Gloria Steinem, Feminist Icon and Ms. Magazine Founder, Dies at 92
Gloria Steinem, the writer and activist who became the public face of American feminism for more than half a century, died Wednesday at her home in New York City. She was 92. Her death marks the end of an era for the modern women's movement, which she helped shape from its earliest days in the late 1960s through decades of shifting political fights over gender, reproductive rights and equality.
No cause of death was disclosed. An announcement shared on social media said she died peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, adding that "Gloria's near-century on earth were years well-lived, and she continued working for equality until the very end."
From Undercover Journalist to Movement Leader
Steinem was born in Ohio in 1934 and studied government at Smith College before beginning her career as a freelance journalist in New York. It was a 1963 investigation into the Playboy Club that made her a household name. Published as "A Bunny's Tale," the piece detailed the 11 days she spent working undercover as a cocktail waitress, exposing the low pay and demeaning conditions behind the club's glamorous image, and it became one of the defining works of magazine journalism of the era.
That reporting helped launch a decades-long career as an organizer as much as a writer. She co-founded the National Women's Political Caucus in 1971 to push more women into elected office, and a year later she founded Ms. magazine, the first national publication run by and for women. The magazine gave the feminist movement a mainstream platform it had never had before and put Steinem at the center of the era's biggest debates over gender and power. Over her career she went on to author nine books, cementing her reputation as one of the movement's most prolific voices as well as its most visible organizer.
A Career Spent Fighting for Equality
Over the decades that followed, Steinem's activism stretched well beyond the pages of Ms. She campaigned against female genital mutilation and domestic violence, opposed the Vietnam and Gulf wars, and later lent her voice to the Black Lives Matter and Times Up movements. She was also an outspoken ally to the LGBTQ+ community, once telling a journalists' conference that "it just makes sense that feminists and gays should be supportive of one another. After all, we're fighting the same enemies."
Steinem remained active well into her 90s. She founded the Gloria Foundation to support grassroots organizing and hosted regular "Talking Circles" gatherings at her Manhattan brownstone, bringing activists and neighbors together for community discussion. She had also been working on a forthcoming memoir, titled "An Unexpected Life," and had reportedly planned to eventually convert her longtime home into a center for social justice movements.
Tributes From Admirers
Former President Barack Obama, who awarded Steinem the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013, said in a statement that "because of her work, across America and around the world, more women are afforded the respect and opportunities that they deserve."
Reproductive freedom remained central to Steinem's message even as legal battles over abortion access shifted around her. In 2022, she reaffirmed her position, saying, "we either have decision-making power over our own bodies or there is no democracy." She often reflected on her own longevity with the same determination that defined her activism, telling an interviewer in 2011 that she hoped to live to 100, explaining simply, "there is so much to do." Her family and representatives have asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Gloria Foundation in her memory.
Curious for more stories that keep you informed and entertained? From the latest headlines to everyday insights, YourLifeBuzz has more to explore. Dive into what’s next.