Gloria Steinem, feminist writer and activist, dies at 92

Washington, United States. Gloria Steinem, the American writer, lecturer, activist and organiser who campaigned for gender equality and women’s civil and reproductive rights for more than five decades, has died aged 92, her foundation said.

The co-founder and consulting editor of Ms. Magazine died on Wednesday, according to an Instagram post by her foundation on Thursday.

Feminist movement

Steinem championed the feminist movement from the late 1960s and inspired generations of women.

She described herself as “an entrepreneur of social change.”

“I want to do justice to the women I meet, to tell their stories,” she told the New Yorker magazine in 2015. “It’s making connections, and using myself to listen, because we can’t empower women without listening to their stories.”

Organisations and recognition

In 1971, Steinem founded the National Women’s Political Caucus with former US Representatives Bella Abzug and Shirley Chisholm, and writer Betty Friedan, whose 1963 book “The Feminine Mystique” ushered in the second wave of feminism.

She also created the Coalition of Labor Union Women, the Women’s Media Center, Voters for Choice and the Ms. Foundation for Women.

Then-President Barack Obama awarded Steinem the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian honour, in 2013.

Portrayals of her life

Film and theatre director Julie Taymor described Steinem as “a beacon of positive change” in a 2017 New York Times interview.

Taymor directed the 2020 film “The Glorias,” which depicted Steinem’s life and was based on her 2015 best-selling autobiography, “My Life on the Road.”

Steinem was also the subject of the 2018 play “Gloria: A Life” and the 2011 HBO documentary “Gloria: In Her Own Words.”