Gloria Steinem, the celebrated author and activist who became one of the most visible symbols and potent voices of the U.S. women’s movement and a fierce advocate for feminist causes throughout her life, has died.
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who → become → life
With her trademark streaked hair parted down the middle and large aviator glasses, Steinem, a co-founder of Ms. Magazine, was a hugely recognizable presence wherever she went.
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she → streak → Magazine
And she went everywhere: Much of her life as an advocate was spent on the road, speaking at college campuses and community centres, at rallies and marches.
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She died Wednesday at her home in New York City, according to her and her foundation’s social media pages.
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She → die → pages
“Gloria’s greatest gift was her ability to listen to others, to make others feel seen and heard,” the posts said.
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posts → listen → others
“Her words, actions, and example gave people permission to be their truest selves.
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words → give → permission
Gloria lived true to her independent spirit, always with curiosity and a great sense of humor.”
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Gloria → live → humor
Steinem enjoyed writing and spending time in the community in recent years, the posts said.
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posts → write → years
She also hosted talking circles for hundreds of people in her home.
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She → host → home
She died just before a planned memoir was to be released this fall.
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memoir → die → ?
“You can’t do it on the phone or on the web,” she told The Associated Press in a 2015 interview.
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she → do → interview
“You have to be there with all five senses.
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You → have → senses
It should be obvious that people can’t empathize with each other unless we’re in the same room.”
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we → empathize → room
Steinem changed her career path after a start as a journalist
She began her career as a journalist, notably one who reported, in 1963, on degrading conditions in Hugh Hefner’s Playboy empire, an undercover assignment she came to later regret.
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she → change → assignment
She credits a meeting six years later, where women spoke out boldly in favour of abortion rights, with changing her career path.
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women → credit → path
“That speak-out was the beginning of activism for me,” Steinem, who had undergone a secret illegal abortion herself at age 22, told the AP in an email in 2022, reflecting on the reversal of Roe v Wade.
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who → undergo → Wade
“Either our control over our own bodies is equal, regardless of sex or race, or we’re not living in a democracy.”
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we → live → democracy
Though she soon became a known activist, those who watched Steinem denounce discrimination for so many years likely never suspected that she’d had to overcome a deep fear of public speaking.
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she → become → speaking
She would have simply stuck to writing, she said, if only editors at the time had been willing to let her write about the women’s movement.
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her → stick → movement
But they weren’t interested, she told the AP in 2015.
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she → tell → 2015
“So I ended up going out and speaking, which was my nightmare,” she said.
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she → end → ?
“I mean, I was terrified.
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But I’m grateful, even though I still get scared even now.”
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I → ’m → ?
Steinem’s visibility endured throughout her life
Time hardly slowed Steinem down; well into her 80s she was travelling the globe and speaking out on issues of importance to her.
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she → endure → her
These included everything from genital mutilation to Korean reconciliation, but it was equality for women that took precedence.
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that → include → precedence
“Being a feminist means that you see the world as whole instead of half,” she once said.
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she → mean → world
“It shouldn’t need a name, and one day it won’t.”
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it → need → name
As the years went on, Steinem’s visibility endured.
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visibility → go → ?
At 83, she sat in the front row of her first fashion show, as a guest of designer Prabal Gurung.
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she → sit → Gurung
A few days after her 85th birthday, she was leading a women’s “talking circle” at an off-Broadway play celebrating her life, where one by one, women in the audience — many fighting tears — rose to thank her and tell their own stories of discrimination.
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women → lead → discrimination
In 2020, her life was the subject of a feature film, The Glorias, A Life on The Road, based on her 2015 memoir and starring Julianne Moore.
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life → base → Moore
At 91, she collaborated on a picture book with Liberian peace activist and Nobel laureate Leymah Gbowee, aimed at inspiring young people to change the world.
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she → collaborate → world
Together for All was published in February.
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Together → publish → February
The constant visibility came with a price; even into her older years, Steinem expressed frustration that despite her accomplishments, she was often described as beautiful or glamorous (A 1992 Vanity Fair profile even noted her “spectacular racehorse legs.”)
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profile → come → legs
It was a label she said unfairly detracted from her message.
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she → say → message
“Nobody ever called me beautiful until I was publicly a feminist, and that was in my mid-30s,” she told AP in a 2011 interview.
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she → call → interview
“It was clear that label was being assigned to me.
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label → assign → me
The most hurtful part is that you work very hard, and people say it’s because of your looks.”
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it → work → looks
Steinem dealt with hostility from many directions
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Of course, Steinem also had to deal with hostility.
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Steinem → deal → hostility
Sometimes it came from surprising places.
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it → come → places
…and 85 more, not listed.
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