Gloria Steinem, pioneering feminist activist and ‘Ms.’ magazine co-founder, dies at 92
Gloria Steinem, the trailblazing feminist, journalist, and activist whose fierce advocacy helped to transform the modern women’s movement, has died at the age of 92.
Steinem died peacefully on Wednesday at her home in New York City, among her loved ones, as stated on her official Instagram page. The cause of her death was not disclosed.
“Gloria’s near-century on earth were years well-lived, and she continued working for equality until the very end. Gloria’s greatest gift was her ability to listen to others, to make others feel seen and heard. Her words, actions, and example gave people permission to be their truest selves. Gloria lived true to her independent spirit, always with curiosity and a great sense of humor,” the statement read.
Her representatives asked her supporters to light a candle in her memory and urged them to make donations to her charity, Gloria’s Foundation.
From undercover Playboy Bunny to co-founding ‘Ms.’
Steinem was born on March 25, 1934, in Toledo, Ohio, and traveled with her family during her childhood. In 1956, she graduated from Smith College, the all-women’s liberal arts school in Massachusetts, with a degree in government. After two years in India on a fellowship, she went to New York to pursue a career in journalism; at that time, women encountered major professional obstacles.
Her breakthrough came in 1963 with an exposé for Show magazine. Working undercover as a Playboy Bunny at Hugh Hefner’s New York club, she exposed harsh working conditions, the unfair way in which tips were split, and the painful uniforms worn by the servers.
Steinem went on to shape the publishing world, joining as a founding editor and political columnist in 1968. Her 1969 article, “After Black Power, Women’s Liberation,” established her as a leading feminist voice.
Steinem co-founded Ms. in 1971, initially as an insert in New York magazine, and then as an independent publication the following year. In 1976, Ms. became the first national magazine to feature domestic violence on its cover.
Steinem redefined women’s legal and personal rights
In the 1960s and 1970s, Steinem became a leading figure in the second wave of feminism and campaigned for changes that would allow women to get credit cards without their husbands’ signatures, enable them to enter the previously all-male Ivy League universities, and give them legal access to abortion.
After Steinem had an illegal abortion in London at the age of 22 and spoke out about it in 1969, she made reproductive freedom a central part of her advocacy. She told Al Jazeera in 2019: “No one would choose one if they didn’t have to.”
In 2000, Steinem, who had long dismissed marriage as an institution, surprised her supporters by marrying David Bale, a businessman and environmentalist and the father of actor Christian Bale, at age 66.
When asked about her change of stance, she explained: “I didn’t change. Marriage changed. If I had married when I was supposed to get married, I would have lost my name, my legal residence, my credit rating, many of my civil rights. That’s not true anymore. It’s possible to make an equal marriage.”
Bale died of lymphoma three years later. In 2020, Steinem told The New York Times that Bale had helped her to realize the importance of living in the moment and achieving one’s goals.
“Even if I live to 100, which I have every intention of doing, it’s not that long left,” she said, adding, “I just hope that I don’t die saying, ‘But! Wait!’”
After surviving breast cancer in the 1980s and trigeminal neuralgia in the 1990s, Steinem received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, from President Barack Obama in 2013.
‘If Trump spoke well of me, I would shoot myself’
Throughout all the years of her public life, Steinem has been a critic of conservative leadership, especially during Donald Trump‘s presidency.
In her September 2020 interview with The New York Times, Steinem pointed out that the most difficult kind of criticism came from allies within her own movement, while praise from political opponents like Trump went against her values.
“The most painful criticism or attacks come from people who share your values, not people who don’t share your values. If Trump spoke well of me, I would shoot myself.”
Steinem’s political activities went beyond advocacy; in 1971, she co-founded the National Women’s Political Caucus to recruit, train, and elect women to public office.