Sheila Nevins, the longtime president of HBO's documentary film division, calls Gloria Steinem “next to my mother, the most important woman I've ever met.” But when asked about Steinem, the most familiar face of the women's movement, her staff had a different reaction. “We went up and down the halls of HBO and half the kids on the floor didn't know who she was,” Nevins said.

希拉．尼文斯長期擔任HBO紀錄片部門的總裁，她口中的葛羅莉亞．史坦能是「我這一生所見僅次於我母親最重要的女人」。但當被問及婦女運動最熟悉的臉孔史坦能時，尼文斯的員工反應不同。她說：「我們在HBO辦公大樓上上下下打聽，結果有一半孩子不知道她是何許人。」

The story of Steinem's life will be recounted on HBO, in one in the channel's occasional series of biographies told in the subject's own words, illuminated by extensive archival footage, some of which even Steinem said she had forgotten. The executive producer of “Gloria: In Her Own Words,” Dyllan McGee, 40, counts herself as part of an age group for which “feminist” was sometimes an unsavory word. “A lot of people in my generation don't know who Gloria Steinem is, yet it's a story that is so integral to who we are today,” she said.

史坦能的故事將在HBO重述一遍，這是該頻道偶爾播出、由主角口述的系列傳記片之一，廣泛借助檔案影片的說明，其中有些片段連史坦能都表示已不復記憶。40歲的狄蘭．麥基是《葛羅莉亞口說歷史》執行製片，她自認屬於「女權主義」有時仍是個令人反感的字眼的年齡層。她說：「我們這一代很多人不知道誰是史坦能，但她的故事是造就今天的我們所少不了的一個環節。」

It's a tale that begins with Steinem as a young journalist from Toledo, Ohio, who wore a bunny suit for an early expos? on the harsh working conditions at a Playboy Club, came to feminism in New York in her 30s, helped found Ms. Magazine and emerged as one of the idols of the women's movement. The program covers personal ground as well, including Steinem's marriage and her unexpected idealization of Holly Golightly, Audrey Hepburn's unfettered character in “Breakfast at Tiffany's.”

故事始於史坦能是俄亥俄州托雷多一個年輕記者，她很早就做兔女郎裝扮，揭發花花公子俱樂部惡劣的工作環境；到她30來歲到紐約成為女性主義者，並協助創辦《女士雜誌》，最後躍居女權運動偶像之一。影片也涵蓋她個人的生平事蹟，包括史坦能的婚姻，和她出人意表地崇拜奧黛麗赫本在《第凡內早餐》中所扮演不受約束的女主角葛萊莉。

“I've been trying to be helpful to their project,” Steinem said, but that didn't include allowing a project with a focus that was only on her. McGee said that Steinem insisted that the fight for equal rights for women “has been a collective effort.” Although Steinem has often been singled out for her work in the women's movement of the 1970s, she was just one of many leaders, “incredibly important” but not a singular force, said Janet Jakobsen, director of the Barnard Center for Research on Women, at Barnard College, who noted that Steinem herself has often fought against that perception of her role. “One of the things that is impressive about her is the longevity of her activity and presence, and she has also been very dedicated to mentoring several cohorts of younger feminists,” work that continues today.

史坦能說：「我盡量提供他們拍片協助。」但這並不包括聚焦於她個人身上。麥基說，史坦能堅持爭取婦女平權「一直是集體努力的成果」。雖然史坦能常被單挑出來代表1970年代婦女運動的工作成果，但她只是諸多領袖之一。巴納德學院巴納德婦女研究中心主任珍妮．雅各布森說：「她非常重要」，但並非唯一一股力量，她強調史坦能本人也常抗拒那樣塑造她的角色。「她最讓人印象深刻的事蹟之一，是她長期推動運動，親力親為，全力以赴，並傳授好幾個年輕世代的女性主義者。」使女權工作得以延續至今。

At 77, Steinem has been a steady media presence over the years, making talk-show appearances, playing herself on television series like “The L Word” and showing up in other documentaries. And while there have been surprisingly few programs about Steinem, Nevins is clear that she wasn't aiming for an objective portrait. “I don't consider this a biography,” she said. “It's an inspirational film about St. Gloria. We made it for the kids on the floor who didn't know who she was.”

77歲的史坦能多年來常上媒體，除了在談話節目中亮相，在女同志電視影集《拉字至上》中扮演自己，並在其他紀錄片中現身。儘管有關史坦能的影片少的令人驚訝，尼文斯表明，她的目標並非客觀的人物素描。她說，「我不認為這是一部傳記片，而是介紹『聖葛羅莉亞』如何鼓舞人心的影片。我們是為片中那些不認識她的孩子攝製的。」

Steinem demurs about not being known by a younger generation. “I don't have that experience in quite the same way,” she said. “I'm on several campuses a month, and I'm more surprised that they do know who I am.” It's their mothers, she added, who express alarm that their daughters are ignorant of the history. She tells them, as she also says in the film: “That's O.K.. The point is that they know who they are. We should all know our history, so we don't reinvent the wheel. But it's still about how far we have to go. It's about moving forward.”

史坦能並不覺得年輕一代不認識她。她說：「我個人的體驗不盡相同。我每個月跑幾個校園，我更驚訝他們竟然知道我是誰。」她補充說，反而是他們的母親對自己的女兒不了解歷史感到驚慌。她告訴她們，一如她在影片中所說：「沒關係，重點是她們要知道她們自己是誰。我們都應該了解我們的歷史，免得重蹈覆轍。重要的還是在於我們還要走多遠，我們要繼續前進。」

During editing, nuances of the history of the women's movement were dropped, McGee said. But with issues of women's leadership worldwide a growing concern — promoting sex equality and empowering women is a United Nations Millennium Development Goal for 2015 — the global women's movement made the cut. “Gloria is such a great example of what happened in America,” McGee said.

麥基表示在剪輯影片的過程中，婦女運動史的細微末節並未多加著墨。但隨著婦女領導成為全球越來越關注的問題，提倡兩性平等和提升女權成為聯合國2015年的千年發展目標，全球婦運時代來臨。麥基說：「葛羅莉亞是美國歷史事件中一個很棒的典範。」

As for Nevins she is not counting on the documentary to do all the education. At a Ms. Foundation fund-raiser in May she bid $5,000 for a lunch with Steinem and won. “I wanted my daughter-in-law, who is 26, to meet her,” she said. “She didn't know exactly who she was.”

至於尼文斯，她並不指望紀錄片可以達成所有教育目的。在5月間女士雜誌基金會募款會中，她出價5000美元，成功標得和史坦能共進午餐的機會，她說：「我希望我那26歲的媳婦可以見見她，她不知道她到底是何方神聖。」

In this Aug. 9, 2011 photo, Gloria Steinem laughs during an interview with The Associated Press, in New York.

在這張攝於今年8月9日的照片中，葛羅莉亞．史坦能在紐約接受美聯社專訪時開心大笑。

文／紐約時報