Gloria Steinem, Feminist Icon and Ms. Magazine Cofounder, Dies at 92

Gloria Steinem, the author and activist who became one of the most visible symbols and potent voices of the women’s movement in the United States and a fierce advocate for feminist causes throughout her life, has died at the age of 92.

With her trademark streaked hair parted down the middle and large aviator glasses, Steinem, a cofounder of Ms Magazine, was a hugely recognisable presence wherever she went.

And she went everywhere: much of her life as an advocate was spent on the road, speaking at college campuses and community centres, at rallies and marches.

She died on Wednesday at her home in New York City, according to her foundation’s social media pages.

“Gloria’s greatest gift was her ability to listen to others, to make others feel seen and heard,” the posts said. “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 humour.”

Steinem enjoyed writing and spending time in the community in recent years, the posts said. She also hosted talking circles for hundreds of people in her home.

“You can’t do it on the phone or on the web,” she told The Associated Press news agency in a 2015 interview.

“You have to be there with all five senses. It should be obvious that people can’t empathise with each other unless we’re in the same room.”

Feminist activism

Steinem began her career as a journalist, notably one who reported, in 1963, on degrading conditions in Hugh Hefner’s Playboy empire, an undercover assignment she later came to regret.

She credits a meeting six years later, where women spoke out boldly in favour of abortion rights, with changing her career path.

“That speak-out was the beginning of activism for me,” Steinem, who had undergone a secret illegal abortion herself at age 22, told the AP in an email in 2022, reflecting on the reversal of Roe v Wade.

“Either our control over our own bodies is equal, regardless of sex or race, or we’re not living in a democracy.”

Though she soon became a known activist, those who watched Steinem denounce discrimination for so many years likely never suspected that she’d had to overcome a deep fear of public speaking. She would have simply stuck to writing, she said, if only editors at the time had been willing to let her write about the women’s movement.

Time hardly slowed Steinem down; well into her 80s she was travelling the globe and speaking out on issues of importance to her. These included everything from genital mutilation to Korean reconciliation, but it was equality for women that took precedence.