Gloria Steinem, the writer and activist who became the public face of the American women’s movement and helped launch Ms. magazine, died Wednesday at her home in New York City. In an Instagram post, Steinem’s foundation said Steinem “passed away peacefully at her home in New York City, surrounded by some of the many who loved her.” It added: “Gloria’s near-century on earth were years well-lived, and she continued working for equality until the very end.” Steinem began her journalism career in New York in the 1970s before helping launch Ms. magazine, one of the first publications to look beyond housekeeping and the beauty industry to address women’s broader concerns. More than 50 years ago, she also helped establish the Women’s Action Alliance, a group focused on combating sexism.
Throughout the 1970s, she was among the most visible advocates for women’s reproductive rights. She welcomed the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision affirming a constitutional right to abortion, and lived to see that right overturned nearly half a century later.
Steinem’s story also made its way to the screen. In 2011, HBO premiered the documentary “Gloria: In Her Own Words,” which used photos and archival footage alongside Steinem’s own recollections to trace the women’s movement through her eyes, with Peter Kunhardt directing and Sheila Nevins producing alongside him. Her 2015 memoir, “My Life on the Road,” later formed the basis for “The Glorias,” a nontraditional biopic directed by Julie Taymor, in which four actors, Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Lulu Wilson and Ryan Kiera Armstrong, each played Steinem at a different stage of her life.
Steinem also turned up as herself across decades of television, with spots on programs including “The Dick Cavett Show,” “60 Minutes,” “The Daily Show” and “Charlie Rose,” “The Good Wife” and “And Just Like That…” On film, she played herself in “The First Wives Club.” Her foundation said Steinem’s “greatest gift was her ability to listen to others, to make others feel seen and heard,” adding that “her words, actions, and example gave people permission to be their truest selves.” She hosted hundreds of guests over the years in her living room, welcoming them to what the foundation called Talking Circles, gatherings it said will continue in her memory. Steinem had a forthcoming book, “An Unexpected Life,” in which she wrote: “I have now lived for more than fifty years in this brownstone, in rooms that have witnessed lives before mine, and will know others after I am gone.”
Extract — continue reading at the source.
