Gloria Steinem, the American writer, lecturer, activist, organiser and journalist who became one of the most visible voices of second-wave feminism, has died at the age of 92.
Steinem died peacefully on Wednesday at her home in New York City, her foundation announced on Thursday in an Instagram post. She was “surrounded by some of the many who loved her”, according to a statement on her verified Instagram account.
As co-founder and consulting editor of Ms. Magazine, Steinem helped define a movement that transformed the public argument over women’s place in society. She championed feminism from the late 1960s onwards and became the face of second-wave feminism in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
For more than five decades, she fought for gender equality and women’s civil and reproductive rights. Her activism helped push through greater rights for women around the world, while making her one of the U.S. women’s movement’s most potent public voices.
Steinem described herself as “an entrepreneur of social change”. She spent much of her life on the road, often alongside fellow campaigners with the same commitment to the causes she supported.
Her work extended across a wide range of campaigns. She spoke out against domestic violence, female genital mutilation and pornography. She also campaigned against the Vietnam War and the Gulf Wars.
Steinem’s public image was as recognisable as her political role. She was known for streaked hair parted down the middle and large aviator glasses, an appearance that became closely associated with a figure who brought feminism into public life for successive generations.
Her foundation said she had continued her work until the end of her life. “Gloria’s near-century on earth were years well-lived, and she continued working for equality until the very end,” it said.
The foundation also said: “Gloria’s greatest gift was her ability to listen to others, to make others feel seen and heard” and “Her words, actions, and example gave people permission to be their truest selves.”
Steinem was a prolific author as well as an organiser and lecturer. A planned memoir was due to be released this fall. Her foundation said she had spent her recent years “doing the two things she loved most: being in community with others and writing.”
Her death closes a chapter in the second-wave feminist movement she helped to define. Her advocacy linked women’s civil and reproductive rights with campaigns over violence, war and global women’s issues, and continued until her death.
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