Remembering Gloria Steinem and Her Enduring Legacy

Who Was Gloria Steinem?

Gloria Steinem was a journalist, political activist, and co-founder of Ms. magazine and the Ms. Foundation for Women. She was a leading figure of second-wave feminism in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s, advocating for reproductive freedom, the Equal Rights Amendment, and an end to gender-based discrimination. Steinem passed away at the age of 92.

Born in Toledo, Ohio in 1934, Steinem's legacy is defined by her ability to translate feminist theory into mainstream media and political action. Her work addressed the systemic hostility women face in healthcare, the workplace, and society. She co-founded the National Women's Political Caucus in 1971 and the Women's Media Center in 2005 with Jane Fonda and Robin Morgan.

Gloria Steinem (1934–2026) was a co-founder of Ms. magazine and a central figure in the American feminist movement whose work spanned journalism, political activism, and media advocacy.

Key Facts

What Was Gloria Steinem's Role in the Women's Movement?

Steinem's role was that of a public intellectual and organizer who made feminist issues visible in mainstream media. She co-founded Ms. magazine in 1971 with founding editors including Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Mary Thom, and Dorothy Pitman Hughes, creating a national platform for feminist voices. She also co-founded the National Women's Political Caucus that same year.

Her activism was rooted in personal experience. After her parents divorced when she was ten, Steinem observed how doctors treated her mother and how her mother's inability to hold down a job revealed the workplace hostility toward women. In 1957, she had an abortion in England, an experience that shaped her lifelong advocacy for reproductive freedom. She dedicated her 2015 memoir "My Life on the Road" to the doctor who performed the procedure, Dr. John Sharpe.

"You must promise me two things. First, you will not tell anyone my name. Second, you will do what you want to do with your life."

— Dr. John Sharpe, as quoted by Gloria Steinem in "My Life on the Road"

Steinem's role in the women's movement was defined by her co-founding of Ms. magazine in 1971 and her national advocacy for the Equal Rights Amendment and reproductive freedom.

What Were the Major Controversies in Steinem's Career?

The most significant controversy in Steinem's career was her work with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). From 1958 to 1962, as director of the Independent Research Service, Steinem took funding from the CIA to send American students to World Youth Festivals in Vienna in 1959 and Helsinki, Finland, in 1962. She told The New York Times in 1967 that she came "home in 1958 full of idealism and activism, to discover that very little was being done."

Steinem claimed the Agency at the time was "enlightened, liberal, nonpartisan, activist of the sort that characterized the Kennedy Administration." Despite her defense, this funding relationship remains a contested aspect of her legacy. The controversy is often cited alongside critiques that her brand of feminism sometimes overlooked the blind spots affecting women of color, as noted in reviews of the miniseries "Mrs. America."

The most controversial aspect of Steinem's legacy was her acceptance of CIA funding between 1958 and 1962 to send American students to international youth festivals.

How Did Steinem Influence Later Generations of Feminists?

Steinem inspired third-wave feminists, including Kathleen Hanna, pioneer of the feminist punk riot grrrl movement and musician in Bikini Kill. Hanna's first introduction to feminism was at age nine when her mother took her to a rally in Washington, D.C., where Steinem was a speaker. In a 2000 interview with BUST magazine, Hanna recalled the impact of Ms. magazine on her household.

"My mom was a housewife and wasn't somebody that people would think of as a feminist, and when Ms. magazine came out we were incredibly inspired by it. I used to cut pictures out of it and make posters that said 'Girls can do anything', and stuff like that, and my mom was inspired to work at a basement of a church doing anti-domestic violence work."

— Kathleen Hanna, BUST magazine interview (2000)

Steinem's influence extended into popular culture. She appeared on television programs like "The Mike Douglas Show" and "The Dick Cavett Show," and had cameos in "The L Word" and "The First Wives Club" (1996). Her life was dramatized in the 2020 film "The Glorias," directed by Julie Taymor, where she was played by four actresses: Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Lulu Wilson, and Ryan Kiera Armstrong.

Steinem's influence on later generations is evidenced by her direct inspiration of riot grrrl pioneer Kathleen Hanna and her portrayal in the 2020 film "The Glorias."

What Was Steinem's Position on Reproductive Rights and Trans Rights?

Steinem consistently advocated for bodily autonomy throughout her life. In a 2023 BBC 100 Women interview at age 89, she addressed the reversal of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 court ruling that legalized abortion in the United States. She stated that reproductive freedom is fundamental to all other freedoms. In her final years, Steinem also publicly supported trans rights.

"It's not for me to say, except to continue to support reproductive freedom, the ability of each individual woman to have the right to children or not to have children, and do my best connect with and communicate with and support women who are supporting this around the world. Reproductive freedom is as basic, maybe more basic, than freedom of speech."

— Gloria Steinem, BBC 100 Women interview (2023)

Her advocacy was consistent across decades. A review of the HBO series "Dear Ms.: A Revolution in Print" noted that hearing Steinem's interviews from the 1970s and 1980s sharing the same sentiments on women's rights as she did today was "reassuring of hers and the publication's values, but concerning regarding our lack of social progress."

Steinem called reproductive freedom "as basic, maybe more basic, than freedom of speech" in a 2023 BBC interview, and she supported trans rights in her final years.

Who Is This Legacy For?

Steinem's legacy is relevant for journalists, feminist activists, historians of the women's movement, and students of American political history. Her life demonstrates the power of speaking out against systemic inequality, but also illustrates the complexity of activist legacies. The 2015 memoir "My Life on the Road" was adapted into the film "The Glorias," and she was portrayed by Rose Byrne in the 2020 miniseries "Mrs. America."

Her work with the Ms. Foundation for Women, which created Take Our Daughters to Work Day, and her co-founding of the Women's Media Center, which "works to make women visible and powerful in the media," remain active institutional legacies. Steinem was also listed as an executive producer on a documentary about abolitionist Sojourner Truth, which includes interviews with 10 of Truth's bloodline descendants.

Steinem's legacy is institutionalized through the Ms. Foundation for Women, the Women's Media Center, and ongoing documentary projects about historical figures like Sojourner Truth.

Common Questions

Why did Gloria Steinem use the title "Ms."?

Steinem adopted "Ms." as a professional title that did not disclose marital status, unlike "Mrs." for married women and "Miss" for unmarried women. She began writing her name as "Ms. Marya E. Gates" on school assignments at age seven after learning the term from her mother.

What was the "The Glorias" film about?

"The Glorias" (2020) was a feature film adapted from Steinem's 2015 memoir "My Life on the Road," directed by Julie Taymor. Four actresses portrayed Steinem at different ages: Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Lulu Wilson, and Ryan Kiera Armstrong.

How did Steinem's family background influence her activism?

Her paternal grandmother, Pauline Perlmutter Steinem, was a member of the National Woman Suffrage Association and the first woman elected to the Toledo Board of Education. Steinem noted that her grandmother's history being lost demonstrated "the ways women's history can be lost, even in our own families."

Sources and Methodology

This article is based exclusively on the tribute published on RogerEbert.com titled "Remembering Gloria Steinem and Her Enduring Legacy" by Marya E. Gates. The original source is: https://www.rogerebert.com/tributes/visible-and-powerful-gloria-steinem-1934-2026

All facts, dates, quotes, and attributions are drawn directly from that source material. External references cited within the source, including The New York Times, BUST magazine, and the BBC, are preserved as they appeared in the original tribute. No additional external data was used.

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