Gloria Steinem, Pioneering Feminist Activist and Journalist, Dies at 92

Gloria Steinem, the trailblazing American writer, lecturer, activist and organizer whose work helped define the modern fight for gender equality and women’s civil and reproductive rights, has died at the age of 92.

Steinem died peacefully yesterday at her home in New York City, surrounded by “some of the many that loved her,” according to posts shared on her social media pages and those of her foundation.

As the co-founder and consulting editor of Ms. Magazine, Steinem became one of the most recognizable voices of the feminist movement from the late 1960s onward, inspiring generations of women to challenge inequality and demand change.

Her national profile rose in 1963 after she spent 11 days undercover as a Playboy bunny. The resulting two-part exposé, A Bunny’s Tale, revealed the low wages and sexist treatment endured by Playboy bunnies, who were originally employed as waitstaff.

For much of her life, Steinem carried her advocacy across the country, speaking on college campuses and in community centers, and appearing at rallies and marches. With her center-parted streaked hair and oversized aviator glasses, she became an unmistakable presence in American public life.

The announcement on her social media this morning said: ‘Yesterday, Gloria Steinem passed away peacefully at her home in New York City, 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.

‘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.

‘She spent her recent years doing the two things she loved most: being in community with others and writing. She has welcomed hundreds of guests into her living room for Talking Circles, a tradition she insisted will continue long after she is no longer with us. As Gloria wrote in her forthcoming book, An Unexpected Life, “I have now lived for more than fifty years in this brownstone, in rooms that have witnessed lives before mine, and will know others after I am gone.” 

‘This book, along with her commitment to her home becoming a center for social justice movements, are among the many gifts Gloria has given the world with the hope they have ripple effects for generations to come. Gloria often quoted the adage: “The flap of a butterfly’s wing can change the weather hundreds of miles away.”

‘Gloria loved the tradition of lighting signal fires on hills to light the way to the other side of the mountain. Lighting your own candle for Gloria makes you part of this global and celestial community circle.

‘In lieu of flowers, Gloria has asked that those wishing to honor her with a gift, may make a donation to Gloria’s Foundation.’

‘From reluctant spokesperson to a beacon of positive change, hers is a singular journey – an American leader who can speak to us all,’ film and theater director Julie Taymor said of Steinem in a 2017 New York Times interview.

Taymor directed the 2020 film ‘The Glorias,’ depicting Steinem’s life across the years and based on her 2015 best-selling autobiography ‘My Life on the Road.’ She was also the subject of a 2018 play, ‘Gloria: A Life,’ and a 2011 HBO documentary ‘Gloria: In Her Own Words.’

Steinem said she considered herself ‘an entrepreneur of social change.’

‘I want to do justice to the women I meet, to tell their stories,’ she told the New Yorker magazine in 2015. ‘It’s making connections, and using myself to listen, because we can’t empower women without listening to their stories.’

Steinem founded the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971 with former U.S. Representatives Bella Abzug and Shirley Chisholm and writer Betty Friedan, whose 1963 book ‘The Feminine Mystique’ ushered in the second wave of feminism.

The experience impacted Steinem’s views on social injustice and marriage, which she believed robbed women of choices and many of their civil rights.

Among other groups, she also created the Coalition of Labor Union Women, the Women’s Media Center, Voters for Choice, and the Ms. Foundation for Women.

In 2013 then-President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest U.S. civilian honor.

With her signature long, blonde-streaked, center-parted hair and aviator glasses, Steinem was the glamorous, hip symbol of the feminist movement, which she emphasized should embrace women of every race.

‘If you’ve suffered discrimination, you’re sensitive to it on every level. I learned feminism largely from Black women. Women of color basically invented feminism,’ she told the New Yorker.

Steinem was born on March 25, 1934, in Toledo, Ohio, the younger of two daughters. Her father was a traveling antique dealer. Because the family moved frequently she did not attend school regularly until about seventh grade.

Her parents separated when she was 11, following which Steinem lived with and took care of her mother, who had a mental breakdown and suffered from depression.

‘I’d already been the very small parent of a very big child, my mother. I didn’t want to end up taking care of someone else,’ she was quoted as saying.

After graduating from Smith College, Steinem began freelancing as a journalist, going on to world fame after her Playboy expose for Show magazine. The story was made into a 1985 TV movie starring Kirstie Alley.

In 1968, Steinem helped found New York magazine, where her essay titled ‘After Black Power, Women’s Liberation’ established her as a feminist leader at a time of roiling social change.

But it wasn’t until she attended an abortion speak-out in a New York church the following year that Steinem – who had had a then-illegal abortion in London when she was 22 – said her life as a feminist activist really began.

Ms. Magazine, which she co-founded in 1971, tackled abortion and other issues such as sexism, equal pay, and domestic violence – a far cry from the diet of beauty, cookery and supporting-your-husband topics that were the staple of magazines aimed at women.

An early issue included the names of 52 women, including Steinem, who had had abortions, and called for the procedure to be legalized ahead of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that recognized women’s constitutional right to abortion in the U.S. for nearly half a century.

Steinem was often critical of the limitations of marriage. ‘Women are not going to be equal outside the home until men are equal in it,’ she said.

She had no children of her own and it was not until she turned 66 that she decided to wed – to South African businessman and environmentalist David Bale, the father of actor Christian Bale.

‘I hope this proves what feminists have always said – that feminism is about the ability to choose what’s right at each time of our lives,’ she said in a statement about the marriage. David Bale died of brain cancer in 2003.

Steinem continued working into her 80s. She wrote numerous books, including 1986’s ‘Marilyn: Norma Jean’ about Marilyn Monroe, ‘Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem’ about personal development, and books of essays.

She narrated and conceived the idea for an Emmy Award-winning documentary about child abuse, ‘Multiple Personalities: The Search for Deadly Memories,’ for HBO in 1993 and produced the Lifetime film ‘Better Off Dead.’ She also hosted ‘Woman,’ a documentary series about violence against women, for the Viceland TV channel.

Author Carolyn Heilbrun – who penned 1995 biography ‘Education of a Woman: The Life of Gloria Steinem’ – described her as ‘the epitome of female beauty and the quintessence of female revolution.’

This is a breaking story, more to follow.