Gloria Steinem, Feminist Leader and Ms. Magazine Founder, Dies at 90

Gloria Steinem, a leading figure of second-wave feminism who co-founded Ms. magazine and campaigned for reproductive rights and gender equality, has died at the age of 90, her life and work reshaped public debate and media coverage of women’s issues, her activism and writings made her an internationally recognized advocate.

Born on 25 March 1934 in Toledo, Ohio, Steinem spent part of her youth caring for her mother after her father left the family. She studied and worked abroad in India in the late 1950s, where involvement with village women and grassroots organizing influenced her later activism. Returning to the United States, she began a career as a freelance writer in New York City during a period when newsrooms were overwhelmingly male.

Steinem gained national attention in 1963 with an undercover exposé, A Bunny’s Tale, in which she detailed the working conditions and sexism experienced by Playboy Bunnies. The article helped her secure assignments at major publications and highlighted workplace exploitation in service industries.

By 1968 she was writing for New York Magazine, and her 1969 article After Black Power, Women’s Liberation elevated her profile within the emerging women’s movement. In 1972 she and fellow activists launched Ms. magazine as an all-women-founded periodical intended to address political and social issues rather than traditional fashion and domestic topics. The first issue sold out within a week and the magazine continued to publish influential essays, including Steinem’s 1978 satire If Men Could Menstruate.

Steinem became an outspoken advocate for abortion rights after participating in an abortion speak-out in 1969 and publicly recounting a prior illegal abortion she had obtained in London at age 22. She popularized the term “reproductive freedom” and organized marches and public events to press for legal and social change. She also co-founded the National Women’s Political Caucus to increase women’s participation in politics and testified in support of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Her prominence drew criticism from various quarters, including accusations that her public profile and appearance made her an unsuitable movement figure and objections from other feminists who questioned her role and motives. She faced personal harassment and targeted attacks from opponents, and she responded to public debate about cancel culture among other issues later in life.

Steinem married David Bale in 2000; he died three years later. She survived breast cancer after surgery in 1986 and remained active in public life, receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013. At age 90 she continued to live in New York and reflected on her hope that her work helped individuals become more themselves.

Liberal News Analysis: What Does This Development Mean?

The coverage of Steinem’s life in the source emphasizes her role as a public face of second-wave feminism, her journalism that exposed gendered workplace practices, and her organizational work through Ms. magazine and political caucuses, with specific reference to her abortion speak-out, co-founding efforts, and public recognition such as the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Quick Glance: What You Need to Know

• Gloria Steinem died at age 90.
• She co-founded Ms. magazine in 1972 and became a prominent leader of second-wave feminism.
• Her 1963 exposé A Bunny’s Tale and later activism popularized the phrase “reproductive freedom” and helped shape public debates on abortion and women’s rights.