem never envisioned the Book As a personal journal but when she showed part of the manuscript to a therapist Friend several years ago it was pointed out that Stic had a self esteem problem and had left herself out of the Book so began what Steinem Calls the most dramatic journey of her life Quot i fell i did t deserve to focus on myself Quot she says f had been a caretaker Tor an entire movement but As i did research Tor this Book i kept recognizing myself in some of it i be Learned so much from this it s been like a Bridge to another country Quot watching tier hold Forth from the Eclectic upper Easl bide Bow Slone Fie has called Homo since 1967, it s hard to imagine that Steinem could experience any journey More profound than escaping her lonely Ohio childhood readers action line end of year Utility Bills hit renter a �?~1,n a la Luiu it in in hot int  and Liviu on tie dutch Economy them is currently a government housing Slun Tage quite a few personnel Aie forced to live on the Economy ilk1 pm Lem to the local i notice of the dutch Utility company it Tigu ios your Utility Rale when you first move in this Rale is figued by the usage of the last tenant most of the previous tenants Are local dutch people then usage practices Dilfer greatly irom the average american most dutch people do no dry heir clothes in a dior they have Small refrigerators no freezers no microwaves souk Don t even have ovens in their stoves just Loaster ovens As these appliances lire utilized on daily has is the ave Iago consumption is Tuple in Cost but you the consumer am unaware of this the dutch Utility Pei Sonel come around once a year read and ret on the melees and Send out a trill to Yoa on what you owe t his is a Shook to most personnel the Lull usually ranging trom 1 000 or to 3,000 Del $500 to to .000 this Tias in he Psid upon receipt and then you monthly Cost uses the following month Tor the upcoming Yeai tins Money is a loss to ail personnel who art1 living on the Economy and thus 1,n Aneio is no Way to Meo Vei the by Gloria Steinem has written a new Book exploring the importance of Seif esteem. Her parents split up when she was 10 her father abandoned the family leaving Gloria to care for her mentally ill Mother. Ruth Steinem who worked briefly As a newspaper reporter often stayed in bed and frequently hallucinated Gloria s older sister was away at school most of the time others might have folded under the pressure of what Steinem Calls Quot being my Mother s Mother Quot but to hear Steinem Tell it she Rose to the occasion and Kepi rising she graduated irom Smith College and embarked on a dazzling career As a journalist a Quot i think i was definitely fuelled by  she says i was always driven by the need to help other women i always was identifying with the victim without realizing it loss Isnit there an outlet somewhere or at the very least a Way to recoup this loss 7 the grip program does not work Here because the landlords Are mostly corporations i have Boon served with a Bill for about 1.700 Del this figure does not include the 2,000 Del that i paid m the year t do not have air conditioning and i keep my House heated around 70 degrees t do no feel that i am being unreasonable and would like some Avenue to pursue in recouping this loss Clayton g. Kitzero Dordrecht Holland maj. Daniel p. Sullivan acting commander 54th area support group replies the author is Correct in Many of the i outs mentioned in reference to Standard practices of the dutch utilities companies the pre payment done by the new occur am is indeed based on the previous possibly dutch occupant s usage it is for this Mason and to avoid my financial hardship on the occupant that this office informs the Utility companies to kit the usage of the  occupant is expected to exceed tie usage of the previous occupant the new occupant s also encouraged to bring m his Hei Utility meter readings of that these May be coiled into the Ippi opiate Utility co Fiany the Lefoie avoiding unwanted surprises Al a later Dale i can Issue the author Tuil the Utility he is Are bused on Utility com., it s unclear to me what loss the was part of  it was not until she reached her Early 50s that Steinem the victim caught up with Steinem the icon. Quot i had been living an externalized life Quot she said. Quot i took what happened in my childhood and buried it i never used to feel real. If you re neglected As a child you Don t feel you exist. 1 made myself real by making myself useful but then i Burnt  Steinem who was fond of telling her friends that Quot an examined life in t Worth living Quot had never been Able to stay in a room with a radio on. Quot i d always race Over to turn off the radio Quot she remembers. Quot i never thought to wonder Why. I had built this Wall around me and my feelings. One Day i realized the radio had been the Only sound in the apartment where i lived with my  it continued with bigger things in particular a disastrous love affair with millionaire real estate Developer Mortimer Zuckerman publisher of the . News and world report that ended several years ago Steinem brings up Zuckerman without being asked and Calls him a Quot free floating Ball of  if that description is True he must be the Polar opposite of Steinem a at least on the surface. But just As others use nastiness As a shield. Steinem seems to keep people at Bay by being Nice. With the possible exception of Zuckerman Steinem appears to Harbor no ill will toward anyone. Both family and friends have disappointed her Over the years but her Only emotion seems to be one of sympathy for All. She mentions there were inaccuracies in a recent Magazine article on her written by a close Friend. But rather than reacting angrily Steinem says sweetly that her Friend meant no harm. She is equally forgiving other parents both of whom could probably have done More to make her childhood less difficult. Quot i think they did the Best they could Quot she says but As she talks just a Tew feet from her tiny Kitchen dominated by the kind of Large weight scale used by doctors there s often an Edge to her equanimity it s As if anger like food in t allowed in her apartment because it too. Might Over Helm her As part of the process of writing revolution from within Steinem underwent therapy to Deal with her past. Quot it was painful and it s certainly not Over Quot she says. Quot in a still afraid that it i look too far into the past that i la dissolve into tears and never find my Way  author wants to recoup at the same time i am unclear on what the author Means by Quot the grip government rental housing program program does not work Here because the landlords Are mostly corporations Quot i can assure the author that the grip program does work. The program is so popular that we have increased grip units trom 106 on sept 30. 1989 to 223 on dec 31,1991 the fact that at times we have a grip contract with a corporation does not negatively influence the program this housing office apologizes that the author Tor whatever reason missed out on important information this information is covered in the housing briefings and is available in the housing manual no Pam 210-1i to write us _ renders action linens the renders Cost of last resort sri veg to answer some of the questions about the Oxer seas m a military environment or questions about policies and guidelines Wien other avenues for answers Are not readily available if you have a question and Don t know where to turn for the answer Ivr be to readers action line c o the stars and stapes. Unit p9480. Apo a 09eii ail letters must be signed and preference will be Given to those seeking information of general interest to our readers Page 18 a the stars and stripes wednesday. January 22, 1992