The pioneering activist and writer Gloria Steinem has died at the age of 92.
On Thursday morning, her spokesperson confirmed that the feminist trailblazer had died “peacefully at her home in New York City, surrounded by some of the many who loved her” a day earlier.
Paying tribute, they wrote on Instagram: “Gloria’s near-century on earth were years well-lived, and she continued working for equality until the very end.
“Gloria’s greatest gift was her ability to listen to others, to make others feel seen and heard. Her words, actions, and example gave people permission to be their truest selves. Gloria lived true to her independent spirit, always with curiosity and a great sense of humour.”
In the early 1960s, Gloria began her professional journalism career, first making a name for herself with an article highlighting the mistreatment of the so-called Bunnies living at the Playboy mansion.
From there, she covered issues such as abortion and women’s rights in major publications before co-founding the feminist magazine, Ms, in 1972.
Meanwhile, her writing on the subject of the fight for women’s equality made her a pivotal voice in the second-wave feminism movement, and she also lent her voice to a number of other causes, including protesting apartheid in South Africa in the 1980s, campaigning for accessibility to reproductive rights and, more recently, speaking out in support of the trans community.
Her spokesperson’s tribute continued: “She spent her recent years doing the two things she loved most: being in community with others and writing. She has welcomed hundreds of guests into her living room for Talking Circles, a tradition she insisted will continue long after she is no longer with us.
“As Gloria wrote in her forthcoming book, An Unexpected Life, ‘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’.
“This book, along with her commitment to her home becoming a centre for social justice movements, are among the many gifts Gloria has given the world with the hope they have ripple effects for generations to come. Gloria often quoted the adage: ‘The flap of a butterfly’s wing can change the weather hundreds of miles away’. Gloria loved the tradition of lighting signal fires on hills to light the way to the other side of the mountain. Lighting your own candle for Gloria makes you part of this global and celestial community circle.”
Gloria’s team added that, in lieu of flowers, anyone hoping to pay their respects should make a donation to Gloria’s Foundation, a charitable organisation set up to preserve her New York apartment as a gathering place for social justice organising.
