Gloria Steinem, leading U.S. feminist and author, dead at 92
Died Wednesday at her home in New York City, her foundation says
Gloria Steinem, the celebrated U.S. author and activist who became one of the most potent voices of the feminist movement, has died.
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who → lead → movement
Steinem, a co-founder of Ms. magazine, was a hugely recognizable presence wherever she went.
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she → go → 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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Much → go → rallies
She died Wednesday at her home in New York City, according to 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 humour.
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Gloria → live → humour
"
Steinem enjoyed writing and spending time in the community in recent years
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Steinem → write → years
, the posts said.
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posts → say → ?
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 → ?
In a 2019 interview with CBC News, Steinem said she had not seen as much grassroots activism in all of her years advocating for feminist issues as she had during U.S. President Donald Trump's first term.
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she → say → term
My role is to listen to younger women and to say, 'What can I do to help?'" she said, when she was asked about the broader backlash from other activists amid a push for intersectional feminism.
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she → listen → feminism
"It's not to tell anybody what to do, that's ridiculous.
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that → tell → what
It's to listen."
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 → listen → 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 Associated Press 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
Activism spanned decades
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Activism → span → decades
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 Associated Press 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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I → mean → ?
But I'm grateful, even though I still get scared even now."
Time hardly slowed Steinem down; well into her 80s she was traveling the globe and speaking out on issues of importance to her.
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she → get → 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
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
Why Canadians are joining the Women's March on Washington
Gloria Steinem in Montreal: On feminism, abortion and online activism
And
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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 2026.
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Together → publish → February
The constant visibility came with a price.
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visibility → come → 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 noted her "spectacular racehorse legs.")
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profile → express → 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 said.
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she → call → mid-30s
"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 also had to deal with hostility, which sometimes came from surprising places.
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which → have → places
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
