Gloria Steinem, journalist, author, editor, and feminist activist, died yesterday at age 92.
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| Gloria Steinem signed ARCs of My Life on the Road (Random House) at BookExpo in 2015. | |
"Calling herself 'an entrepreneur of social change,' Ms. Steinem helped usher in sweeping cultural transformations across virtually every facet of American life, from the boardroom to the courtroom to the bedroom," the New York Times wrote. "For more than half a century, she personified the women's movement and became its most enduring symbol; her tinted aviator glasses and curtain of streaked-blond hair parted in the center made her one of the most recognizable women in the world....
"Her own feminist awakening didn't come until her mid-30s, when, as a journalist in 1969, she attended a 'speak out' of women discussing their illegal abortions. Charismatic, articulate, media savvy, deeply empathetic and a workaholic, she evolved into a political and cultural force."
In the 1960s, she was a prolific freelance journalist, contributing to a variety of publications. In 1968, she helped found New York magazine, where she wrote a regular political column. In 1971, Steinem co-founded Ms. magazine, the ground-breaking feminist magazine, and was an editor there for 15 years. Among many other achievements, she also co-founded the Ms. Foundation for Women, the Women's Media Center, and Equality Now, and produced documentaries.
An autobiography, An Unexpected Life: A Memoir, is being published by Random House on September 22. In it, Steinem writes about growing up "a curious child: going on road trips with her itinerant father, caring for her mother, and devouring every book she could find" and her slow awakening to the problems of poverty and women's roles in society, becoming a leading feminist--and the rest of her long, rich life.
Her earlier books were bestsellers and included:
Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions (1983), which includes a variety of essays and material, including her exposé, "I Was a Playboy Bunny"; a tribute to her mother, "Ruth's Song (Because She Could Not Sing It)"; essays on female genital mutilation and the difference between erotica and pornography; and the satire, "If Men Could Menstruate."
Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem (1992), which draws on her own experiences with a lack of self-esteem as well as those of others, including Mahatma Gandhi.
The Truth Will Set You Free, but First It Will Piss You Off!: Thoughts on Life, Love, and Rebellion (2019), an illustrated collection of inspirational and outrageous quotes by Steinem along with her introduction and essays.
Marilyn: Norma Jean (1986), in which she "revealed the woman behind the myth."
My Life on the Road (2015), in which Steinem discussed the importance of travel. As she explained, "Taking to the road--by which I mean letting the road take you--changed who I thought I was. The road is messy in the way that real life is messy. It leads us out of denial and into reality, out of theory and into practice, out of caution and into action, out of statistics and into stories--in short, out of our heads and into our hearts."
Among her many honors, Steinem received the Penney-Missouri Journalism Award, the Front Page and Clarion awards, the National Magazine Award, the Women's Sports Journalism Award, the Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Society of Writers Award from the United Nations, the James Weldon Johnson Award for Journalism, and others. In 2013, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.