Thanks to Pam Peterson — (This story was originally published by The 19th)
Gloria Steinem, one of the leaders of second-wave feminism and a feminist thought leader for generations, has died at the age of 92.
In a career that saw attitudes on women change (and change again — and again), Steinem — often with her signature aviators — served as the literal face of second-wave, intersectional feminism for decades. From her coming of age during the Mad Men era and Civil Rights Movement to her founding Ms. magazine at the start of a new push for gender equality to #MeToo and the ensuing backlash, Steinem was a tireless champion for furthering the work of the feminist movement and promoting gender, racial, and class equity, even when it has meant reevaluating some of her own past positions.
“We are the women our parents warned us against, and we are proud.” — Gloria Steinem
Born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1934, Steinem’s childhood was largely shaped by her parents’ divorce when she was 10. She watched her mother struggle to find and hold a job, which, later in life, Steinem said had a significant impact on her understanding of patriarchal systems and the impact they can have on women, especially working women.
Likewise, Steinem bore witness to the way doctors routinely wrote off her mother’s health concerns, often with a gendered bias, because she had once experienced what was then described as a nervous breakdown. Seeing firsthand the way society treats women — especially single women, working mothers, and those with marginalized identities — led Steinem to develop a core belief that women were inherently unequal in modern American society. She was also born less than 15 years after the 19th Amendment was ratified, with a mother who remembered life before it. (continued on Page 2)