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".
Fíxose coñecida polos seus discursos apaixonados e inflexibles que espertaban fortes sentimentos tanto na parte seguidora coma na crítica, e inspirou o seu público á acción, como o seu discurso na primeira marcha de Take Back the Night en novembro de 1978, e o seu discurso de 1983 no Midwest Regional Conference of the National Organization for Changing Men (agora coñecido como National Organization for Men Against Sexism) titulado I Want a Twenty-Four Hour Truce During Which There Is No Rape (Quero unha tregua de vinte e catro horas durante a cal non haxa violacións).