Gloria Steinem, the veteran journalist and activist who became one of the most prominent leaders of the American women’s liberation movement, has died at the age of 92.
Steinem died Wednesday at her home in New York City, according to a statement published Thursday on her official Instagram account. A cause of death was not provided.
“Gloria’s near-century on earth were years well-lived, and she continued working for equality until the very end,” the statement said.
The announcement added that Steinem “lived true to her independent spirit, always with curiosity and a great sense of humor.”
During a career spanning more than six decades, Steinem emerged as a leading advocate for reproductive rights, equality in the workplace and increased political representation for women.
Her journalism and activism helped propel second-wave feminism into the center of political and cultural debate across the United States.
Steinem was born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1934. She later attended Smith College, where she earned a degree in government, before beginning her career in journalism.
She attracted national attention in 1963 when she went undercover as a Playboy Bunny for an exposé examining working conditions inside the Playboy Club.
The reporting helped establish Steinem as a recognizable journalist years before she became widely known for her involvement in the feminist movement.
In 1968, Steinem became a founding editor and political columnist at New York magazine.
Her article “After Black Power, Women’s Liberation,” published the following year, helped solidify her position as a major voice within the growing women’s liberation movement.
Steinem expanded that role in 1971 when she co-founded Ms. magazine. The publication became an influential forum for examining issues that included abortion rights, domestic violence and discrimination against women.
That same year, Steinem helped establish the National Women’s Political Caucus, an organization created to increase the number of women elected to public office.
Her own experience with abortion played a major role in shaping her advocacy for reproductive freedom.
Steinem underwent an abortion in Britain when she was 22 years old, at a time when the procedure was illegal. She later became an outspoken campaigner for abortion rights and broader reproductive freedom.
Her work earned recognition from the White House decades later.
Former President Barack Obama awarded Steinem the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013.
At the time, Obama said Steinem’s efforts had helped produce “lasting political and social change in America and abroad.”
Steinem remained involved in her campaign for equality through the final years of her life, according to the statement announcing her death.
Across journalism, publishing and political organizing, she spent more than 60 years pressing issues affecting women into the national conversation.
From her early undercover reporting to her work with New York magazine, Ms. magazine and the National Women’s Political Caucus, Steinem became one of the most recognizable figures associated with American feminism.
Her death closes a career that placed her at the center of major political, social and cultural debates concerning women’s rights and representation.
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