My Friend Gloria Steinem

Read the original at The Free Press ↗
Cite

Chesler, P. (2026, September 4). My Friend Gloria Steinem. The Free Press. https://www.thefp.com/p/gloria-steinem-feminism

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Free Press · collected 2026-09-04 · by Phyllis Chesler

Quick Summary

The author is reflecting on the recent death of Gloria Steinem and their personal connection to her work. The author first became aware of Steinem's work in 1963, after she went undercover as a Playboy Bunny for a magazine piece. The author attended the first meeting that led to the founding of Ms. magazine in 1971, where they had already been corresponding with Steinem for several years. The author doesn't consider themselves part of the feminist movement but rather an early ally who became a leader.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-04, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Gloria Steinem, a pioneering feminist activist and journalist who co-founded Ms. Magazine, died at age 92 in her New York City home on Wednesday. Steinem, born in Toledo, Ohio, became an iconic figure in the U.S. women's movement, advocating for equality and reproductive rights from the 1960s onward. Her work inspired generations of women to challenge gender stereotypes and fight for their rights. Despite initially working as a journalist, including reporting on conditions at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy empire, Steinem transitioned into activism, founding numerous organizations such as the National Women's Political Caucus in 1971. She continued her advocacy well into her 80s, speaking out on issues like genital mutilation and supporting reproductive freedom until her last days.

Written for “Gloria Steinem Dies At 92” on 2026-10-23, grounded in this article and the 27 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Gloria Steinem Dies At 92
Entertainment · 28 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Gloria Steinem, feminist activist and author dead at 92 same event · 100%
Global News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 4% hedged 5 of 125 📰 publisher trust 63
“Both articles mention Gloria Steinem's death on Wednesday, at the age of 92, and provide similar details about her life and activism.”
Gloria Steinem, trailblazing journalist and activist, dies at 92 same event · 100%
NPR
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 7% hedged 3 of 46 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles report on Gloria Steinem's death, occurring at the same time and place (on Wednesday and in New York City), with the same outcome.”
Gloria Steinem's Long and Revealing History With TIME same event · 100%
TIME
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 2% hedged 1 of 62 📰 publisher trust 59
“Both articles describe Gloria Steinem's death and report it happened on September 2, 2026.”
Gloria Steinem, feminist icon and journalist, dies at 92 same event · 100%
ABC News (US)
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 11% hedged 4 of 38 📰 publisher trust 59
“Both articles report on Gloria Steinem's death, stating that she passed away on Wednesday (September 2 or 3) at her home in New York City.”
Feminist Activist and Icon Gloria Steinem Dies at 92 same event · 100%
TIME
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 2% hedged 1 of 48 📰 publisher trust 59
“Both articles report on the death of Gloria Steinem at age 92, with Article A citing her foundation's announcement and Article B mentioning her passing on Wednesday”
Gloria Steinem, leading U.S. feminist and author, dead at 92 same event · 100%
CBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 2% hedged 1 of 48 📰 publisher trust 74
“Both articles report on Gloria Steinem's death at her home in New York City, happening on the same day (Wednesday) in 2026.”
Gloria Steinem dies at 92 same event · 100%
CBS News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 2 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles report on Gloria Steinem's death, with Article A stating that she died at 92 and Article B mentioning her death as occurring 'on Wednesday', which corresponds to September 2nd according to Article A's date.”
Gloria Steinem, feminist activist and journalist, dies at 92 same event · 100%
Deutsche Welle
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 31 📰 publisher trust 95
“Both articles report on Gloria Steinem's death at her home in New York City, on Wednesday of the week they were published.”
Gloria Steinem death: Pioneering voice of modern feminism, dies at 92 same event · 100%
The Independent
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 54 📰 publisher trust 59
“Both articles report on Gloria Steinem's death on the same day, with Article A announcing her passing via a foundation statement and Article B sharing a personal perspective on her life.”
Meghan pays tribute to ‘friend and mentor’ Gloria Steinem same event · 100%
Evening Standard
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 3% hedged 1 of 32 📰 publisher trust 65
“Both articles mention Gloria Steinem's death on Wednesday at her home in New York City, confirming they are reporting on the same specific incident.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
15
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 15 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
96/100
The Free Press's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
28
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-04 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Free Press · 345 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected
No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Who wrote this

Phyllis Chesler
1 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 I forget how I came to be there, but Gloria and I had already been meeting and talking for at least three years, maybe a bit more, because I wrote to her after her piece about the Playboy Club was published.
2026-09-04 · assertive framing · My Friend Gloria Steinem
The only article under this byline in the corpus.

Topics

Ms. National Organization for Women Playboy Show the Playboy Club

Subjects

Gloria PERSON · 5× Betty Friedan PERSON · 1× Gloria Steinem’s PERSON · 1× Ms. ORG · 1× NOW ORG · 1× National Organization for Women ORG · 1× New York City GPE · 1× Playboy ORG · 1× Show ORG · 1× the Playboy Club ORG · 1×

Narrative

I forget how I came to be there, but Gloria and I had already been meeting and talking for at least three years, maybe a bit more, because I wrote to her after her piece about the Playboy Club was published.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-04
🔮 I forget how I came to be there, but Gloria and I had already been meeting and talking for at least three years, maybe a bit more, because I wrote to her after her piece about the Playboy Club was published.
2026-09-04 · The Free Press
My Friend Gloria Steinem · assertive framing

Claims (15 extracted, 0 hedged)

This week, I find myself unexpectedly very sad. asserted
myself → find → ?
Gloria Steinem’s death on Wednesday marked the passing of our second-wave feminist generation. asserted
death → mark → generation
There are but a handful of us still standing, and ever fewer of us still working. asserted
fewer → be → us
I knew Gloria very well back in the day. asserted
I → know → day
She originally came to my attention in 1963, soon after Betty Friedan published her legendary book The Feminine Mystique. asserted
Friedan → come → book
That year, Gloria went undercover as a Playboy Bunny for a piece published in Show magazine—an exercise intended to expose the way in which women were treated as “sex objects.” asserted
women → go → objects
I always found this an interesting contradiction. asserted
this → find → ?
Gloria condemned the objectification, yet she also used it to her own advantage, and to the advantage of liberal feminism. asserted
she → condemn → feminism
In early 1971, I attended the very first meeting that led to Gloria’s founding of Ms. magazine. asserted
that → attend → magazine
I forget how I came to be there, but Gloria and I had already been meeting and talking for at least three years, maybe a bit more, because I wrote to her after her piece about the Playboy Club was published. asserted
piece → forget → Club
Indeed, I never really “joined” the feminist movement. asserted
I → join → movement
As someone who was very early aligned with its goals, I simply almost instantly, as did so many other radical feminists, became a leader. asserted
feminists → align → goals
I attended National Organization for Women (NOW) meetings in New York City, including one in Ti-Grace Atkinson’s home. asserted
I → attend → home
I remember that Kate Millett wore her hair in a neat little bun and spoke in a slightly British accent. asserted
Millett → remember → accent
I remember reading them both while standing up in a bookstore in Greenwich Village. asserted
I → remember → Village
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