Steinem, one of the trailblazers behind the US feminist movement, died on Wednesday at her home in New York City.
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Steinem → die → City
She dedicated her life to advocating and campaigning for a number of issues including equal pay and reproductive rights.
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She → dedicate → pay
“You all know her many accolades and the way in which she helped shape the world for women and all people – ‘we are linked, not ranked’ she would tell me, and the bracelet she gave me said exactly that.
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she → know → that
I still wear it with pride.
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I → wear → pride
“Publicly, we did interviews together, called young voters to encourage them to have their voices heard, attended award ceremonies, and brainstormed how to help this beautiful yet complicated world to become more equitable.
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world → do → ceremonies
“But privately, she was even better than you would imagine – spending Thanksgiving with our family, introducing me to one of my best friends (forever the champion of female friendship), loving our children with her whole heart, counseling me during hard times, and giving extraordinary advice and perspective with a cup of tea and an unrivaled cheekiness and wit.”
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you → imagine → tea
Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton also paid tribute to Steinem and told CBS Mornings: “I’m heartsick, as I think everyone who not only knew her but followed her, was inspired and challenged by her.
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who → pay → her
Her activism was rooted in optimism, and that’s a moral choice.
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that → root → optimism
And she made it every day.
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she → make → it
Tearing down those obstacles to young women being able to participate where their talents and hard work took them.
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talents → tear → them
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“I saw in my own life over the course of about 10 to 15 years, Gloria’s pushing on those doors to finally get them open, not only for her to walk through, but for her to lead literally millions of others.”
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her → read → others
Ms Clinton also praised the “incredibly smart, beautiful, talented woman” for pointing out the issues women faced in Ms Magazine, which she co-founded in the 70s and became “the very first opportunity that so many of us had to read articles about the status of women, to understand what the restrictions were”.
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restrictions → praise → women
News of Steinem’s death was announced on Thursday morning in a statement shared on her Instagram account which said: “Gloria’s near-century on earth were years well-lived, and she continued working for equality until the very end.
“Gloria’s greatest gift was her ability to listen to others, to make others feel seen and heard.
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others → announce → 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 humour.”
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Gloria → live → humour
Practical Magic star Sandra Bullock posted a black and white photograph of Steinem on her Instagram story and said: “With her bare hands and force of will, she paved the roads that millions of us are able to walk on.”
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millions → post → us
Hollywood actress Julianne Moorealso paid tribute and said the time she spent studying Steinem in order to portray her in the 2020 biopic The Glorias, was “one of the most edifying of my life”.
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she → pay → life
She said: “Everything I watched, everything I read, everything I observed about her gave me a template for how I wanted to behave.
“Her honesty, her tolerance, her patience, and her insistence on humanism and inclusion as she moved through the world offers us all a moral roadmap.
“Thank you for all you gave us, Gloria.
“We were so lucky.”
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We → say → us
American singer-songwriter Patti Smith said: “This is the greatest Gloria.
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This → say → ?
Born in Toledo, Ohio, Steinem began her career as a freelance journalist in New York City and first gained prominence in 1963 after going undercover as a Playboy Bunny.
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Steinem → bear → Bunny
The expose for Show magazine revealed the working conditions at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Club and the sexist and underpaid life of the bunny/waitresses.
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expose → reveal → waitresses
Despite making a name for herself, Steinem was still not taken seriously by the heavily male-dominated newsroom.
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Steinem → make → newsroom
She went on to write as a columnist for New York magazine where she reported on political campaigns and progressive social issues including the women’s liberation movement.
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she → go → movement
A crucial moment in her advocacy came in 1969 when she spoke out about her own experience of having an abortion when she was 22 years old at an awareness rally.
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she → come → rally
She quickly became the face of the women’s liberation movement and second-wave feminism – advocating for reproductive rights among many other causes throughout the 60s and 70s.
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She → become → 60s
Steinem also founded the Women’s Action Alliance alongside Brenda Feigen and Dorothy Pitman-Hughes in 1971, a US organisation which supported grassroots activism to fight against sex discrimination.
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which → found → discrimination
In 1972, she co-founded Ms magazine – the first magazine owned, run and written by women.
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she → co → women
The groundbreaking magazine published stories that broke away from the mainstream tales concerned with homemaking, parenting or beauty.
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that → publish → homemaking
Steinem helped co-found the National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC) in 1971, a multi-partisan grassroots organisation dedicated to increasing women’s participation in the political process at a national and state level.
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co → co → level
She also played an influential role in the movement to pass the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in 1972 which prohibited sex discrimination.
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which → play → discrimination
Steinem gave a powerful testimony in May 1970 and told the Senate: “I have been denied a society in which women are encouraged, or even allowed to think of themselves as first-class citizens and responsible human beings.”
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women → give → citizens
Steinem was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honour, in 2013 by former US president Barack Obama.
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Steinem → award → Obama
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