American journalist and political activist, Gloria Steinem, one of the most influential figures in the modern women’s rights movement and co-founder of Ms. Magazine, has died at the age of 92.
Steinem died Wednesday in New York City, according to a statement posted on her verified Instagram account. She was “surrounded by some of the many who loved her.”
“Gloria’s near-century on earth were years well-lived, and she continued working for equality until the very end,” the statement said.
Steinem became one of the leading faces of second-wave feminism during the late 1960s and early 1970s. For decades, she campaigned for gender equality, women’s rights in the workplace, abortion rights and access to sex education.
Her activism extended beyond feminism to issues including civil rights, anti-war campaigns and LGBTQ rights. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013 in recognition of her decades of advocacy.
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described Steinem as one of the key figures behind the advancement of women’s equality.
“Gloria was at heart an optimist. Her activism was rooted in optimism, and that’s a moral choice. And she made it every day,” Clinton told CBS News. “She was one of the architects of the entire structure of women’s equality.”
From journalism to activism
Born on March 25, 1934, in Toledo, Ohio, Steinem came from a family with a history of activism.
Her grandmother was involved in the women’s suffrage movement and helped members of the family escape Nazi Germany during the 1930s.
After graduating from Smith College, Steinem moved to New York in 1960 and entered a journalism industry where women often faced discrimination and were judged more for their appearance than their abilities.
She gained national attention in 1963 after working undercover as a cocktail waitress at the New York Playboy Club.
Her resulting investigation, titled “A Bunny’s Tale,” exposed the low wages, poor working conditions and sexual pressures faced by the women working there.
The article became a major breakthrough in her journalism career, although Steinem later said it also made it harder for her to secure more conventional reporting assignments.
By 1968, she had joined the newly established New York Magazine, where she wrote extensively about politics and social issues, including Shirley Chisholm’s presidential campaign and abortion rights.
Her growing public profile eventually led her into political organising.
Building the feminist movement
Steinem became increasingly involved in efforts to broaden the women’s movement and placed issues of race and social class at the centre of her advocacy.
In 1970, she testified before the US Senate in support of the Equal Rights Amendment, which sought to guarantee equal legal rights regardless of sex.
A year later, she helped establish the National Women’s Political Caucus, an organisation created to encourage women to seek political office and increase their influence in government.
In 1972, Steinem and child-care advocate Dorothy Pitman Hughes co-founded Ms. Magazine, which became one of the most prominent feminist publications in the United States.
Steinem said she recognised a major gap in the media landscape when she was working as a journalist.
“I realized as a journalist that there really was nothing for women to read that was controlled by women,” she said in a 2011 HBO documentary.
Over the following decades, she became a familiar presence at rallies, political events and women’s rights campaigns across the United States and internationally.
Actress and activist Jane Fonda recalled how Steinem travelled extensively to speak to women and grassroots organisations.
“For decades, she trudged through every airport in the country, in sandals and a trench, carrying her own suitcase, packed with a few black clothes, hair curlers, and steam iron, in order to speak to women — at conferences, town halls, consciousness raising groups,” Fonda said. “No group was too small to deserve Gloria’s time. This is how she built the new women’s movement.”
Advocacy and controversy
Steinem was an outspoken supporter of abortion rights, having undergone an illegal abortion in London when she was 22. She later became one of the most recognisable advocates for reproductive freedom.
She also campaigned against war, supported LGBTQ rights and promoted the voices of women from marginalised communities.
Her activism, however, was not without controversy.
Steinem faced questions over her participation in international youth events in the 1950s that were sponsored by an organisation receiving CIA funding.
She rejected claims that she had worked as a CIA operative and maintained that she had not been instructed on what to say or do.
She also attracted criticism for a 1998 opinion article concerning then-President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. Years later, Steinem acknowledged that she would not have written the article in the same way.
Despite such controversies, her influence on American feminism remained substantial.
Former President Barack Obama, who awarded Steinem the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013, said her work forced greater attention on discrimination against women.
“Through her writing, her speeches, and her organizing, she demanded that the world pay attention to all the ways that women had been — and in some cases, still are — treated unfairly. And she helped awaken us to problems like domestic violence, the lack of affordable child care, and unfair hiring practices that had too often been ignored or overlooked,” Obama said in a joint statement with former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Tributes pour in
Tributes from politicians, activists and entertainers followed news of Steinem’s death.
Former President, Joe Biden and former First Lady Jill Biden praised her decades of work on behalf of women and girls.
“For decades, she fought to make that freedom real for generations of women and girls. She spoke up when it was difficult, listened to those whose voices too often went unheard, and never stopped pushing our country forward,” they said.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris also remembered Steinem for her commitment to younger women and future generations of female leaders.
“She was invested in young women and keeping the door open for the next generation of leaders, and her advocacy was always about fighting for the strength, intelligence, and dignity of women everywhere,” Harris said.
Actress Marlo Thomas, who worked with Steinem in founding the Ms. Foundation for Women, described her death as a profound personal loss.
“The world is rightfully mourning the loss of a woman who created the largest sisterhood in the history of this planet. As a member of her chosen family, I feel an unshakable loss today,” Thomas said.
Tennis legend Billie Jean King urged future generations to continue the work Steinem began.
“She devoted her life to the pursuit of equality and political change, working tirelessly for over 70 years to ensure each generation built upon the work of the previous one,” King said. “We are forever grateful for her many accomplishments. She lit a torch many years ago. It is now our responsibility to keep it lifted into the future.”
Steinem remained active well into her later years, continuing to speak about equality, democracy and reproductive rights.
She published several books, including her 2015 memoir, My Life on the Road, and her life and activism were later portrayed in productions including the film The Glorias and the television series Mrs. America.
Reflecting on her legacy, Steinem rejected the idea that her work should be passed from one individual to another.
“People are always asking me, ‘Who will you pass the torch to?’”
“The question makes me angry,” she said. “There is no one torch – there are many torches – and I’m using my torch to light other torches. There shouldn’t have been a ‘first’ Gloria Steinem, and there won’t be a last one.”
