She became well known for passionate, uncompromising speeches that aroused strong feelings in both supporters and critics, and inspired her audience to action, such as her speech at the first Take Back the Night march in November 1978, and her 1983 speech at the Midwest Regional Conference of the National Organization for Changing Men (now the National Organization for Men Against Sexism) titled "I Want a Twenty-Four Hour Truce During Which There Is No Rape".
Hon blev välkänd för passionerade, kompromisslösa tal som väckte starka känslor hos både anhängare och kritiker och inspirerade hennes åhörare till handling, såsom hennes tal vid den första Ta natten tillbaka-marschen i november 1978 och hennes tal 1983 vid den regionala konferensen i Mellanvästern för National Organization for Changing Men (numera National Organization for Men Against Sexism) med titeln "I Want a Twenty-Four Hour Truce During Which There Is No Rape."