Gloria Steinem, pioneering feminist and reproductive rights advocate, dies at 92

Ms. Foundation For Women 2016 Gloria Awards Gala & After Party. NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 27: Journalist, social and political activist Gloria Steinem speaks on stage at Ms. Foundation For Women 2016 Gloria Awards Gala at The Pierre Hotel on April 27, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Ms. Foundation For Women) Feminist trailblazer, journalist, and reproductive rights advocate Gloria Steinem has died at age 92. Steinem spent more than five decades advocating for women’s equality and reproductive rights. Her legacy includes helping found influential organizations such as the National Women’s Political Caucus and Women’s Media Center. Gloria Steinem, the pioneering feminist activist, journalist, and reproductive rights advocate, died at her home in New York City on September 2. She was 92. In a post on her official Instagram page, the death of the women’s liberation leader was confirmed: “Gloria Steinem passed away peacefully at her home in New York City, surrounded by some of the many who loved her.” The post didn’t confirm a cause of death. “Gloria’s near-century on earth were years well-lived, and she continued working for equality until the very end,” the post added. “She spent her recent years doing the two things she loved most: being in community with others and writing.” The Instagram post noted that “Gloria loved the tradition of lighting signal fires on hills to light the way to the other side of the mountain” and asked that others light a candle in her honor.  In lieu of flowers, her representation noted that Steinem would like those who wish to honor her with a gift to make a donation to Gloria’s Foundation.  Steinem was a feminist leader, reproductive rights advocate Steinem dedicated her life to political and social change, standing up for causes such as reproductive freedom, domestic violence prevention, and gender, racial, and sexual equality in the workplace.  “Gloria Steinem is a towering figure of hope and strength for feminists, humanists, those who believe in equality and equity, and for all people who benefit from women and people of all genders participating in the world in a full and complete way,” said Sarah Prager, MD, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Washington.  Steinem’s advocacy for women’s rights began in the late 1960s. She fought for women’s equality in the workplace and reproductive freedoms, including legalized abortion. “Gloria Steinem helped to promote reproductive rights by highlighting the dangers to women and families when these rights are suppressed, by talking about her own abortion, and by writing about abortion and reproductive rights frequently in Ms. Magazine, which she co-founded,” said Prager.  On her website, Steinem stated that she fought for reproductive freedom because, “The attempts to oppose reproductive freedom are long, violent, and current. Male control of reproduction and women’s bodies is the first step in every hierarchy.” “Equality between men and women – starting with our ability to control our own bodies – is the beginning of democracy.”  Steinem’s vision of equity and equality included LGBTQ+ rights and racial equality. She maintained that gender and racial inequality went hand in hand.  Alexis McGill Johnson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund, gave this statement on Steinem’s passing: “Gloria was a force who drew people to the cause of women’s freedom until her very last days. She believed in her soul that we could change the world around us — and the strength of that belief left no room for doubt, in her or in the movement she led.” Steinem helped build organizations that advanced women’s rights Alongside her advocacy for equality and reproductive freedom, Steinem founded or co-founded several organizations dedicated to advancing women’s rights. In 1971, Steinem, along with Brenda Feigen Fasteau and Dorothy Pitman Hughes, founded the Women’s Action Alliance. This organization was active until 1997 and provided resources, networking, and strategic support to women’s rights activists. Steinem also helped found the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971 to increase women’s participation in politics and the Coalition of Labor Union Women in 1974. She also co-founded the Women’s Media Center with Jane Fonda and Robin Morgan.  Steinem continued her advocacy throughout her later years. She was 79 when she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2013 in recognition of her lifetime of activism.  “[Steinem is] like a piece of history. And she’s framed the future, and it’s utterly inspirational. Her view of what needs to happen is unique and motivational and inspiring, and I love her dearly,” Jane Fonda told People in 2024.  Prager told Healthline that she believes Steinem’s death will motivate people to continue pursuing equality and reproductive rights. “Her death reminds us that we’ve fought these battles before and we can fight them again.” 

Gloria Steinem appears on ABC-TV's "Issues And Answers" program with Rep. John Conyers Jr., Dec. 26, 1971. (AP Photo/Jim Wells, File)Writer, activist and feminist trailblazer Gloria Steinem has died at the age of 92.Her spokesperson confirmed that, on 2 September, she passed “peacefully at her home in New York City, surrounded by some of the many who loved her”.Paying tribute, they wrote on Instagram: “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 humour.”Here are six of the defining moments from her life and career, many of which go to show what a pivotal figure she was in amplifying the second-wave feminist movement and ensuring women’s voices were heard.1. She went undercover as a Playboy Bunny in the 1960s – and wrote an article all about itTrying to carve out as career as a journalist was no mean feat for a woman in the 1950s and 60s, however Steinem persevered and gained national attention in ’63 when she went undercover as a Playboy Bunny and penned a two-part series for Show magazine on what it was really like for women to work at the Playboy Club, including what they were paid and some of the sexist practices that went on behind the scenes. 2. She penned ‘After Black Power, Women’s Liberation’ for New York Magazine in 1969In April 1969, Steinem connected the fight for racial equality to that of gender equality in a New York Magazine essay which won her national attention and helped to spread feminist ideas outside of small activist bubbles and into wider public awareness. 3. Steinem co-founded the National Women’s Political CaucusThe National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC) was founded in 1971 by Steinem and fellow activists Shirley Chisholm; Betty Friedan; Fannie Lou Hamer and Bella Abzug, with an aim of identifying, recruiting, training and supporting women candidates for elected and appointed office in the United States. In 1971 there were 15 women in US Congress, which rose to 150 women in 2026. Similarly, there were just seven female Mayors of cities with a population of over 30,000 people in 1971, compared to 428 in 2026.4. She co-founded feminist publication Ms Magazine In 1972, Steinem launched Ms Magazine, a national feminist publication, as she put it, “for those of us who had the radical idea that women are people”. The magazine covered topics typically unexplored in traditional women’s glossies, such as domestic abuse, sexual harassment, abortion, race and sexuality.Reflecting on the publication’s success back in 2022, Steinem said: “The response was shocking … It sold out in eight days.”Gloria Steinem speaks at a rally organized by Women's March NYC in New York on Jan. 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)5. She advocated strongly for reproductive rightsSteinem was a firm believer that women should have control over their bodies and reproductive choices. She opened up about her own abortion, at the age of 22, and even dedicated her book, My Life On The Road, to the London physician Dr John Sharpe, who carried out her abortion back when it was illegal to do so. In 2011, she told The Guardian: “It [abortion] is supposed to make us a bad person. But I must say, I never felt that. I used to sit and try and figure out how old the child would be, trying to make myself feel guilty. But I never could!“I think the person who said: ‘Honey, if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament’ was right. Speaking for myself, I knew it was the first time I had taken responsibility for my own life. I wasn’t going to let things happen to me. I was going to direct my life, and therefore it felt positive.”6. She repeatedly banged the drum for women’s and girls’ rights and equalityShe has spoken publicly at hundreds of events over the years, including the Women’s March on Washington in 2017, all of which helped project women’s rights and issues into the forefront of discussion.Per the National Women’s History Museum, she also co-founded: the Women’s Action Alliance, the Women’s Media Center, Voters for Choice and the Ms. Foundation for Women, as well as helping to create Take Our Daughters to Work Day, empowering young girls to learn about career opportunities.In 2013, she was a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work leading the women’s rights movement. Related...Feminist Activist And Writer Gloria Steinem Has Died, Aged 92

Gloria Steinem spent her life campaigning for women’s rights and gender equality (Picture: AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili) The women’s rights activist and journalist Gloria Steinem has died at her New York City home. The American campaigner and author was one of the pioneers of the 1960s second-wave feminism and gender equality, promoting reproductive freedom and an end to domestic violence. Steinem died ‘peacefully’ at home surrounded by her loved ones on Wednesday, an Instagram post today revealed. The caption, posted with a picture of smiling Steinem, read: ‘Yesterday, Gloria Steinem passed away peacefully at her home in New York City, surrounded by some of the many who loved her. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page Gloria Steinem became the face of a movementthat changed women’s rights in the US (Picture: Susan Wood/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) ‘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 tribute continued: ‘She spent her recent years doing the two things she loved most: being in community with others and writing. Gloria Steinem delivered a powerful speech at the Women’s March in Washington DC in January 2017 shortly after the election of US president Donald Trump (Picture: REUTERS) https://www.instagram.com/p/Dc0dotLOqUN/ ‘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.’ Steinem was due to publish her book An Unexpected Life, and her Manhattan brownstone home, where she has lived since 1967, hosted Gloria’s Foundation, a charity honouring and continuing her work and activism. Her team asked fans to light a candle in her memory.   Gloria Steinem was born in Toledo, Ohio, on March 25, 1934 (Picture: Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Steinem championed collective action, empathy and women taking control of their own bodies, and challenging the constraints of the patriarchal society.   In the late 1960s, Steinem called for protest against the Vietnam War, shortly before becoming one of the founding members of the National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC). While protesting against the Apartheid, Steinem, Congress members and civil rights campaigners were arrested while demonstrating outside the South African embassy. Steinem was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Harvard University in 2022 in recognition of her life’s work as a pioneering feminist (Picture: REUTERS) Later in her career, Steinem was active in the 2008 election, speaking highly of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, whom she went on to endorse in the 2016 election. During the Bush administration, she accused it of being more hostile to women’s equality than any of its predecessors. In January 2017, Steinem spoke to around 500,000 protesters at the Washington DC Women’s March, where she criticised the newly elected US president Donald Trump. Steinem questioned Trump’s fitness ‘for the immense responsibilities of the office’ before rallying the crowds to join a collective resistance. During her decades-long career, Steinem published essays and memoirs on feminism and social justice, including her first collection Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, and Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem. She once said: ‘Any woman who chooses to behave like a full human being should be warned that the armies of the status quo will treat her as something of a dirty joke. That’s their natural and first weapon. She will need her sisterhood.’  Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here. For more stories like this, check our news page. Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here. Comment now Comments Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source