- Steinem, who had been in declining health, died Wednesday at her home in New York City, according to a post on her social media page. She had recently completed a memoir, to be released this fall.
- Her friend and fellow activist, Abigail Disney, said she’d visited Steinem’s Manhattan home a bit over a week ago, as those close to her gathered by her side. Disney said, “Everything Gloria did was rooted in kindness,” and that it flowed through her political activism.
Gloria Steinem, who passed away at 92, was a pivotal figure in the U.S. women's movement, co-founding Ms. Magazine in 1972 and advocating for women's rights for over six decades.
“That speak-out was the beginning of activism for me,” she reflected on her illegal abortion experience that ignited her passion for women's rights.
Steinem's career began in journalism, where she famously posed as a Playboy Bunny for an exposé, a decision she later regretted.
“I could not have made a bigger mistake,” she stated in 2011.
In 1971, she founded the National Women’s Political Caucus alongside notable figures like Betty Friedan and Shirley Chisholm.
Despite initial skepticism, Ms. Magazine became a cornerstone of feminist literature, with Steinem expressing her fears of failure.
“I was so obsessed with the fear that it would fail and be a disgrace to the movement,” she admitted.
Steinem's legacy includes her sharp critiques of political figures, including President Nixon, whom she called “the most sexually insecure chief of state since Napoleon.”
In her later years, she married British activist David Bale, stating, “I thought, ‘I haven’t changed, marriage had changed.’” Steinem's life was a testament to her belief in the importance of kindness in activism, as remembered by her friend Abigail Disney.2
“Steinem had been in declining health and died Wednesday at her New York City home, having just completed a memoir due this fall. Abigail Disney, who visited her over a week ago, said Steinem was 'just as funny and just as sharp' as ever, and that 'everything Gloria did was rooted in kindness.'”
AP News
