Feminist icon Gloria Steinem has died aged 92

Gloria Steinem, one of the most recognizable figures of the American feminist movement, has died at 92.

The pioneering journalist and activist died Wednesday at her home in New York City, according to a statement shared Thursday on her official Instagram account.

She died peacefully surrounded by people close to her, with no cause of death given.

Steinem spent decades campaigning on issues including reproductive freedom, domestic violence and gender inequality in the workplace, becoming one of the defining voices of second-wave feminism.

Her work helped push issues that had once been treated as private concerns into the national conversation.

Steinem was born on March 25, 1934, in Toledo, Ohio, and spent much of her childhood traveling across the country with her mother, Ruth, her father, Leo, and older sister, Susanne.

Her father worked as a traveling antiques salesman, while Steinem did not attend school regularly until she was 11 following her parents' divorce.

What did Gloria Steinem do for women’s rights?

Her path toward activism was shaped by experiences that began long before she became a household name.

After graduating from Smith College in 1956 with a degree in government, Steinem spent two years in India on a fellowship before moving to New York to pursue journalism.

She struggled to be taken seriously as a woman in the industry, but that changed after she went undercover as a Playboy Bunny in 1963.

Working under a fake identity, Steinem spent several weeks at a Playboy Club and wrote a diary-style exposé for Show magazine about the working conditions faced by the women.

The job involved demanding expectations around their appearance and behavior, while the clubs took substantial portions of their tips.

Steinem later became a founding editor and political columnist at New York magazine in 1968.

In 1971, she co-founded Ms. magazine, which became an independent publication the following year.

In 1976, it became the first national magazine to put domestic violence on its cover.

Her activism extended to reproductive rights. While in London aged 22, Steinem discovered she was pregnant and sought an abortion at a time when the procedure was illegal.

She later said the experience fueled her lifelong interest in reproductive freedom.

“Nobody would choose one if they didn’t have to,” she told Al Jazeera in 2019 when discussing abortion.

Why was Gloria Steinem controversial for the time?

Steinem became a prominent advocate for legal abortion, workplace equality, protections against child abuse and greater political representation for women. She also co-founded the National Women's Political Caucus in 1971.

But her status as a feminist icon did not shield her from criticism.

Some people within the movement argued that she was 'too pretty' to represent their cause, while others criticized her 1992 book Revolution From Within: A Book of Self-Esteem for appearing to move away from political activism.

She continued working despite being diagnosed with breast cancer at 52 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama in 2013, when she was 79.

Her personal life also surprised people. Steinem married lawyer and entrepreneur David Bale in 2000, aged 66.

Bale, the father of actor Christian Bale, died from lymphoma three years later.

When asked why she had changed her views on marriage, Steinem replied: “I didn't change. Marriage changed.”

Steinem remained committed to her work into her later years. In 2020, she told The New York Times: “Even if I live to 100, which I have every intention of doing, it's not that long left. I just hope that I don't die saying, ‘But! Wait!’”