Feminist icon Gloria Steinem is turning 92. We take a look at her biggest milestones and how they changed our lives for the better.
The patriarchy may still be standing, but one woman who took a huge chunk out of it was Gloria Steinem. Today, we probably can’t conceive of how different the world was when she began as a women’s rights activist in the 1960s: Women couldn’t open their own bank accounts, have a credit card or even rent a car without their husband’s signature until the mid-1970s! Steinem, a pioneer in second-wave feminism, helped change all that.
She’s still going strong at nearly 92, and her birthday on March 25 fittingly falls during Women’s History Month. And she shows no signs of slowing down. You only need to check out her Instagram to see all the things she’s up to (yep, this nonagenarian is on the Gram): She still hosts gatherings at her New York City apartment for writers and organizers to discuss women’s issues, she’s still backing female political candidates, like Juliana Stratton for the U.S. Senate, and she just co-authored a children’s book called Rise, Girl, Rise.
Yes, Gloria Steinem is a legend. Even if you’re not familiar with all her achievements, you probably know she’s a force to be reckoned with. But arguably the most important thing she’s accomplished is just how much she changed women’s lives for the better, and we have much to thank her for today.
Ahead, we take a look at Steinem’s life’s work to see how far we’ve come—and how far we still have to go. Read on as we celebrate key moments in the life of this incredible force for women’s equality.
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She went undercover as a Playboy Bunny
After graduating from Smith College in 1956, Steinem spent two years on a fellowship studying grassroots activism in India, then began work as a journalist in New York City. But she had trouble getting the politics-focused assignments she wanted to cover. Her breakout story finally came when she went undercover for an exposé of the Playboy Club for Show magazine.
“I Was a Playboy Bunny,” published in 1963, revealed the sexism, exploitation, harassment and poor working conditions the scantily clad waitresses, aka Bunnies, faced. Shockingly, women had to undergo physical exams to be hired, but these were abolished after Steinem’s article was published.
Though the article was a huge success, Steinem had a hard time getting work afterward. And throughout her life, it remained a punchline: “Since hostile people still call me a former Playboy Bunny, even at 82, I probably shouldn’t have done that in my youth, even to write an exposé,” she told the Guardian in 2017. Still, the piece started a conversation that continues today about the objectification of women’s bodies and women’s rights in the workplace. It also boosted Steinem into the spotlight, which eventually gave her a national platform for her activism.
She started Ms. magazine
In 1968, Steinem joined the founding team at New York magazine, where she could finally cover politics and the women’s movement. Three years later, in 1971, she co-founded Ms. magazine, which began as a New York insert. The first U.S. magazine to be owned, run and written by women for women, Ms. tapped into the psyche of women on the verge of social change who finally had an outlet that didn’t focus on homemaking and fashion. The magazine tackled previously unmentionable issues women faced, including sexism, equal rights, discrimination in the workplace, social justice, sexual assault and domestic violence.
Before Ms. brought these issues into the light, women often didn’t discuss them. Steinem told the BBC that the magazine heard from thousands of readers a week who described the magazine as an “awakening” and an “exhilaration,” characterizing their feelings as “coming fully to my senses” and knowing that they were “not alone.” Without this platform for a collective voice, the idea of women’s liberation would not have gained so much traction. Ms. is still published quarterly in print and online, and the magazine continues to empower women to voice their concerns about rights that are still in jeopardy today.
She became the voice—and face—of the women’s movement
Steinem’s writing was impactful, but she was also a captivating presence at the many rallies, events and college campuses where she spoke. She connected with people using warmth and humor, which disarmed her audience and made her more accessible. But she also became the “world’s most famous feminist,” in part because of her good looks and sense of style, always appearing put-together and wearing her trademark tinted aviator glasses.
It was a paradox that both helped and hurt her message: Her media-friendly appearance helped her gain attention and showed that feminists can still be attractive—but it also meant she wasn’t always taken seriously, and some felt she used her sex appeal to her advantage.
Still, she showed that women can be multi-faceted: sexy and smart, interested in social issues as well as what they wear, and taking pride in their looks without wanting to be judged solely by them. It was the start of a conversation about the freedom to choose how to appear to others that continues today.
She supported women in government
Steinem knew that changing laws meant having women equally involved in making them, so she also championed women in politics and government. After the Equal Rights Amendment failed to pass both houses of Congress in 1970, she established the National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC) in 1971 with fellow feminists Shirley Chisholm, Betty Friedan, Fannie Lou Hamer and Bella Abzug. The NWPC sought to increase women’s participation in politics, from elected officials and judges to voters, delegates and campaign organizers.
The ERA passed in 1972 but failed to be ratified by the required 38 states. But thanks in part to Steinem’s group, the number of women in government has increased from 15 women in Congress in 1971 (2.8%) to 150 (28%) today. If you think the government is run by old white men today, imagine how it must have looked back then! However, today’s numbers are still not 50/50, so there is still a long way to go.
She championed Title IX
One of those 15 women in Congress, Representative Patsy Mink of Hawaii, the first woman of color elected to the U.S. House, became the main author of 1972’s landmark law Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in education and athletics. Along with tennis star Billie Jean King, Steinem campaigned tirelessly for Title IX, speaking across the country and rallying supporters.
Without this law, women would not have been as free to pursue careers in medicine, science, law or other STEM fields, and sports would not be part of most girls’ experiences growing up, as they are today. Can you imagine women not being allowed to play soccer or softball in school? We certainly wouldn’t have had Alysa Liu, the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team and the rest of the eight gold medals (out of 12 total) won by women at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
She helped change laws around sexual violence
Steinem made it OK to talk about previously taboo topics such as sexual assault and domestic violence, framing bodily autonomy as the basis for the feminist movement. In doing so, she paved the way for laws making marital rape a crime as well as rape shield laws, which restrict courts from admitting inflammatory evidence like what a sexual assault victim was wearing and their prior sexual history. These laws were implemented in the 1970s—although it’s hard to believe they didn’t exist before then!
“In my lifetime, we’ve shown that rape is not sex but violence, and changed the laws,” Steinem told the Women’s Media Center in 2012. Steinem also founded the Women Under Siege project to document how rape is used as a tool of war. She has long maintained that the biggest indicator of societal, political and military violence is violence against women, because it normalizes domination by force.
“Sexualized violence, in and out of conflict, has been named and punishments codified,” she said. “Now we have to get this off paper and into life.” As evidenced by current events, that’s something we’re still trying to do.
She understood intersectionality
Although women’s rights have been the focus of Steinem’s work, she also tackled issues that interact with and often compound women’s struggles, such as race and class. During Steinem’s fellowship in India, she gained perspectives that other activists didn’t always share, including intersectional feminism, which considers how systems of oppression overlap with women’s issues. From her earliest activist days, she has collaborated with Black women such as Shirley Chisholm and Ms. magazine co-founder Dorothy Pitman Hughes. “I learned feminism mostly from Black women,” Steinem told Interview magazine in 2020.
Steinem also advocated for indigenous communities, particularly through her close friendship and collaboration with the late Wilma Mankiller, the first woman elected chief of the Cherokee Nation. “Wilma was the best kind of leader; helping people who bear the scars of centuries of oppression and genocide come to a place of healing,” Steinem wrote on EqualityNow.org. “I’ve said before that, in a just world, Wilma would have gone on to become president of the United States.” As it is, intersectionality is still at the forefront of the quest for social justice today.
She founded multiple women’s organizations
In addition to the NWPC, Steinem started several other organizations, starting with the Women’s Action Alliance in 1971, which helped coordinate feminist movements across the country. In 1977, she organized Voters for Choice, a non-partisan action committee focused on electing candidates who support women’s reproductive rights. She also established the Women’s Media Center in 2004 to promote media equality and positive representation of women in media, an issue that remains crucial.
The Ms. Foundation for Women, established in 1972 and still active today, continues the magazine’s mission of giving women a platform to connect, collaborate and advance women’s rights. Without the support of groups that Steinem created and led, there would have been far less support for women’s movements across the country.
She wrote 10 books
At heart, Steinem is a writer, authoring 10 books and countless essays, articles and papers found in various anthologies. Her first feminist book was 1983’s Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, in which she uses her personal experiences to discuss women’s rights and other social issues—a humanizing concept that opened up channels of communication for women to this day.
Her other books include:
- Marilyn: Norma Jean (1986)
- Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem (1992)
- Moving Beyond Words (1993)
- Doing Sixty and Seventy (2006)
- As If Women Matter (2014)
- My Life on the Road (2015)
- The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off! (2015)
“Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else,” Steinem says on her official website. As evidenced by the writing accolades she’s received—including the National Magazine Award, the Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Society of Writers Award from the United Nations—she continues to inspire and bring together generations of feminists through her words.
She earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Gloria Steinem continues to be a driving force for motivation, organization and action for women’s rights and equal rights for all. For her lifetime of work, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, our nation’s highest civilian award, by President Barack Obama in 2013.
“What makes this medal mean so much is that it’s for waging peace, you might say,” she said about receiving the honor. “We are truly linked, so I feel blessed and enthusiastic and lucky to be part of a movement that is fundamental … we need to be different, we learn from difference, not from sameness but from shared values.”
Thank you, Ms. Steinem, for everything you have done to bring women’s issues to light and to inspire us to continue striving for true liberation.
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Sources:
- National Women’s History Museum: “Gloria Steinem”
- Ms. Foundation for Women: “Gloria Steinem”
- Guardian: “Gloria Steinem: ‘I shouldn’t have been a Playboy Bunny – even to write an exposé’”
- BBC: “Gloria Steinem on the trailblazing magazine ‘for women in all their diversity”
- New York Magazine: “Gloria Steinem: First Feminist”
- Equality Now: “Wilma Mankiller”
- Interview: “Gloria Steinem Takes Questions From 25 Formidable Friends and Fans”
- Obama White House: “Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient—Gloria Steinem”
- Women’s Media Center: “WMC Women Under Seige: Q&A: Gloria Steinem on ending rape in war”
- New York Times: “The Living Room Where History Still Happens”
