Gloria Steinem spent decades as one of the most recognised faces of American feminism, a journalist and activist whose work reshaped how the United States talked about gender, power, and political participation.
Steinem died peacefully at her home in New York City on 2 September 2026, aged 92. Her death marked the end of a career that spanned more than six decades of journalism, activism and advocacy for women’s rights.
Gloris Steinmen, remembered
Born Gloria Marie Steinem on 25 March 1934 in Toledo, Ohio, she emerged as a nationally recognised leader of second-wave feminism in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
She was a columnist for New York magazine and a co-founder of Ms. magazine, two platforms that gave feminist ideas a mainstream audience at a moment when most publications were actively ignoring them. Her influence stretched well beyond the printed page.
In 1969, Steinem published an article titled ‘After Black Power, Women’s Liberation,’ which brought her national attention and positioned her as a feminist leader. The piece did what good journalism is supposed to do: it made people uncomfortable enough to pay attention.
The organisations she built
Steinem did not confine herself to writing. In 1971, she co-founded the National Women’s Political Caucus, an organisation that provides training and support for women seeking elected and appointed government positions.
The same year, she co-founded the Women’s Action Alliance, which until 1997 supported a network of feminist activists and worked to advance feminist causes and legislation.
While some critics labelled these vanity projects or publicity stunts, they were instead structural interventions; attempts to wire feminist politics directly into American institutions at a time when the word ‘feminist’ was still used as an insult in most newsrooms.
Steinem was also a board member of the Women’s Media Center, an organisation focused on representation and power in media, a fight that has not noticeably been won since.
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The record of her life
The record of her life is long and detailed, the kind of entry that accumulates over decades as a person’s impact becomes impossible to argue with.
Steinem studied at Smith College, where she earned her bachelor’s degree. She later married David Bale in 2000 (he died in 2003; Christian Bale is her stepson).
From there, her career became difficult to sum up in a few paragraphs.
Among the milestones:
- In 1963, she went undercover as a Playboy Bunny and exposed the poor pay and working conditions at the Playboy Club.
- In 1968, she helped found New York magazine and became a political writer and columnist.
- In 1971, she co-founded the National Women’s Political Caucus and helped establish the Women’s Action Alliance.
- In 1972, Ms. magazine became an independent publication, giving feminist issues a mainstream platform.
- She later helped establish the Ms. Foundation for Women, Voters for Choice and the Women’s Media Center, among other organisations.
- In 1990s, she helped establish Take Our Daughters to Work Day, an initiative aimed at exposing girls to career opportunities.
- In 2013, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in the United States.
She also wrote several books, produced documentaries and continued travelling, speaking and organising well into her later years. Her autobiography, My Life on the Road, was published in 2015, and she remained involved in feminist causes long after she had become one of the movement’s most recognisable figures.
Ninety-two years is a long run. The work, by most measures, is unfinished.
