Gloria Steinem

Steinem was born on March 25, 1934, in Toledo, Ohio, the daughter of Ruth (née Nuneviller) and Leo Steinem. Her mother was Presbyterian, mostly of German (including Prussian) and some Scottish descent.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hvSgZEdAUiIC&q=%22The+temptation+to+discover+the+heritage%22&pg=PT18 |title=Education of a Woman: The Life of Gloria Steinem |last1=Heilbrun |first1=Carolyn G. |via= Google Books |date=2011 |publisher=Random House Publishing |isbn=978-0-307-80213-2 |access-date=June 15, 2016 }}Finding Your Roots, February 23, 2016, PBS. Her father was Jewish, the son of immigrants from Württemberg, Germany, and Radziejów, Poland.{{cite web |url=http://www.wargs.com/other/steinem.html |title=Ancestry of Gloria Steinem |publisher=Wargs.com |access-date=July 20, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311112923/http://www.wargs.com/other/steinem.html |archive-date=March 11, 2012 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/weta/finding-your-roots/blog/gloria-steinems-interactive-family-tree/ |title=Gloria Steinem's Interactive Family Tree | Finding Your Roots |publisher=PBS |date=February 25, 2016 |access-date=June 15, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610071645/http://www.pbs.org/weta/finding-your-roots/blog/gloria-steinems-interactive-family-tree/ |archive-date=June 10, 2016 }} Her paternal grandmother, Pauline Perlmutter Steinem, was chairwoman of the educational committee of the National Woman Suffrage Association, a delegate to the 1908 International Council of Women, and the first woman to be elected to the Toledo Board of Education, as well as a leader in the movement for vocational education.{{cite web |first=Letty Cottin |last=Pogrebin |url=http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/steinem-gloria |title=Gloria Steinem |publisher=Jewish Women's Archive |date=March 20, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103010751/http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/steinem-gloria |archive-date=November 3, 2012 }} Pauline also rescued many members of her family from the Holocaust.

The Steinems lived and traveled about in a trailer, from which Leo carried out his trade as a roaming antiques dealer. Before Gloria was born, her mother, Ruth, then age 34, had a "nervous breakdown" which left her an invalid, trapped in delusional fantasies that occasionally turned violent.{{cite book|last=Steinem|first=Gloria|title=Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions|url=https://archive.org/details/outrageousactse00stei|url-access=registration|publisher=Holt, Rinehart, and Winston|year=1983|isbn=978-0-03-063236-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/outrageousactse00stei/page/140 140–142]}} She changed "from an energetic, fun-loving, book-loving" woman into "someone who was afraid to be alone, who could not hang on to reality long enough to hold a job, and who could rarely concentrate enough to read a book." Ruth spent long periods in and out of sanatoriums for the mentally ill. Steinem was ten years old when her parents separated in 1944. Her father went to California to find work, while she and her mother continued to live together in Toledo.{{Cite journal |last=Duncan |first=Lauren E. |date=February 2023 |title=Gloria Steinem: The childhood foundations of a feminist |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jopy.12732 |journal=Journal of Personality |language=en |volume=91 |issue=1 |pages=193–206 |doi=10.1111/jopy.12732 |pmid=35556251 |s2cid=248762850 |issn=0022-3506 |access-date=June 28, 2023 |archive-date=July 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230715025525/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jopy.12732 |url-status=live }}

While her parents divorced under the stress of her mother's illness, Steinem did not attribute it at all to male chauvinism on the father's part—she claims to have "understood and never blamed him for the breakup."Marcello, Patricia. Gloria Steinem: A Biography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004. p. 20. Nevertheless, the impact of these events had a formative effect on her personality: while her father, a traveling salesman, had never provided much financial stability to the family, his exit aggravated their situation.Marcello, Patricia. Gloria Steinem: A Biography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004. Steinem concluded that her mother's inability to hold on to a job was evidence of general hostility towards working women. She also concluded that the general apathy of doctors towards her mother emerged from a similar anti-woman animus. Years later, Steinem described her mother's experience as pivotal to her understanding of social injustices.{{Cite book

| last = Steinem

| first = Gloria

| title = Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions

| publisher = Henry Holt & Co.

| year = 1984

| location = New York

|edition = 1

}}{{rp|129–138}} These perspectives convinced Steinem that women lacked social and political equality.

Steinem attended Waite High School in Toledo and Western High School in Washington, D.C., graduating from the latter while living with her older sister Susanne Steinem Patch.{{cite web|url=http://www.toledofreepress.com/2008/05/02/classmates-remember-steinems-toledo-days/|title=Classmates remember Steinem's Toledo days|publisher=Toledo Free Press|access-date=November 8, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109010105/http://www.toledofreepress.com/2008/05/02/classmates-remember-steinems-toledo-days/|archive-date=November 9, 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://westernhighschool-dc.org/steinem_g.html|title=Gloria Steinem class of 1952|publisher=Western High School|access-date=November 8, 2014|archive-date=November 9, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109005354/http://westernhighschool-dc.org/steinem_g.html|url-status=live}} She then attended Smith College,{{cite web

|title = Gloria Steinem

|publisher = Biography.com

|url = http://www.biography.com/people/gloria-steinem-9493491#synopsis

|access-date = June 1, 2010

|url-status = live

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111004142905/http://www.biography.com/people/gloria-steinem-9493491#synopsis

|archive-date = October 4, 2011

}} an institution with which she continues to remain engaged, from which she received her A.B. magna cum laude and graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

In 1957, Steinem had an abortion. The procedure was performed by Dr. John Sharpe, a British physician, when abortion was still illegal.{{Cite web|last=Framke|first=Caroline|date=October 30, 2015|title=Gloria Steinem's new book is dedicated to doctor who helped her get an abortion in 1957|url=https://www.vox.com/2015/10/30/9645902/gloria-steinem-book-dedication-abortion|access-date=June 7, 2020|website=Vox|language=en|archive-date=June 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607214113/https://www.vox.com/2015/10/30/9645902/gloria-steinem-book-dedication-abortion|url-status=live}} Years later, Steinem dedicated her memoir My Life on the Road (2015){{Cite journal |last=Steinem |first=Gloria |date=March 2017 |title=A Response My Life on the Road. By Gloria Steinem. New York: Random House, 2015. Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. By Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik. New York: Dey Street, 2015. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/689648 |journal=Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=793–796 |doi=10.1086/689648 |s2cid=152103443 |issn=0097-9740}} to him. She wrote, "Dr. John Sharpe of London, who in 1957, a decade before physicians in England could legally perform an abortion for any reason other than the health of the woman, took the considerable risk of referring for an abortion a twenty-two-year-old American on her way to India. Knowing only that she had broken an engagement at home to seek an unknown fate, he said, 'You must promise me two things. First, you will not tell anyone my name. Second, you will do what you want to do with your life.'"{{Cite web|date=April 18, 2020|title='Mrs. America': Did That Gloria Steinem Abortion Scene Really Happen?|url=https://www.thewrap.com/mrs-america-everything-you-need-to-know-about-that-gloria-steinem-abortion-scene-rose-byrne/|access-date=June 7, 2020|website=TheWrap|language=en-US|archive-date=June 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607214116/https://www.thewrap.com/mrs-america-everything-you-need-to-know-about-that-gloria-steinem-abortion-scene-rose-byrne/|url-status=live}}

In the late 1950s, Steinem spent two years in India as a Chester Bowles Asian Fellow. After returning to the United States, she served as director of the Independent Research Service, an organization funded in secret by a donor that turned out to be the CIA.{{cite news|title=C.I.A. Subsidized Festival Trips; Hundreds of Students Were Sent to World Gatherings|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/02/21/archives/cia-subsidized-festival-trips-hundreds-of-students-were-sent-to.html?sq=Gloria+Steinem+CIA&scp=2&st=p|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 21, 1967|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203073127/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20C1FFD3B5F137A93C3AB1789D85F438685F9&scp=2&sq=Gloria+Steinem+CIA&st=p|archive-date=February 3, 2014}} She worked to send non-Communist American students to the 1959 World Youth Festival. In 1960, she was hired by Warren Publishing as the first employee of Help! magazine.{{cite web

|last = Cooke

|first = Jon

|author-link = Jon B. Cooke

|title = Wrightson's Warren Days

|publisher = TwoMorrows

|url = http://twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/04warren.html

|access-date = June 1, 2010

|url-status = live

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100105094740/http://twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/04warren.html

|archive-date = January 5, 2010}}

In 1950s, she was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, and later she went ahead to model her campaign after Gandhi's independence movement.{{cite news|work=CBC Radio|date=March 6, 2016|url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/writersandcompany/gloria-steinem-interview-1.2980379|title=Gloria Steinem Interview|access-date=March 6, 2023|archive-date=January 14, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114204408/https://www.cbc.ca/radio/writersandcompany/gloria-steinem-interview-1.2980379|url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=Groer |first=Annie |date=January 20, 2014 |title=In India, Gloria Steinem returns to the roots of her activism |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/in-india-steinem-returns-to-the-roots-of-her-activism/2014/01/20/b6150c58-81f0-11e3-9dd4-e7278db80d86_story.html |access-date=January 19, 2023 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=March 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326163528/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/in-india-steinem-returns-to-the-roots-of-her-activism/2014/01/20/b6150c58-81f0-11e3-9dd4-e7278db80d86_story.html |url-status=live }}

Esquire magazine features editor Clay Felker gave freelance writer Steinem what she later called her first "serious assignment", regarding contraception; he didn't like her first draft and had her re-write the article.{{cite news |first=Dennis |last=Mclellan |title=Clay Felker, 82; editor of New York magazine led New Journalism charge |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jul-02-me-felker2-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=July 2, 2008 |access-date=November 23, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081230165846/http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jul/02/local/me-felker2 |archive-date=December 30, 2008 }} Her resulting 1962 article about the way in which women are forced to choose between a career and marriage preceded Betty Friedan's book The Feminine Mystique by one year.{{cite news|last=Fox|first=Margalit|title=Betty Friedan, Who Ignited Cause in 'Feminine Mystique,' Dies at 85|work=Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/05/national/05friedan.html?ex=1296795600&en=30472e5004a66ea3&ei=5090|date=February 5, 2006|access-date=November 10, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527190818/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/05/national/05friedan.html?ex=1296795600&en=30472e5004a66ea3&ei=5090|archive-date=May 27, 2015}}

In 1963, while working on an article for Huntington Hartford's Show magazine, Steinem was employed as a Playboy Bunny at the New York Playboy Club.{{cite news

|last = Kolhatkar

|first = Sheelah

|title = Gloria Steinem

|newspaper = The New York Observer

|date = December 18, 2005

|url = http://www.observer.com/node/38125

|access-date = June 1, 2010

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091120020859/http://www.observer.com/node/38125

|archive-date = November 20, 2009

}} The article, published in 1963 as "A Bunny's Tale", featured a photo of Steinem in Bunny uniform and detailed how women were treated at those clubs.{{cite web|last=Steinem|first=Gloria|title=A Bunny's Tale|work=Show|url=http://dlib.nyu.edu/undercover/sites/dlib.nyu.edu.undercover/files/documents/uploads/editors/Show-A%20Bunny%27s%20Tale-Part%20One-May%201963.pdf|date=May 1963|access-date=November 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141218105108/http://dlib.nyu.edu/undercover/sites/dlib.nyu.edu.undercover/files/documents/uploads/editors/Show-A%20Bunny%27s%20Tale-Part%20One-May%201963.pdf|archive-date=December 18, 2014}} Steinem has maintained that she is proud of the work she did publicizing the exploitative working conditions of the bunnies and especially the sexual demands made of them, which skirted the edge of the law.{{cite web |last=Steinem |first=Gloria |title=I Was a Playboy Bunny |work=Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions |url=http://www.gloriasteinem.com/storage/I%20Was%20a%20Playboy%20Bunny.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027052018/http://www.gloriasteinem.com/storage/I%20Was%20a%20Playboy%20Bunny.pdf |archive-date=October 27, 2011|date=1995|access-date=November 10, 2014}}{{cite web|title=Interview With Gloria Steinem|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbN5tyZ5IvE|work=ABC News|date=2011|access-date=November 10, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602200818/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbN5tyZ5IvE|archive-date=June 2, 2015}} However, for a brief period after the article was published, Steinem was unable to land other assignments; in her words, this was "because I had now become a Bunny—and it didn't matter why."{{cite web |url=http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/06/15/midmorning1/ |title=For feminist Gloria Steinem, the fight continues (interview) |publisher=Minnesota Public Radio |date=June 15, 2009 |access-date=July 20, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014084551/http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/06/15/midmorning1/ |archive-date=October 14, 2012 }} However, on the upside, the article compelled the owner of Playboy, Hugh Hefner, to review and improve the working conditions of the Bunnies.

In the interim, she conducted an interview with John Lennon for Cosmopolitan magazine in 1964.{{cite book|author1=Elizabeth Thomson|author2=David Gutman|title=The Lennon Companion: Twenty-Five Years of Comment|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dv8WYy1nuV8C&pg=PA38|year=1987|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=978-0-306-81270-5|page=30|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930185305/https://books.google.com/books?id=Dv8WYy1nuV8C&pg=PA38|archive-date=September 30, 2015}} In 1965, she wrote for NBC-TV's weekly satirical revue, That Was The Week That Was (TW3), contributing a regular segment entitled "Surrealism in Everyday Life".{{cite book|author=Patricia Cronin Marcello|title=Gloria Steinem: A Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WcyRSrnAXaEC&pg=PR14|access-date=July 22, 2013|year=2004|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-32576-2|page=14|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908002809/http://books.google.com/books?id=WcyRSrnAXaEC&pg=PR14|archive-date=September 8, 2013}} Steinem eventually landed a job at Felker's newly founded New York magazine in 1968.

In 1969, she covered an abortion speak-out for New York Magazine, which was held in a church basement in Greenwich Village, New York.{{cite web |last=Steinem |first=Gloria |url=https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/features/2438/ |title=30th Anniversary Issue / Gloria Steinem: First Feminist |publisher=Nymag.com |date=April 6, 1998 |access-date=July 20, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130311060347/http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/features/2438/ |archive-date=March 11, 2013 }}{{cite web |last=Pogrebin |first=Abigail |url=https://nymag.com/news/features/ms-magazine-2011-11/ |title=An Oral History of 'Ms.' Magazine |publisher=Nymag.com |date=October 30, 2011 |access-date=July 20, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709040617/http://nymag.com/news/features/ms-magazine-2011-11/ |archive-date=July 9, 2012 }} Steinem had had an abortion herself in London at the age of 22.{{cite news |author=Rachel Cooke |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/nov/13/gloria-steinem-interview-feminism-abortion |title=Gloria Steinem: 'I think we need to get much angrier' |newspaper=Guardian |date=November 13, 2011 |access-date=July 20, 2012 |location=London |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131001053601/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/nov/13/gloria-steinem-interview-feminism-abortion |archive-date=October 1, 2013 }} She felt what she called a "big click" at the speak-out, and later said she didn't "begin my life as an active feminist" until that day. As she recalled, "It [abortion] is supposed to make us a bad person. But I must say, I never felt that. I used to sit and try and figure out how old the child would be, trying to make myself feel guilty. But I never could! I think the person who said: 'Honey, if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament' was right. Speaking for myself, I knew it was the first time I had taken responsibility for my own life. I wasn't going to let things happen to me. I was going to direct my life, and therefore it felt positive. But still, I didn't tell anyone. Because I knew that out there it wasn't [positive]." She also said, "In later years, if I'm remembered at all it will be for inventing a phrase like 'reproductive freedom'  ... as a phrase it includes the freedom to have children or not to. So it makes it possible for us to make a coalition."Gilbert, Lynn & Moore, Gaylen, "Particular Passions: Talks With Women Who Shaped Our Times". Clarkson Potter, 1981. p. 166.

File:Ms. magazine Cover - Spring 1972.jpg

In 1972, she co-founded the feminist magazine Ms. alongside founding editors Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Mary Thom, Patricia Carbine, Joanne Edgar, Nina Finkelstein, Dorothy Pitman Hughes, and Mary Peacock; it began as a special edition of New York, and Clay Felker funded the first issue. Its 300,000 test copies sold out nationwide in eight days.{{cite web|url=http://www.coloredreflections.com/decades/Decade.cfm?Dec=4&Typ=2&Sty=1&SID=152 |title=The Eighties, Gloria Steinem |publisher=Colored Reflections |access-date=November 4, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201052926/http://www.coloredreflections.com/decades/Decade.cfm?Dec=4&Typ=2&Sty=1&SID=152 |archive-date=February 1, 2016 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.msmagazine.com/about.asp |title=Ms. Magazine History |publisher=Msmagazine.com |date=December 31, 2001 |access-date=July 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717075217/http://www.msmagazine.com/about.asp |archive-date=July 17, 2012 }} Within weeks, Ms. had received 26,000 subscription orders and more than 20,000 reader letters. In 1974, Ms. collaborated with public television to produce the television program Woman Alive!, and Steinem was featured in the first episode in her role as co-founder of Ms. magazine.[https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/sch00977/catalog Woman Alive! Collection, 1974–1977: A Finding Aid.] MC 421. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. Accessed May 18, 2020. The magazine was sold to the Feminist Majority Foundation in 2001; Steinem remains on the masthead as one of six founding editors and serves on the advisory board.

Also in 1972, Steinem became the first woman to speak at the National Press Club.{{cite news|first= Tam|last= Ruth|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2013/11/19/gloria-steinem-no-such-thing-as-a-feminist-icon/|title= Gloria Steinem: No such thing as a 'feminist icon'|newspaper= The Washington Post|date= December 31, 2001|access-date= November 10, 2014|url-status= live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141111092336/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2013/11/19/gloria-steinem-no-such-thing-as-a-feminist-icon/|archive-date= November 11, 2014}}

In November 1977, Steinem spoke at the 1977 National Women's Conference among other speakers including Rosalynn Carter, Betty Ford, Lady Bird Johnson, Bella Abzug, Barbara Jordan, Cecilia Burciaga, Lenore Hershey, and Jean O'Leary."[https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-526-f47gq6s51g 1977 National Women's Conference: A Question of Choices]", 1977-11-21, The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, American Archive of Public Broadcasting

In 1978, Steinem wrote a semi-satirical essay for Cosmopolitan titled "If Men Could Menstruate" in which she imagined a world where men menstruate instead of women. She concludes in the essay that in such a world, menstruation would become a badge of honor with men comparing their relative sufferings, rather than the source of shame that it had been for women.{{cite journal

|first=Gloria|last=Steinem

|title=If Men Could Menstruate

|journal=Ms.

|date=October 1978

}}

On March 22, 1998, Steinem published an op-ed in The New York Times ("Feminists and the Clinton Question") in which she claimed that Bill Clinton's alleged behavior did not constitute sexual harassment, although she did not actually challenge the accounts by his accusers.{{cite news|last=Steinem|first=Gloria|url=http://www2.edc.org/WomensEquity/edequity98/0561.html/|title=feminists and the Clinton Question|publisher=New York Times; cited on message board|date=March 22, 1998|access-date=October 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114164441/http://www2.edc.org/WomensEquity/edequity98/0561.html|archive-date=November 14, 2017}} The op-ed was criticized by various writers, as in the Harvard Crimson{{cite news|last=Suleiman|first=Daniel|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1998/3/30/the-whore-principle-pyou-can-bet/|title=The Whore Principle|newspaper=Harvard Crimson|date=March 3, 1998|access-date=October 11, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171212040606/http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1998/3/30/the-whore-principle-pyou-can-bet/|archive-date=December 12, 2017}} and in the Times itself.{{cite news|last=Frago|first=William|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/25/opinion/l-are-feminists-right-to-stand-by-clinton-enabling-bad-behavior.html|title=Are Feminists Right to Stand by Clinton?; Enabling Bad Behavior |newspaper=Harvard Crimson|date= March 25, 1998|access-date=October 11, 2017}} In 2017, Steinem, in an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian, stood by her 1998 New York Times op-ed, but also said: "I wouldn't write the same thing now."{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/nov/30/gloria-steinem-on-her-bill-clinton-essay-i-wouldnt-write-the-same-thing-now|title=Gloria Steinem on her Bill Clinton essay: 'I wouldn't write the same thing now'|first=Molly|last=Redden|newspaper=The Guardian|date=November 30, 2017|via=www.theguardian.com|access-date=June 25, 2019|archive-date=June 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623084310/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/nov/30/gloria-steinem-on-her-bill-clinton-essay-i-wouldnt-write-the-same-thing-now|url-status=live}}

In 1968, Steinem signed the "Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War."Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" January 30, 1968 New York Post.

In 1969, she published an article, "After Black Power, Women's Liberation"{{cite magazine

|last = Steinem

|first = Gloria

|title = After Black Power, Women's Liberation

|magazine = New York

|date = April 4, 1969

|url = http://nymag.com/news/politics/46802/

|access-date = June 1, 2010

|url-status = live

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100701113134/http://nymag.com/news/politics/46802/

|archive-date = July 1, 2010

}} which brought her to national fame as a feminist leader. As such she campaigned for the Equal Rights Amendment, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in its favor in 1970.{{cite book |author=Donaldson |first=Gary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bawwNGkEWAcC&pg=PA240 |title=Modern America: A Documentary History of the Nation Since 1945 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7656-1537-4 |page=240 |access-date=July 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012231422/http://books.google.com/books?id=bawwNGkEWAcC&pg=PA240 |archive-date=October 12, 2013 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |date=May 6, 1970 |title=Testimony Before Senate Hearings on the Equal Rights {{sic|Ad|mendment|nolink=y}} |url=http://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/steinem-testimony-speech-text/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623073130/http://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/steinem-testimony-speech-text/ |archive-date=June 23, 2012 |access-date=July 20, 2012 |publisher=Voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu}} That same year she published her essay on a utopia of gender equality, "What It Would Be Like If Women Win", in Time magazine.{{cite magazine|last=Steinem|first=Gloria|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,876786,00.html|title=What It Would Be Like If Women Win|magazine=Time Magazine|date=August 31, 1970|access-date=July 20, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224140049/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,876786,00.html|archive-date=December 24, 2013}}

On July 10, 1971, Steinem was one of more than three hundred women who founded the National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC), including such notables as Bella Abzug, Betty Friedan, Shirley Chisholm, and Myrlie Evers-Williams.{{cite book|author=Jodi O'Brien|title=Encyclopedia of Gender and Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lr91AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT652|date=2008|publisher=Sage Publications|isbn=978-1-4522-6602-2|pages=652–|access-date=November 11, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318002100/http://books.google.com/books?id=Lr91AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT652|archive-date=March 18, 2015}} As a co-convener of the Caucus, she delivered the speech "Address to the Women of America", stating in part:

{{blockquote|text=This is no simple reform. It really is a revolution. Sex and race because they are easy and visible differences have been the primary ways of organizing human beings into superior and inferior groups and into the cheap labor on which this system still depends. We are talking about a society in which there will be no roles other than those chosen or those earned. We are really talking about humanism.{{cite web

|last = Johnson Lewis

|first = Jone

|title = Gloria Steinem Quotes

|publisher = About

|url = http://womenshistory.about.com/cs/quotes/a/qu_g_steinem.htm

|access-date = November 11, 2014

|url-status = live

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140712234405/http://womenshistory.about.com/cs/quotes/a/qu_g_steinem.htm

|archive-date = July 12, 2014

}}}}

In 1972, she ran as a delegate for Shirley Chisholm in New York, but lost.{{cite web

|title=Shirley Chisholm's 1972 Presidential Campaign

|first=Jo

|last=Freeman

|author-link=Jo Freeman

|work=University of Illinois at Chicago Women's History Project

|date=February 2005

|access-date=November 11, 2014

|url=http://www.uic.edu/orgs/cwluherstory/jofreeman/polhistory/chisholm.htm

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111182057/http://www.uic.edu/orgs/cwluherstory/jofreeman/polhistory/chisholm.htm

|archive-date=November 11, 2014}}

In March 1973, she addressed the first national conference of Stewardesses for Women's Rights, which she continued to support throughout its existence.{{cite web|title=Guide to the Records of Stewardesses for Women's Rights WAG 061|url=http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/stewardesses.html|publisher=Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives|access-date=August 20, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110702101716/http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/stewardesses.html|archive-date=July 2, 2011}} Stewardesses for Women's Rights folded in the spring of 1976.

Despite her influence in the feminist movement, Steinem also earned criticism from some feminists, who questioned whether she was committed to the movement or using it to promote her glamorous image.{{cite web|url=https://www.biography.com/activist/gloria-steinem|title=Gloria Steinem|website=Biography|date=May 12, 2021|access-date=June 24, 2019|archive-date=January 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129195329/https://www.biography.com/people/gloria-steinem-9493491|url-status=live}} The Redstockings also singled her out for agreeing to cooperate with the CIA-backed Independent Research Service. It was also acknowledged that Steinem worked as a CIA agent when this operation was taking place.{{Cite web|url=https://covertactionmagazine.com/index.php/2019/11/21/inside-the-organized-crime-syndicate-known-as-the-cia-an-interview-with-douglas-valentine/|title=Steinem was a CIA agent. Her interview to journalist Cory Morningstar about her CIA job|last=Steinem|first=Gloria|date=November 21, 2019|access-date=April 16, 2020|archive-date=July 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702014722/https://covertactionmagazine.com/index.php/2019/11/21/inside-the-organized-crime-syndicate-known-as-the-cia-an-interview-with-douglas-valentine/|url-status=live}}

Steinem, who grew up reading Wonder Woman comics, was also a key player in the restoration of Wonder Woman's powers and traditional costume, which were restored in issue #204 (January–February 1973). Steinem, offended that the most famous female superhero had been depowered, had placed Wonder Woman (in costume) on the cover of the first issue of Ms. (1972)—Warner Communications, DC Comics' owner, was an investor—which also contained an appreciative essay about the character.{{cite book|last1=McAvennie|first1= Michael|editor-last=Dolan |editor-first=Hannah |chapter= 1970s|title = DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle|publisher=Dorling Kindersley |year=2010 |page= 154|quote="After nearly five years of Diana Prince's non-powered super-heroics, writer-editor Robert Kanigher and artist Don Heck restored Wonder Woman's  ... well, wonder."|isbn= 978-0-7566-6742-9}}{{cite book|last = Greenberger|first = Robert|author-link = Robert Greenberger |title = Wonder Woman: Amazon. Hero. Icon.|publisher = Rizzoli Universe Promotional Books|year = 2010|page = 175|quote="Journalist and feminist Gloria Steinem  ... was tapped in 1970 to write the introduction to Wonder Woman, a hardcover collection of older stories. Steinem later went on to edit Ms., with the first issue published in 1972, featuring the Amazon Princess on its cover. In both publications, the heroine's powerless condition during the 1970s was pilloried. A feminist backlash began to grow, demanding that Wonder Woman regain the powers and costume that put her on a par with the Man of Steel."| isbn = 978-0-7893-2416-0}} In doing so, however, Steinem forced the firing of Samuel R. Delany who had taken over scripting duties with issue #202. Delany was supposed to write a six-issue story arc, which would culminate in a battle over an abortion clinic where Wonder Woman was to defend women trying to use their services, a critical feminist issue at the time. The story outlines and the work already done on the issues was scrapped, something that Steinem was not aware of and made no attempt to rectify.{{cite journal| url=http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/colloquy/download/colloquy_issue_twenty-four_/matsuuchi.pdf |title=Wonder Woman Wears Pants: Wonder Woman, Feminism and the 1972 'Women's Lib' Issue| first=Ann |last=Matsuuchi| journal=Colloquy: Text Theory Critique| issue=24 |year=2012|publisher=Monash University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626142225/http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/colloquy/download/colloquy_issue_twenty-four_/matsuuchi.pdf |archive-date=June 26, 2015}}

In 1976, the first women-only Passover seder was held in Esther M. Broner's New York City apartment and led by Broner, with 13 women attending, including Steinem.[http://jwa.org/thisweek/mar/01/1993/em-broner This Week in History – E.M. Broner publishes "The Telling" | Jewish Women's Archive] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100414054224/http://jwa.org/thisweek/mar/01/1993/em-broner |date=April 14, 2010 }}. Jwa.org (March 1, 1993). Retrieved on October 18, 2011.

In 1977, Steinem became an associate of the Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press (WIFP).{{cite web|url=http://www.wifp.org/who-we-are/associates/|title=Associates {{!}} The Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press|website=www.wifp.org|language=en-US|access-date=June 21, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810090955/http://www.wifp.org/who-we-are/associates/|archive-date=August 10, 2017}} WIFP is an American nonprofit publishing organization. The organization works to increase communication between women and connect the public with forms of women-based media.

In 1984, Steinem was arrested along with a number of members of Congress and civil rights activists for disorderly conduct outside the South African embassy while protesting against the South African apartheid system.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=97YfAAAAIBAJ&pg=2393,5208721|title=Arrested at embassy|date=December 20, 1984|work=Gadsden Times|page=A10|access-date=November 11, 2014|archive-date=May 21, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160521074100/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=97YfAAAAIBAJ&pg=2393,5208721|url-status=live}}

At the outset of the Gulf War in 1991, Steinem, along with prominent feminists Robin Morgan and Kate Millett, publicly opposed an incursion into the Middle East and asserted the ostensible goal of "defending democracy" was a pretense.{{cite news

|last = Steinem

|first = Gloria

|title = We Learned the Wrong Lessons in Vietnam; A Feminist Issue Still

|newspaper = The New York Times

|date = January 20, 1991

|url = https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/20/opinion/l-we-learned-the-wrong-lessons-in-vietnam-a-feminist-issue-still-839991.html

|access-date = November 11, 2014

|url-status = live

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141111173214/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/20/opinion/l-we-learned-the-wrong-lessons-in-vietnam-a-feminist-issue-still-839991.html

|archive-date = November 11, 2014

}}

During the Clarence Thomas sexual harassment scandal in 1991, Steinem voiced strong support for Anita Hill and suggested that one day Hill herself would sit on the Supreme Court.{{cite news

|last = Sontag

|first = Deborah

|title = Anita Hill and Revitalizing Feminism

|newspaper = The New York Times

|date = April 26, 1992

|url = https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/26/nyregion/anita-hill-and-revitalizing-feminism.html

|access-date = November 11, 2014

|url-status = live

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141111173512/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/26/nyregion/anita-hill-and-revitalizing-feminism.html

|archive-date = November 11, 2014

}}

In 1992, Steinem co-founded Choice USA, a non-profit organization that mobilizes and provides ongoing support to a younger generation that lobbies for reproductive choice.{{cite web |url=http://www.choiceusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=77&Itemid=2 |title=Choice USA |publisher=Choice USA |access-date=July 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722174924/http://www.choiceusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=77&Itemid=2 |archive-date=July 22, 2012 }}{{cite web

|last = Sheaffer

|first = Robert

|author-link = Robert Sheaffer

|title = Feminism, the Noble Lie

|publisher = Free Inquiry Magazine

|date = April 1997

|url = http://www.debunker.com/texts/noblelie.html

|access-date = November 11, 2014

|url-status = live

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141102003914/http://www.debunker.com/texts/noblelie.html

|archive-date = November 2, 2014

}}{{cite news

| last = Grenier

| first = Richard

| author-link = Richard Grenier (newspaper columnist)

| title = Feminists falsify facts for effect – controversy over Gloria Steinem's use of anorexia death statistics stirs controversy over exaggeration for political effect

| work = Insight on the News

| date = July 25, 1994

| access-date=November 11, 2014

| url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n30_v10/ai_15640024/| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111121082856/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n30_v10/ai_15640024/| archive-date = November 21, 2011}}

In 1993, Steinem co-produced and narrated an Emmy Award-winning TV documentary for HBO about child abuse, called, "Multiple Personalities: The Search for Deadly Memories". Also in 1993, she and Rosilyn Heller co-produced an original TV movie for Lifetime, "Better Off Dead", which examined the parallel forces that both oppose abortion and support the death penalty.

She contributed the piece "The Media and the Movement: A User's Guide" to the 2003 anthology Sisterhood Is Forever: The Women's Anthology for a New Millennium, edited by Robin Morgan.{{cite web |url=http://vufind.carli.illinois.edu/vf-dpu/Record/dpu_536804/TOC |title=Library Resource Finder: Table of Contents for: Sisterhood is forever: the women's anth |publisher=Vufind.carli.illinois.edu |access-date=October 15, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017062355/http://vufind.carli.illinois.edu/vf-dpu/Record/dpu_536804/TOC |archive-date=October 17, 2015 }}

On June 1, 2013, Steinem performed on stage at the "Chime For Change: The Sound Of Change Live" Concert at Twickenham Stadium in London, England.{{cite web |url=http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/4EbMPEQyb-n/Show+Chime+Change+Sound+Change+Live+Concert/cQug0JKo9cj/Gloria+Steinem |title=Gloria Steinem Pictures – Show At "Chime For Change: The Sound Of Change Live" Concert |work=Zimbio |date=May 31, 2013 |access-date=March 1, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150317043817/http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/4EbMPEQyb-n/Show+Chime+Change+Sound+Change+Live+Concert/cQug0JKo9cj/Gloria+Steinem |archive-date=March 17, 2015 }} Later in 2014, UN Women began its commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, and as part of that campaign Steinem (and others) spoke at the Apollo Theater in New York City.{{cite web|url=https://www.looktothestars.org/news/12227-gloria-steinem-helps-un-women-unveil-beijing-20-campaign|title=Gloria Steinem Helps UN Women Unveil Beijing+20 Campaign|publisher=Zimbio|date=July 1, 2014|access-date=November 11, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111173058/https://www.looktothestars.org/news/12227-gloria-steinem-helps-un-women-unveil-beijing-20-campaign|archive-date=November 11, 2014}} Chime For Change was funded by Gucci, focusing on using innovative approaches to raise funds and awareness especially regarding girls and women.{{cite web|url=http://www.chimeforchange.org/|title=Chime for Change|website=www.chimeforchange.org|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128212121/http://www.chimeforchange.org/|archive-date=January 28, 2017}}

Steinem has stated, "I think the fact that I've become a symbol for the women's movement is somewhat accidental. A woman member of Congress, for example, might be identified as a member of Congress; it doesn't mean she's any less of a feminist but she's identified by her nearest male analog. Well, I don't have a male analog so the press has to identify me with the movement. I suppose I could be referred to as a journalist, but because Ms. is part of a movement and not just a typical magazine, I'm more likely to be identified with the movement. There's no other slot to put me in."{{Cite book |last=Gilbert |first=Lynn |title=Particular Passions: Gloria Steinem |url=http://www.particularpassions.com/s/Gloria-Steinheim-Women-of-Wisdom-Lynn-Gilbert.pdf |series=Women of Wisdom Series |date=2012 |publisher=Lynn Gilbert Inc. |location=New York |isbn=978-1-61979-354-5|access-date=November 11, 2014}}

Contrary to popular belief, Steinem did not coin the feminist slogan "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle". Although she helped popularize it, the phrase is actually attributable to Irina Dunn.{{cite web

|title = A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle

|publisher = The Phrase Finder

|url = http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/414150.html

|access-date = November 11, 2014

|url-status = live

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141111182714/http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/414150.html

|archive-date = November 11, 2014

}} When Time magazine published an article attributing the saying to Steinem, Steinem wrote a letter saying the phrase had been coined by Dunn.Letters, Time magazine, US edition, September 16, 2000, and Australian edition, October 9, 2000. Retrieved November 11, 2014.

Another phrase sometimes wrongly attributed to Steinem is: "If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament." Steinem herself attributed it to "an old Irish woman taxi driver in Boston", whom she said she and Florynce Kennedy met.{{cite web |last=Bardi |first=Jennifer |url=http://thehumanist.org/september-october-2012/the-humanist-interview-with-gloria-steinem/ |title=The Humanist Interview with Gloria Steinem |publisher=Thehumanist.org |date=August 14, 2012 |access-date=March 1, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212040424/http://thehumanist.org/september-october-2012/the-humanist-interview-with-gloria-steinem/ |archive-date=December 12, 2013 }}

On May 24, 2015, International Women's Day for Disarmament, thirty women— including two Nobel Peace laureates and retired Colonel Ann Wright— from 15 countries linked arms with 10,000 Korean women, stationing themselves on both sides of the DMZ to urge a formal end to the Korean War (1950-1953), the reunification of families divided during the war, and a peace building process with women in leadership positions to resolve seventy years of hostility following WWII.{{Cite news|last=Sang-Hun|first=Choe|date=May 24, 2015|title=Peace Activists Cross Demilitarized Zone Separating Koreas (Published 2015)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/25/world/asia/peace-activists-cross-demilitarized-zone-separating-koreas.html|access-date=February 27, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309144635/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/25/world/asia/peace-activists-cross-demilitarized-zone-separating-koreas.html|url-status=live}} It was unusual for South Korea and North Korea to reach consensus on allowing peace activists to enter the tense border area, one of the world's most dangerous places, where hundreds of thousands of troops are stationed in a heavily mined zone that divides South Korea from nuclear North Korea.{{Cite web|last=Nations|first=Associated Press at the United|date=April 3, 2015|title=North Korea supports Gloria Steinem-led women's walk across the DMZ|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/03/north-korea-dmz-charity-walk-women-gloria-steinem|access-date=February 27, 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=April 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150410222603/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/03/north-korea-dmz-charity-walk-women-gloria-steinem|url-status=live}}

In addition to Steinem, participants in crossing the DMZ included organizer Christine Ahn from Hawaii; feminist Suzuyo Takazato from Okinawa; Amnesty International human rights lawyer Erika Guevara of Mexico; Liberian peace and reconciliation advocate Leymah Gbowee; Philippines lawmaker Liza Maza; Northern Ireland peace activist Mairead Maguire and Colonel Ann Wright, a retired officer who resigned from the U.S. military to protest the US invasion of Iraq.

Steinem was the honorary co-chairwoman of 2015 Women's Walk For Peace In Korea with Mairead Maguire, and in the weeks leading up to the walk Steinem told the press, "It's hard to imagine any more physical symbol of the insanity of dividing human beings." The group's main goal is to advocate disarmament and seek Korea's reunification. It will be holding international peace symposiums both in Pyongyang and Seoul in which women from both North Korea and South Korea can share experiences and ideas of mobilizing women to stop the Korean crisis. It is especially believed that the role of women in this act would help and support the reunification of family members divided by the split prolonged for 70 years.{{cite news|last=Gladstone|first=Rick|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/12/world/asia/women-aim-for-peace-in-korea-with-plan-to-walk-across-Demilitarized-Zone.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151009101226/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/12/world/asia/women-aim-for-peace-in-korea-with-plan-to-walk-across-Demilitarized-Zone.html|archive-date=October 9, 2015 |title=With Plan to Walk Across DMZ, Women Aim for Peace in Korea |newspaper= The New York Times|date=March 11, 2015 |access-date=April 7, 2015}}{{cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/hayesbrown/north-korea-gave-a-gloria-steinem-peace-march-the-thumbs-up#.sq5JXlODY|title=North Korea Has Given A Gloria Steinem-Led Peace March The Thumbs Up|website=BuzzFeed|date=April 7, 2015 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223004540/https://www.buzzfeed.com/hayesbrown/north-korea-gave-a-gloria-steinem-peace-march-the-thumbs-up#.sq5JXlODY|archive-date=February 23, 2017}}{{cite web|url=https://www.womencrossdmz.org/|title=Women Cross DMZ – Ending The Korean War, Reuniting Families|website=www.womencrossdmz.org|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907122259/http://www.womencrossdmz.org/|archive-date=September 7, 2015}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/03/north-korea-dmz-charity-walk-women-gloria-steinem|title=North Korea supports Gloria Steinem-led women's walk across the DMZ|first=Associated Press at the United|last=Nations|date=April 3, 2015|newspaper=The Guardian|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231171929/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/03/north-korea-dmz-charity-walk-women-gloria-steinem|archive-date=December 31, 2016}}

She is also the chair of the advisory board of Apne Aap Women Worldwide, an organization fighting sex trafficking and inter-generational prostitution in India, founded by Ruchira Gupta.{{Cite web|url=http://apneaap.org/about-us/our-board/|title=Advisory Board{{!}}Apne Aap Women Worldwide|website=apneaap.org|access-date=April 16, 2020|archive-date=May 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200521120621/https://apneaap.org/about-us/our-board/|url-status=live}} She has also written extensively on her travels, experiences with women and the Indian feminist movement with her colleague and friend, Ruchira Gupta.{{Cite web|url=https://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/20/a-temporary-end-to-a-tour-of-the-indian-womens-movement/|title=A Temporary End to a Tour of the Indian Women's Movement|last=Steinem|first=Gloria|date=March 20, 2014|website=India Ink|language=en-US|access-date=April 16, 2020|archive-date=August 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801040713/https://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/20/a-temporary-end-to-a-tour-of-the-indian-womens-movement/|url-status=live}}{{Cite journal |date=March 1, 2014 |title=Trafficking Sex |url=https://doi.org/10.2979/meridians.12.1.172 |journal=Meridians |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=172–200 |doi=10.2979/meridians.12.1.172 |issn=1536-6936}}

In 2014, Steinem and Gupta traveled through India to meet the country's young feminists, writers, and thought leaders. A diary was kept documenting their travels, "Notes on A Tour of the Indian Women's Movement".

Since 2011, Steinem has been one co-conveners of the Frontline Women's Fund, a project of the Sisterhood Is Global Institute along with former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay and Jessica Neuwirth. The Frontline Women's Fund is a fund for women that strengthens frontline women's rights activists around the world by increasing their access to financial resources, political leaders, and media visibility. Today they support 15 partner organizations in 13 countries and manage two thematic funds – the Gloria Steinem Equality Fund to End Sex Trafficking with 13 grantees and the Efua Dorkenoo Fund to End Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) with 5 grantees.

Steinem's involvement in presidential campaigns stretches back to her support of Adlai Stevenson in the 1952 presidential campaign.Lazo, Caroine. Gloria Steinem: Feminist Extraordinaire. New York: Lerner Publications, 1998. p. 28.

A proponent of civil rights and fierce critic of the Vietnam War, Steinem was initially drawn to Senator Eugene McCarthy because of his "admirable record" on those issues, but after meeting him and hearing him speak, she found him "cautious, uninspired, and dry".{{rp|87}} As the campaign progressed, Steinem became baffled at "personally vicious" attacks that McCarthy leveled against his primary opponent Robert F. Kennedy, even as "his real opponent, Hubert Humphrey, went free".{{rp|88}}

On a late-night radio show, Steinem garnered attention for declaring "George McGovern is the real Eugene McCarthy".Miroff, Bruce. The Liberals' Moment: The McGovern Insurgency and the Identity Crisis of the Democratic Party. University Press of Kansas, 2007. p. 206. In 1968, Steinem was chosen to pitch the arguments to McGovern as to why he should enter the presidential race that year; he agreed, and Steinem "consecutively or simultaneously served as pamphlet writer, advance 'man', fund raiser, lobbyist of delegates, errand runner, and press secretary".{{rp|95}}

McGovern lost the nomination at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, and Steinem later wrote of her astonishment at Hubert Humphrey's "refusal even to suggest to Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley that he control the rampaging police and the bloodshed in the streets".{{rp|96}}

File:Gloria Steinem 1975.jpg in 1975]]

File:Gloria Steinem at news conference, Women's Action Alliance, January 12, 1972.jpg news conference of January 12, 1972]]

Steinem was reluctant to re-join the McGovern campaign, as although she had brought in McGovern's single largest campaign contributor in 1968, she "still had been treated like a frivolous pariah by much of McGovern's campaign staff". In April 1972, Steinem remarked that he "still doesn't understand the Women's Movement".{{rp|114}}

McGovern ultimately excised the abortion issue from the party's platform, and recent publications show McGovern was deeply conflicted on the issue.Miroff. p. 207. Steinem later wrote this description of the events:

{{blockquote|The consensus of the meeting of women delegates held by the caucus had been to fight for the minority plank on reproductive freedom; indeed our vote had supported the plank nine to one. So fight we did, with three women delegates speaking eloquently in its favor as a constitutional right. One male Right-to-Life zealot spoke against, and Shirley MacLaine also was an opposition speaker, on the grounds that this was a fundamental right but didn't belong in the platform. We made a good showing. Clearly we would have won if McGovern's forces had left their delegates uninstructed and thus able to vote their consciences.{{rp|100–110}}}}

File:Gloria Steinem 1977 ©Lynn Gilbert.jpg]]

However, Germaine Greer flatly contradicted Steinem's account, reporting, "Jacqui Ceballos called from the crowd to demand abortion rights on the Democratic platform, but Bella [Abzug] and Gloria stared glassily out into the room, thus killing the abortion rights platform", and asking "Why had Bella and Gloria not helped Jacqui to nail him on abortion? What reticence, what loserism had afflicted them?"Harper's Magazine October 1972. Steinem later recalled that the 1972 Convention was the only time Greer and Steinem ever met.{{cite web|last=Evans|first=Joni|url=http://www.wowowow.com/point-of-view/gloria-steinem-still-committing-outrageous-acts-at-75/|title=Gloria Steinem: Still Committing 'Outrageous Acts' at 75|publisher=Wow|date=April 16, 2009|access-date=July 20, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110114113125/http://www.wowowow.com/point-of-view/gloria-steinem-still-committing-outrageous-acts-at-75/|archive-date=January 14, 2011}}

The cover of Harper{{'}}s that month read, "Womanlike, they did not want to get tough with their man, and so, womanlike, they got screwed".{{cite web |url=http://harpers.org/archive/1972 |title=Harper's Magazine Archives |publisher=Harpers.org |access-date=July 20, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806021105/http://harpers.org/archive/1972 |archive-date=August 6, 2012 }}

In the run-up to the 2004 election, Steinem voiced fierce criticism of the Bush administration, asserting, "There has never been an administration that has been more hostile to women's equality, to reproductive freedom as a fundamental human right, and has acted on that hostility", adding, "If he is elected in 2004, abortion will be criminalized in this country".{{cite web |url=http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/04/02/int04008.html |title=Buzzflash Interview |publisher=Buzzflash.com |date=February 5, 2004 |access-date=July 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130828012920/http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/04/02/int04008.html |archive-date=August 28, 2013 }} At a Planned Parenthood event in Boston, Steinem declared Bush "a danger to health and safety", citing his antagonism to the Clean Water Act, reproductive freedom, sex education, and AIDS relief.{{cite web |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2004/7/26/feminist_pioneer_gloria_steinem_bush_is |title=Feminist Pioneer Gloria Steinem: "Bush is a Danger to Our Health and Safety" |publisher=Democracynow.org |date=July 26, 2004 |access-date=July 20, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717141844/http://www.democracynow.org/2004/7/26/feminist_pioneer_gloria_steinem_bush_is |archive-date=July 17, 2012 }}

Steinem was an active participant in the 2008 presidential campaign, and praised both the Democratic front-runners, commenting,

{{blockquote|text=Both Senators Clinton and Obama are civil rights advocates, feminists, environmentalists, and critics of the war in Iraq  ... Both have resisted pandering to the right, something that sets them apart from any Republican candidate, including John McCain. Both have Washington and foreign policy experience; George W. Bush did not when he first ran for president.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/07/opinion/07steinem.html?_r=1&oref=slogin|title=Right Candidates, Wrong Question|last=Steinem|first=Gloria|date=February 7, 2007|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=2009-07-01|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129142657/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/07/opinion/07steinem.html?_r=1&oref=slogin|archive-date=January 29, 2017}}}}

Nevertheless, Steinem endorsed Senator Hillary Clinton, citing her broader experience, and saying that the nation was in such bad shape it might require two terms of Clinton and two of Obama to fix it.{{cite news

|last = Feldman

|first = Claudia

|title = Has Gloria Steinem mellowed? No way

|newspaper = The Houston Chronicle

|date = September 18, 2007

|url = http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/5142732.html

|access-date = July 1, 2009

|url-status = live

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080921103153/http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/5142732.html

|archive-date = September 21, 2008

}}

She also made headlines for a New York Times op-ed in which she cited gender and not race as "probably the most restricting force in American life".{{cite news|last=Steinem|first=Gloria|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/opinion/08steinem.html?_r=1/|title=Women Are Never Front-Runners|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 8, 2008|access-date=July 20, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101223618/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/opinion/08steinem.html?_r=1%2F|archive-date=January 1, 2014}} She elaborated, "Black men were given the vote a half-century before women of any race were allowed to mark a ballot, and generally have ascended to positions of power, from the military to the boardroom, before any women."

Steinem again drew attention for, according to the New York Observer, seeming "to denigrate the importance of John McCain's time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam"; Steinem's broader argument "was that the media and the political world are too admiring of militarism in all its guises".{{cite news|last=Stanage|first=Niall|url=http://observer.com/2008/03/stumping-for-clinton-steinem-says-mccains-pow-cred-is-overrated/|title=Stumping for Clinton, Steinem Says McCain's POW Cred Is Overrated|newspaper=New York Observer|date=March 8, 2008|access-date=July 20, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120830225230/http://observer.com/2008/03/stumping-for-clinton-steinem-says-mccains-pow-cred-is-overrated/|archive-date=August 30, 2012}}

Following McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate, Steinem penned an op-ed in which she labeled Palin an "unqualified woman" who "opposes everything most other women want and need", described her nomination speech as "divisive and deceptive", called for a more inclusive Republican Party, and concluded that Palin resembled "Phyllis Schlafly, only younger".{{cite news

|last = Steinem

|first = Gloria

|title = Palin: wrong woman, wrong message

|newspaper = LA Times

|date = September 4, 2008

|url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-sep-04-oe-steinem4-story.html

|access-date = July 1, 2009

|url-status = live

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100417130119/http://articles.latimes.com/2008/sep/04/news/OE-STEINEM4

|archive-date = April 17, 2010

}}

File:Gloria Steinem by Gage Skidmore.jpg in September 2016.]]

In an HBO interview with Bill Maher, Steinem, when asked to explain the broad support for Bernie Sanders among young Democratic women, responded, "When you're young, you're thinking, 'Where are the boys? The boys are with Bernie.'"{{cite news|last=Rappeport|first=Alan|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/08/us/politics/gloria-steinem-madeleine-albright-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders.html?_r=0|title=Gloria Steinem and Madeleine Albright Scold Young Women Backing Bernie Sanders|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 7, 2016|access-date=February 7, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207220355/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/08/us/politics/gloria-steinem-madeleine-albright-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders.html?_r=0|archive-date=February 7, 2016}} Her comments triggered widespread criticism, and Steinem later issued an apology and said her comments had been "misinterpreted".{{cite news|last=Contrera|first=Jessica|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/02/07/gloria-steinem-is-apologizing-for-insulting-female-bernie-sanders-supporters/|title=Gloria Steinem is apologizing for insulting female Bernie Sanders supporters|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=February 7, 2016|access-date=February 7, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160208083650/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/02/07/gloria-steinem-is-apologizing-for-insulting-female-bernie-sanders-supporters/|archive-date=February 8, 2016}}

Steinem endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the run-up for the 2016 U.S. presidential election.Brendan, J. [https://www.ibtimes.com/media-bigwigs-donate-hillary-clinton-writers-donate-bernie-sanders-2301896 International Business Times] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121010759/https://www.ibtimes.com/media-bigwigs-donate-hillary-clinton-writers-donate-bernie-sanders-2301896 |date=January 21, 2019 }} February 10, 2016. Steinem was an honorary co-chair of and speaker at the Women's March on Washington on January 21, 2017, the day after the inauguration of Donald Trump as president.{{cite news |last1=Crockett |first1=Emily |title=The "Women's March on Washington," explained |url=https://www.vox.com/identities/2016/11/21/13651804/women-march-washington-trump-inauguration |access-date=December 6, 2022 |work=Vox |date=January 21, 2017 |language=en |archive-date=January 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103232129/http://www.vox.com/identities/2016/11/21/13651804/women-march-washington-trump-inauguration |url-status=live }}

In 1967, Steinem revealed in an interview with The New York Times that she worked full time from 1958 until 1962 at the Independent Research Service, which was largely financed by the CIA.{{cite web |title=C.I.A. Subsidized Festival Trips |url=http://www.namebase.org/steinem.html |website=nNmeBase |publisher=The New York Times |access-date=April 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120907151205/http://www.namebase.org/steinem.html |archive-date=September 7, 2012 |date=February 21, 1967}} In May 1975, Redstockings, a radical feminist group, published a report that Steinem and others put together on the Vienna Youth Festival and its attendees for the Independent Research Service.{{cite web |url=http://www.namebase.org/steinem.html |title=Gloria Steinem and the CIA |date=February 21, 1967 |work=NameBase |publisher=The New York Times |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20100830093837/http://www.namebase.org//steinem.html |archive-date=August 30, 2010 |access-date=January 20, 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://www.namebase.org/foia/festival.html |title=Gloria Steinem Spies on Students for the CIA |date=1975 |work=NameBase |publisher=Redstockings|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120903172144/http://www.namebase.org/foia/festival.html |archive-date=September 3, 2012 |access-date=January 20, 2012}} Redstockings raised the question of whether Steinem had continuing ties with the CIA, which Steinem denied.{{cite news|last=Harrington|first=Stephanie|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/99/05/09/specials/friedan-changed.html|title=Betty Friedan, Verbal Sexism, Eric Hoffer, The Village Voice, the Centennial|work=The New York Times|date=July 4, 1976|access-date=July 20, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410071940/http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/05/09/specials/friedan-changed.html|archive-date=April 10, 2009}} Steinem defended her relationship to the CIA, saying: "In my experience The Agency was completely different from its image; it was liberal, nonviolent and honorable."{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-gloria-steinem-cia-20151025-story.html |title=The feminist was a spook |first=Marko s |last=Kounalakis |date=October 25, 2015 |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=April 25, 2022 |archive-date=April 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220425173348/https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-gloria-steinem-cia-20151025-story.html |url-status=live }}

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Steinem had a four-year relationship with the publisher Mortimer Zuckerman.{{cite news |author=Melissa Denes |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jan/17/gender.melissadenes |title='Feminism? It's hardly begun' | World news |newspaper=The Guardian|date= January 16, 2005|access-date=February 26, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109032913/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jan/17/gender.melissadenes |archive-date=November 9, 2014 }}{{Cite web |date=April 15, 2020 |title="Mrs. America's" Gloria Steinem Is Still Fighting For Equality Today |url=https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/tv-movies/a32121106/gloria-steinem-facts/ |access-date=August 29, 2022 |website=Oprah Daily |language=en-us |archive-date=August 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829032503/https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/tv-movies/a32121106/gloria-steinem-facts/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=September 10, 2020 |title=It's Okay To Be Obsessed With Gloria Steinem's Style |url=https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article/gloria-steinem-style |access-date=August 29, 2022 |website=British Vogue |language=en-GB |archive-date=August 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829032503/https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article/gloria-steinem-style |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Mort Zuckerman and Gloria Steinem during Wedding of Abe Rosenthal &... |url=https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/mort-zuckerman-and-gloria-steinem-during-wedding-of-abe-news-photo/105852282 |access-date=August 29, 2022 |website=Getty Images |date=October 21, 2010 |language=en-gb |archive-date=August 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829032502/https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/mort-zuckerman-and-gloria-steinem-during-wedding-of-abe-news-photo/105852282 |url-status=live }}

On September 3, 2000, at age 66, Steinem married David Bale, father of actor Christian Bale. The wedding was performed at the home of her friend Wilma Mankiller, the first female Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.{{cite news|title=Feminist icon Gloria Steinem first-time bride at 66|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/09/05/steinem.marriage.ap/index.html|publisher=CNN.com|date=September 5, 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070917071020/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/09/05/steinem.marriage.ap/index.html|archive-date=September 17, 2007|access-date=November 16, 2014}} Steinem technically became stepmother to Bale's four adult children; she has no living biological children. Steinem and Bale were married for only three years before he died of brain lymphoma on December 30, 2003, at age 62.{{cite news|last = von Zeilbauer|first = Paul|title = David Bale, 62, Activist and businessman|newspaper = The New York Times|date = January 1, 2004|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/01/us/david-bale-62-activist-and-businessman.html|access-date = November 16, 2014|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141111173509/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/01/us/david-bale-62-activist-and-businessman.html|archive-date = November 11, 2014}}

Steinem was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1986{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/books/article/Making-Ms-Story-The-biography-of-Gloria-3024219.php |work=The San Francisco Chronicle |title=Making Ms.Story / The biography of Gloria Steinem, a woman of controversy and contradictions |first=Patricia |last=Holt |date=September 22, 1995 |access-date=November 16, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030143228/http://www.sfgate.com/books/article/Making-Ms-Story-The-biography-of-Gloria-3024219.php |archive-date=October 30, 2014 }} and trigeminal neuralgia in 1994.{{cite news|last=Gorney|first=Cynthia|title=Gloria|url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/1995/11/gloria|newspaper=Mother Jones|date=November–December 1995|access-date=November 16, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160729073134/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/1995/11/gloria|archive-date=July 29, 2016}}

Commenting on aging, Steinem says that as she approached 60 she felt like she entered a new phase in life that was free of the "demands of gender" that she faced from adolescence onward.{{cite web |last=Steinem |first=Gloria |url=https://www.npr.org/2015/10/26/451862822/at-81-feminist-gloria-steinem-finds-herself-free-of-the-demands-of-gender |title=At 81, Feminist Gloria Steinem Finds Herself Free Of The 'Demands Of Gender' |publisher=NPR |date=October 26, 2015 |access-date=November 4, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151104013942/http://www.npr.org/2015/10/26/451862822/at-81-feminist-gloria-steinem-finds-herself-free-of-the-demands-of-gender |archive-date=November 4, 2015 }}

Steinem lives alone in New York's Upper East Side, where she owns the first three floors of her historic brownstone apartment building. In 2021, on her 87th birthday, Google Arts & Culture launched a virtual tour of her home, where she has lived since 1966.{{Cite web |last=Sugar |first=Rachel |date=June 1, 2017 |title=Gloria Steinem buys an Upper East Side 'diamond in the rough' |url=https://ny.curbed.com/2017/6/1/15724012/gloria-steinem-upper-east-side-apartment |access-date=September 11, 2022 |website=Curbed NY |language=en |archive-date=September 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220911210139/https://ny.curbed.com/2017/6/1/15724012/gloria-steinem-upper-east-side-apartment |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last1=Magazine |first1=Smithsonian |last2=McGreevy |first2=Nora |title=Take a Virtual Tour of Feminist Icon Gloria Steinem's Historic Manhattan Apartment |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/you-can-now-tour-gloria-steinems-historic-nyc-apartment-online-180977354/ |access-date=September 11, 2022 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en |archive-date=September 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220911210133/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/you-can-now-tour-gloria-steinems-historic-nyc-apartment-online-180977354/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Gordon |first=Lisa Kaplan |date=June 6, 2017 |title=Gloria Steinem Just Bought a New Upper East Side Apartment |url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/real-estate/g9984870/gloria-steinem-nyc-apartment/ |access-date=September 11, 2022 |website=Town & Country |language=en-US |archive-date=September 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220911210152/https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/real-estate/g9984870/gloria-steinem-nyc-apartment/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=September 20, 2017 |title=Gloria Steinem on aging (1976) - Click Americana |url=https://clickamericana.com/topics/celebrities-famous-people/gloria-steinem-aging-1976 |access-date=September 11, 2022 |website=clickamericana.com |language=en-US |archive-date=September 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220911210134/https://clickamericana.com/topics/celebrities-famous-people/gloria-steinem-aging-1976 |url-status=live }}

When taking part in season 5 of Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., comedian Tig Notaro discovered she and Steinem are distant cousins.{{Cite web |title=No Laughing Matter |url=https://www.pbs.org/weta/finding-your-roots/watch/episodes/no-laughing-matter |access-date=January 13, 2023 |website=Finding Your Roots |language=en |archive-date=January 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230113160638/https://www.pbs.org/weta/finding-your-roots/watch/episodes/no-laughing-matter |url-status=live }}

File:Ms. magazine Cover - Fall 2009(1).jpg celebrate Steinem's 75th birthday in the Fall 2009 issue of Ms.]]

Although most frequently considered a liberal feminist, Steinem has repeatedly characterized herself as a radical feminist.{{cite web |url=http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/interviews/gloria.htm/ |title=Marianne Schnall Interview |publisher=Feminist.com |date=April 3, 1995 |access-date=July 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712082652/http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/interviews/gloria.htm |archive-date=July 12, 2012 }} More importantly, she has repudiated categorization within feminism as "nonconstructive to specific problems", saying: "I've turned up in every category. So it makes it harder for me to take the divisions with great seriousness." Nevertheless, on concrete issues, Steinem has staked several firm positions.

In 1979, Steinem wrote the article on female genital mutilation that brought it into the American public's consciousness; the article "The International Crime of Female Genital Mutilation" was published in the March 1979 issue of Ms.{{rp|292}}"The International Crime of Female Genital Mutilation", by Gloria Steinem. Ms., March 1979, p. 65. The article reported on the "75 million women suffering with the results of genital mutilation".{{rp|292}} According to Steinem, "The real reasons for genital mutilation can only be understood in the context of the "patriarchy": men must control women's bodies as the means of production, and thus repress the independent power of women's sexuality."{{rp|292}}

Steinem's article contains the basic arguments that would later be developed by philosopher Martha Nussbaum.Nussbaum, Martha C. Sex & Social Justice. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. pp. 118–129.

File:Gloria-Steinem-LBJ-Library-2019.jpg

Steinem has frequently voiced her disapproval of the obscurantism and abstractions some claim to be prevalent in feminist academic theorizing.{{cite news |last=Denes |first=Melissa |title='Feminism? It's hardly begun' |newspaper=The Guardian |date=January 17, 2005 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jan/17/gender.melissadenes |location=London |access-date=November 16, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109032913/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jan/17/gender.melissadenes |archive-date=November 9, 2014}} She said, "Nobody cares about feminist academic writing. That's careerism. These poor women in academia have to talk this silly language that nobody can understand in order to be accepted{{nbsp}}[...] But I recognize the fact that we have this ridiculous system of tenure, that the whole thrust of academia is one that values education, in my opinion, in inverse ratio to its usefulness—and what you write in inverse relationship to its understandability." Steinem later singled out deconstructionists like Judith Butler for criticism, saying, "I always wanted to put a sign up on the road to Yale saying, 'Beware: Deconstruction Ahead'. Academics are forced to write in language no one can understand so that they get tenure. They have to say 'discourse', not 'talk'. Knowledge that is not accessible is not helpful. It becomes aerialised—and I think it's important that women's experiences be given a narrative."

In addition to feminism, Steinem has also been a prominent advocate for analyzing the Kinsey Reports.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/50-years-after-the-kinsey-report/|title=50 Years After The Kinsey Report|website=www.cbsnews.com|date=January 27, 2003|access-date=June 25, 2019|archive-date=October 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006155333/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/50-years-after-the-kinsey-report/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |url=https://broadcast.iu.edu/archive/lectures/steinem/index.html |title=Broadcasts.iu.edu |access-date=June 14, 2018 }}{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

Steinem has criticized pornography, which she distinguishes from erotica, writing: "Erotica is as different from pornography as love is from rape, as dignity is from humiliation, as partnership is from slavery, as pleasure is from pain."{{rp|219}}Erotica and Pornography: A Clear and Present Difference. Ms. November 1978, p. 53. & Pornography—Not Sex but the Obscene Use of Power. Ms. August 1977, p. 43. Both retrieved November 16, 2014. Steinem's argument hinges on the distinction between reciprocity versus domination, as she writes, "Blatant or subtle, pornography involves no equal power or mutuality. In fact, much of the tension and drama comes from the clear idea that one person is dominating the other."{{rp|219}}

On the issue of same-sex pornography, Steinem asserts, "Whatever the gender of the participants, all pornography including male-male gay pornography is an imitation of the male-female, conqueror-victim paradigm, and almost all of it actually portrays or implies enslaved women and master."{{rp|219}} Steinem has also cited "snuff films" as a serious threat to women.{{rp|219}}

In an essay published in Time magazine on August 31, 1970, "What Would It Be Like If Women Win", Steinem wrote about same-sex marriage in the context of the "Utopian" future she envisioned, writing:

{{blockquote|What will exist is a variety of alternative life-styles. Since the population explosion dictates that childbearing be kept to a minimum, parents-and-children will be only one of many "families": couples, age groups, working groups, mixed communes, blood-related clans, class groups, creative groups. Single women will have the right to stay single without ridicule, without the attitudes now betrayed by "spinster" and "bachelor." Lesbians or homosexuals will no longer be denied legally binding marriages, complete with mutual-support agreements and inheritance rights. Paradoxically, the number of homosexuals may get smaller. With fewer over-possessive mothers and fewer fathers who hold up an impossibly cruel or perfectionist idea of manhood, boys will be less likely to be denied or reject their identity as males.{{cite news|title=What Would It Be Like If Women Win |url=http://jackiewhiting.net/AP/Steinem.htm |agency=Associated Press |date=August 31, 1970 |access-date=2011-01-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224100406/http://jackiewhiting.net/AP/Steinem.htm |archive-date=December 24, 2013 }}}}

Although Steinem did not mention or advocate same-sex marriage in any published works or interviews for more than three decades, she again expressed support for same-sex marriage in the early 2000s, stating in 2004 that "[the] idea that sexuality is only okay if it ends in reproduction oppresses women—whose health depends on separating sexuality from reproduction—as well as gay men and lesbians."{{cite magazine |last1=Steptoe |first1=Sonja |last2=Steinem |first2=Gloria |title=10 Questions For Gloria Steinem |magazine=Time Magazine |date=March 28, 2004 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,605468,00.html |access-date=November 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826045931/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,605468,00.html |archive-date=August 26, 2013 }} Steinem is also a signatory of the 2008 manifesto, "Beyond Same-Sex Marriage: A New Strategic Vision For All Our Families and Relationships", which advocates extending legal rights and privileges to a wide range of relationships, households, and families.{{cite web|title=Signatories|url=http://www.beyondmarriage.org/signatories.html|work=BeyondMarriage.org|access-date=January 17, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420154202/http://www.beyondmarriage.org/signatories.html|archive-date=April 20, 2008}}

In 1977, Steinem expressed disapproval that the heavily publicized sex reassignment surgery of tennis player Renée Richards had been in her opinion characterized as either a frightening look at what feminism could cause or as proof that feminism was no longer necessary. Steinem wrote that the issue was at minimum "a diversion from the widespread problems of sexual inequality." She also wrote that, while she supported the right of individuals to identify as they choose, she believed some transsexuals "surgically mutilate their own bodies" in order to conform to a gender role that is inexorably tied to physical body parts. She claimed that "feminists are right to feel uncomfortable about the need for and uses of transsexualism."{{rp|206–210}}

On October 2, 2013, Steinem clarified her remarks on transgender people in an op-ed for The Advocate, writing that critics failed to consider that her 1977 essay was "written in the context of global protests against routine surgical assaults, called female genital mutilation by some survivors."{{cite web |last=Steinem |first=Gloria |url=http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2013/10/02/op-ed-working-together-over-time |title=Op-ed: On Working Together Over Time |publisher=Advocate.com |date=October 2, 2013 |access-date=March 1, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116081606/http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2013/10/02/op-ed-working-together-over-time |archive-date=January 16, 2014 }} Steinem later in the piece expressed unequivocal support for transgender people, saying that transgender people "including those who have transitioned, are living out real, authentic lives. Those lives should be celebrated, not questioned." She also apologized for any pain her words might have caused.

On June 15, 2020, Steinem co-wrote a letter with Mona Sinha to the editor of The New York Times, in which they opposed the elimination of civil rights protections for transgender healthcare by the Trump administration. In it, they made note of precolonial American traditions of gender variance and claimed that "the health of any of us affects the health of all of us, and excluding trans people endangers us all."{{cite news |last1=Sinha |first1=Mona |last2=Steinem |first2=Gloria |title=Trump and Transgender Rights |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/opinion/letters/trump-transgender-rights.html |website=The New York Times |date=June 15, 2020 |access-date=January 20, 2021 |archive-date=December 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214052940/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/opinion/letters/trump-transgender-rights.html |url-status=live }}

In 2024 Steinem said she hoped her legacy would be that her work "might help individual people... to become more the unique, valuable, loved and lovable person that they want to be."{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0024f5g|title=Young Again - 16. Gloria Steinem - BBC Sounds|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}

{{Main|List of awards and honors received by Gloria Steinem}}

• American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California's Bill of Rights Award
• American Humanist Association's 2012 Humanist of the Year (2012)
• BBC's 100 Women list of the world's inspiring and influential women (2023){{Cite web |date=November 23, 2023 |title=BBC 100 Women 2023: Who is on the list this year? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-02d9060e-15dc-426c-bfe0-86a6437e5234 |access-date=November 24, 2023 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}
• Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law's International Advocate for Peace Award{{Cite web |title=Gloria Steinem to Receive 22nd International Advocate for Peace Award |url=https://cardozo.yu.edu/news/gloria-steinem-receive-22nd-international-advocate-peace-award |access-date=April 2, 2023 |website=cardozo.yu.edu |language=en |archive-date=April 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402183322/https://cardozo.yu.edu/news/gloria-steinem-receive-22nd-international-advocate-peace-award |url-status=live }}
• Biography magazine's 25 most influential women in America (Steinem was listed as one of them)
• Clarion award
• DVF Lifetime Leadership Award (2014){{cite web|url=http://www.dvf.com/dvf-awards.html|title=The Lifetime Leadership Award, Gloria Steinem|work=www.dvf.com|date=2014|access-date=November 9, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108202143/http://www.dvf.com/dvf-awards.html|archive-date=November 8, 2014}}
• Emmy Citation for excellence in television writing
• Esquire's 75 greatest women of all time (Steinem was listed as one of them) (2010){{cite web|url=http://www.esquire.com/women/women-issue/greatest-women-in-history#slide-17|title=The 75 Greatest Women of All Time|work=Esquire Magazine|date=May 2010|access-date=November 9, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113114558/http://www.esquire.com/women/women-issue/greatest-women-in-history#slide-17|archive-date=November 13, 2014}}
• Equality Now's international human rights award, given jointly to her and Efua Dorkenoo (2000){{cite web|url=http://cpnn-world.org/cgi-bin/read/articlepage.cgi?ViewArticle=1902|title=Read a Peace Report- Remembering our friend and colleague, Efua Dorkenoo|publisher=Equality Now|date=October 28, 2014|access-date=November 7, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141102082301/http://cpnn-world.org/cgi-bin/read/articlepage.cgi?ViewArticle=1902|archive-date=November 2, 2014}}
• FAO CERES MedalFile:FAO CERES Steinem Silver Obverse.jpg
• Front Page award
• Glamour magazine's "The 75 Most Important Women of the Past 75 Years" (Steinem was listed as one of them) (2014){{cite web|url=http://www.glamour.com/inspired/2014/02/the-most-inspiring-female-celebrities-entrepreneurs-and-political-figures/38|title=The Most Inspiring Female Celebrities, Entrepreneurs, and Political Figures: Glamour.com|work=Glamour|date=February 7, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220204202/http://www.glamour.com/inspired/2014/02/the-most-inspiring-female-celebrities-entrepreneurs-and-political-figures/38|archive-date=December 20, 2014 |last1=Magazine |first1=Glamour }}
• Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund's Liberty Award
• Library Lion award (2015){{cite web |author=Katie Van Syckle |url=https://nymag.com/thecut/2015/11/gloria-steinem-hillary-will-have-a-hard-time.html# |title=Gloria Steinem: Hillary Will Have a Hard Time – The Cut |date=November 3, 2015 |publisher=Nymag.com |access-date=November 4, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106233453/http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/11/gloria-steinem-hillary-will-have-a-hard-time.html |archive-date=November 6, 2015 }}
• The Ms. Foundation for Women's Gloria Awards, given annually since 1988, are named after Steinem.{{cite web|author=Sophie Rosenblum|url=http://novofoundation.org/novointhemedia/women-celebrated-and-supported-at-the-22nd-annual-gloria-awards/|title=Women Celebrated and Supported at the 22nd Annual Gloria Awards|work=NoVo Foundation|date=May 24, 2010|access-date=November 17, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129020928/http://novofoundation.org/novointhemedia/women-celebrated-and-supported-at-the-22nd-annual-gloria-awards/|archive-date=November 29, 2014}}
• National Gay Rights Advocates Award
• National Magazine awards
• National Women's Hall of Fame inductee (1993)
• New York Women's Foundation's Century Award (2014){{cite news|author=Marianne Garvey, Brian Niemietz with Molly Friedman|url=http://m.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/confidential/denzel-dining-stirs-spicy-fray-article-1.1787643|title=Denzel Washington dining out at SoHo hotspot causes a spicy fray|newspaper=NY Daily News|date=May 11, 2014|access-date=November 7, 2014|archive-date=December 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213151752/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Women%27s_Hall_of_Fame|url-status=dead}}
• Parenting's Lifetime Achievement Award (1995)
• Penney-Missouri Journalism Award
• Presidential Medal of Freedom (2013){{cite web |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/obama-to-award-medal-of-freedom-to-sixteen-americans/1793643.html |title=Obama Awards Medal of Freedom to 16 Americans |date=November 20, 2013 |publisher=Voice of America |access-date=March 1, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226130736/http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-to-award-medal-of-freedom-to-sixteen-americans/1793643.html |archive-date=February 26, 2014 }}{{cite web |last=Wilson |first=Teddy |url=http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/11/20/if-we-each-have-a-torch-theres-a-lot-more-light-gloria-steinem-accepts-the-presidential-medal-of-freedom/ |title='If We Each Have a Torch, There's a Lot More Light': Gloria Steinem Accepts the Presidential Medal of Freedom |date=November 20, 2013 |publisher=Rhrealitycheck.org |access-date=March 1, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331103710/http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/11/20/if-we-each-have-a-torch-theres-a-lot-more-light-gloria-steinem-accepts-the-presidential-medal-of-freedom/ |archive-date=March 31, 2014 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.womensmediacenter.com/press/entry/womens-media-center-congratulates-co-founder-gloria-steinem-on-presidential |title=Women's Media Center Congratulates Co-Founder Gloria Steinem on Presidential Medal of Freedom|work= Women's Media Center |date=August 8, 2013 |access-date=March 1, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207191328/http://www.womensmediacenter.com/press/entry/womens-media-center-congratulates-co-founder-gloria-steinem-on-presidential |archive-date=December 7, 2013 }}
• Rutgers University announced the Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair in September 2014.{{cite news|last1=Zernike|first1=Kate|title=Rutgers to Endow Chair Named for Gloria Steinem|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/27/nyregion/rutgers-to-endow-chair-named-for-steinem.html|access-date=September 27, 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 26, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140929180413/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/27/nyregion/rutgers-to-endow-chair-named-for-steinem.html|archive-date=September 29, 2014}} The Chair was created to fund teaching and research for someone (not necessarily a woman) who exemplifies Steinem's values of equal representation in the media,{{cite web|author=Lin Lan|url=http://www.dailytargum.com/article/2014/09/rutgers-endows-chair-for-feminist-icon-gloria-steinem|title=Rutgers endows chair for feminist icon Gloria Steinem|publisher=The Daily Targum|date=September 29, 2014|access-date=October 5, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007051315/http://www.dailytargum.com/article/2014/09/rutgers-endows-chair-for-feminist-icon-gloria-steinem|archive-date=October 7, 2014}} and to have this person teach at least one undergraduate course per semester.
• Sara Curry Humanitarian Award (2007){{cite web|url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2007-01-30/html/CREC-2007-01-30-pt1-PgE210.htm|title=Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 18|publisher=U.S. Congress|date=January 30, 2007|access-date=March 1, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140421082442/http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2007-01-30/html/CREC-2007-01-30-pt1-PgE210.htm|archive-date=April 21, 2014}}
• Simmons College's Doctorate of Human Justice
• Society of Professional Journalists' Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award
• Supersisters trading card set (card number 32 featured Steinem's name and picture) (1979){{cite web |last=Wulf |first=Steve |url=https://www.espn.com/espnw/news-commentary/story/_/id/12535055/original-roster |title=Supersisters: Original Roster |publisher=Espn.go.com |date=March 23, 2015 |access-date=June 4, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605002131/http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commentary/article/12535055/original-roster |archive-date=June 5, 2015 }}
• United Nations' Ceres Medal
• United Nations' Society of Writers Award
• University of Missouri School of Journalism Award for Distinguished Service in Journalism
• Women's Sports Journalism Award
• 2015 Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize{{cite web |url=http://daytonliterarypeaceprize.org/2015-holbrooke.htm |title=Gloria Steinem, 2015 Recipient of the Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award |publisher=Dayton Literary Peace Prize |date=November 10, 2012 |access-date=June 15, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810051747/http://www.daytonliterarypeaceprize.org/2015-holbrooke.htm |archive-date=August 10, 2016 }}
• Recipient of the 2017 Ban Ki-moon Award For Women's EmpowermentDayani, Dilshad. [https://www.thriveglobal.com/stories/15279-ban-ki-moon-and-women-in-power-define-empowerment-with-their-renewed-pledge-to-help-a-woman-rise "Ban Ki-moon and Women in Power Define Empowerment With Their Renewed Pledge to "Help A Woman Rise" "] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107024611/https://www.thriveglobal.com/stories/15279-ban-ki-moon-and-women-in-power-define-empowerment-with-their-renewed-pledge-to-help-a-woman-rise |date=November 7, 2017 }}. Thrive Global, October 18, 2017.
• On May 20, 2019, Steinem received an honorary degree from Yale University.{{cite web|url=https://news.yale.edu/2019/05/20/biographies-yales-2019-honorary-degree-recipients|title=Biographies of Yale's 2019 honorary degree recipients|date=May 20, 2019|website=YaleNews|access-date=May 20, 2019|archive-date=June 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618043414/https://news.yale.edu/2019/05/20/biographies-yales-2019-honorary-degree-recipients|url-status=live}}
• On May 19, 2021, Steinem received the Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities.{{cite web |url=https://www.fpa.es/en/princess-of-asturias-awards/laureates/2021-gloria-steinem.html?especifica=0&idCategoria=0&anio=2021&especifica=0 |title=2021 Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities |publisher=Fundaċion Princesa de Asturias |access-date=July 26, 2021 |archive-date=June 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210621201945/https://fpa.es/en/princess-of-asturias-awards/laureates/2021-gloria-steinem.html?especifica=0&idCategoria=0&anio=2021&especifica=0 |url-status=live }}

File:Ms. magazine Cover - Spring 2002.jpg

In 1995, Education of a Woman: The Life of Gloria Steinem, by Carolyn Heilbrun, was published.{{cite web|author=Bridget Berry|url=http://faculty.wagner.edu/lori-weintrob/gloria-steinem-2/|title=Gloria Steinem|publisher=Wagner College|access-date=November 17, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129012335/http://faculty.wagner.edu/lori-weintrob/gloria-steinem-2/|archive-date=November 29, 2014}}

In 1997, Gloria Steinem: Her Passions, Politics, and Mystique, by Sydney Ladensohn Stern, was published.{{cite book|author1=Bryan-Paul Frost|author2=Jeffrey Sikkenga|title=History of American Political Thought|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w81L1qAhNjoC&pg=PA711|year=2003|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-0-7391-0624-2|pages=711–|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318005834/http://books.google.com/books?id=w81L1qAhNjoC&pg=PA711|archive-date=March 18, 2015}}

In 2005, Steinem appeared in season 2, episode 13 of The L Word.

In the musical Legally Blonde, which premiered in 2007, Steinem is mentioned in the scene where Elle Woods wears a flashy Bunny costume to a party, and must pretend to be dressed as Gloria Steinem "researching her feminist manifesto 'I Was A Playboy Bunny{{' "}}. (The actual name of the piece by Steinem being referred to here is "A Bunny's Tale".)

In 2011, Gloria: In Her Own Words, a documentary, first aired.{{cite news | url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-xpm-2011-aug-15-la-et-gloria-20110815-story.html | work=Los Angeles Times | first1=Mary | last1=McNamara | title=Television review: 'Gloria: In Her Own Words' | date=August 15, 2011 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111223095646/http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/15/entertainment/la-et-gloria-20110815 | archive-date=December 23, 2011 }}

In 2013, Female Force: Gloria Steinem, a comic book by Melissa Seymour, was published.{{cite news |url=https://huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/09/gloria-steinem-female-force-comic_n_3894193.html |title=Gloria Steinem 'Female Force' Comic Book Looks Seriously Amazing |publisher=Huffingtonpost.com |date=September 9, 2013 |access-date=March 1, 2014 |first=Nina |last=Bahadur |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021124339/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/09/gloria-steinem-female-force-comic_n_3894193.html |archive-date=October 21, 2013 }}{{cite news|author=Romy Zipken|url=http://www.jewcy.com/news/gloria-steinem-is-a-comic-book-star|title=Gloria Steinem Is A Comic Book Star|publisher=jewcy.com|date=September 10, 2013|access-date=March 1, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012080130/http://www.jewcy.com/news/gloria-steinem-is-a-comic-book-star|archive-date=October 12, 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://vitaminw.co/culture-society/gloria-steinem-comic-book-female-force |title=Gloria Steinem Comic Book Joins a Strong 'Female Force' Not to be Reckoned With | VITAMIN W |publisher=Vitaminw.co |date=September 11, 2013 |access-date=March 1, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021182720/http://vitaminw.co/culture-society/gloria-steinem-comic-book-female-force |archive-date=October 21, 2013 }}

Also in 2013, Steinem was featured in the documentary MAKERS: Women Who Make America about the feminist movement.{{cite web|last=Radish|first=Christina|url=https://collider.com/gloria-steinem-makers-women-who-make-america-interview/|title=Gloria Steinem Talks PBS Documentary MAKERS: WOMEN WHO MAKE AMERICA, the Current State of Women's Rights, Today's Most Inspiring Women, & More|publisher=collider.com|date=2013|access-date=March 1, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140422222817/http://collider.com/gloria-steinem-makers-women-who-make-america-interview/|archive-date=April 22, 2014}}

In 2014, Who Is Gloria Steinem?, by Sarah Fabiny, was published.{{cite book|author1=Sarah Fabiny|author2=Max Hergenrother|author3=Nancy Harrison|title=Who Is Gloria Steinem?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i5trAwAAQBAJ|date= 2014|publisher=Penguin Group US|isbn=978-0-698-18737-5|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318002147/http://books.google.com/books?id=i5trAwAAQBAJ|archive-date=March 18, 2015}}

Also in 2014, Steinem appeared in season 1, episode 8, of the television show The Sixties.{{cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/m/shows/the-sixties/the-times-they-are-a-changin-3039550/|title=The Sixties – Season 1, Episode 8: The Times They Are-a-Changin', aired 7/24/2014|publisher=tv.com|date=2014|access-date=March 1, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808050846/http://www.tv.com/m/shows/the-sixties/the-times-they-are-a-changin-3039550/|archive-date=August 8, 2014}}

Also in 2014, Steinem appeared in season 6, episode 3, of the television show The Good Wife.{{cite web|url=https://blogs.findlaw.com/celebrity_justice/2014/10/the-good-wife-good-law---season-6-episode-3.html|title=The Good Wife: Good Law? - Season 6, Episode 3|work=Celebrity Justice|date=October 6, 2014|access-date=November 17, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141123165049/https://blogs.findlaw.com/celebrity_justice/2014/10/the-good-wife-good-law---season-6-episode-3.html|archive-date=November 23, 2014}}

In 2016, Steinem was featured in the catalog of clothing retailer Lands' End. After an outcry from anti-abortion customers, the company removed Steinem from their website, stating on their Facebook page: "It was never our intention to raise a divisive political or religious issue, so when some of our customers saw the recent promotion that way, we heard them. We sincerely apologize for any offense." The company then faced further criticism online, this time both from customers who were still unhappy that Steinem had been featured in the first place, and customers who were unhappy that Steinem had been removed.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/01/business/catalog-interview-with-gloria-steinem-has-lands-end-on-its-heels.html|work=The New York Times|title='Catalog Interview With Gloria Steinem Has Lands' End on Its Heels'|date=February 29, 2016 |access-date=February 29, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160301023207/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/01/business/catalog-interview-with-gloria-steinem-has-lands-end-on-its-heels.html|archive-date=March 1, 2016|last1=Rogers |first1=Katie }}

In Jennifer Lopez's 2016 music video for her song "Ain't Your Mama", Steinem can be heard saying part of her "Address to the Women of America" speech, specifically, "This is no simple reform. It really is a revolution."{{cite web|url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgmx7z49OEk|title=Jennifer Lopez – Ain't Your Mama|last=JenniferLopezVEVO|date=May 6, 2016|via=YouTube|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129060427/https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgmx7z49OEk|archive-date=January 29, 2018}}{{cite encyclopedia |title=Recording of an excerpt of the Address to the Women of America at MSN Encarta |url=http://encarta.msn.com/media_461531272_761574034_-1_1/gloria_steinem.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091030063437/http://encarta.msn.com/media_461531272_761574034_-1_1/Gloria_Steinem.html |archive-date=October 30, 2009 }}

Also in 2016, the television series Woman premiered, featuring Steinem as producer and host; it is a documentary series concerning sexist injustice and violence worldwide.{{cite web |url=http://www.bendbulletin.com/entertainment/4309229-151/gloria-steinem-talks-about-woman# |title=Gloria Steinem talks about 'Woman' |date=May 12, 2016 |publisher=Bendbulletin.com |access-date=June 15, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616021104/http://www.bendbulletin.com/entertainment/4309229-151/gloria-steinem-talks-about-woman |archive-date=June 16, 2016 }}

The Gloria Steinem Papers are held in the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College, under collection number MS 237.{{cite web|url=http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/sophiasmith/mnsss66.html|title=Gloria Steinem Papers, 1940–2000 [ongoing], 237 boxes (105.75 linear ft.), Collection number: MS 237|publisher=Sophia Smith Collection|access-date=March 1, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202123912/http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/sophiasmith/mnsss66.html|archive-date=February 2, 2014}}

The play Gloria: A Life, about Steinem's life, opened October 2018 at the Daryl Roth Theatre, directed by Diane Paulus.{{cite magazine|last=Aukland |first=Cleo |url=http://www.playbill.com/article/what-did-critics-think-of-gloria-a-life-off-broadway |title=What Did Critics Think of Gloria: A Life Off-Broadway? |magazine=Playbill |date=October 19, 2018 |access-date=January 19, 2019}}

The Glorias is an American biographical film about Steinem which premiered in 2020.{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sundance-2020-unveils-female-powered-lineup-taylor-swift-gloria-steinem-films-1259538 |title=Sundance 2020 Unveils Female-Powered Lineup With Taylor Swift, Gloria Steinem Films |publisher=Hollywood Reporter |date=December 4, 2019 |access-date=March 2, 2020 |archive-date=December 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191208151948/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sundance-2020-unveils-female-powered-lineup-taylor-swift-gloria-steinem-films-1259538 |url-status=live }} In the film, she is played by four actresses who portray her life at various ages: Ryan Kiera Armstrong as a child, Lulu Wilson as a teen, Alicia Vikander between the ages of 20 and 40, and Julianne Moore as an older woman.

In 2020, Steinem was portrayed by Rose Byrne in the FX miniseries Mrs. America, depicting the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).{{cite news |last1=Channing |first1=Cornelia |title=What's Fact and What's Fiction in Mrs. America |url=https://slate.com/culture/2020/04/mrs-america-accuracy-fact-fiction-fx-hulu-miniseries.html |access-date=December 7, 2022 |work=Slate Magazine |date=April 15, 2020 |language=en |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729040636/https://slate.com/culture/2020/04/mrs-america-accuracy-fact-fiction-fx-hulu-miniseries.html |url-status=live }}

Also in 2020, on June 5, she appeared in season 1 of the documentary television series Dear.{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/video/dear-trailer-apple-tv-plus-series-oprah-winfrey-spike-lee/|title='Dear…' Trailer: Apple TV+ Docuseries Featuring Oprah, Spike, Steinem & More Bows June 5|first=Patrick|last=Hipes|date=May 22, 2020}}

In 2023, she guest starred on the Season 2 episode "Alive!" of the Max series And Just Like That....

• The Thousand Indias (1957)
• The Beach Book (1963), New York: Viking Press. {{OCLC|1393887}}
• Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions (1983), New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. {{ISBN|978-0-03-063236-5}}
• Marilyn: Norma Jean (1986), with George Barris, New York: Holt. {{ISBN|978-0-8050-0060-3}}
• Revolution from Within (1992), Boston: Little, Brown. {{ISBN|978-0-316-81240-5}}
• Moving beyond Words (1993), New York: Simon & Schuster. {{ISBN|978-0-671-64972-2}}
• Doing Sixty & Seventy (2006), San Francisco: Elders Academy Press. {{ISBN|978-0-9758744-2-4}}
• As if Women Matter: The Essential Gloria Steinem Reader (2014), co-written with [https://www.amazon.com/Ruchira-Gupta/e/B078K9WVWB?ref_=dbs_p_pbk_r00_abau_000000 Ruchira Gupta]. {{ISBN|978-81-291-3103-4}}
• My Life on the Road (2015), New York: Random House. {{ISBN|978-0-679-45620-9}}
• The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off! (2015), illustrated by Samantha Dion Baker. New York: Random House. {{ISBN|978-0-59313268-5}}
• My Life on the Road (2016), New York: Random House. {{ISBN|978-0-345-40816-7}}

• Feminism in the United States
• List of women's rights activists

{{Reflist}}

{{Library resources box|by=yes|viaf=79036189}}

• Education of A Woman: The Life of Gloria Steinem by Carolyn Heilbrun (Ballantine Books, US, 1995) {{ISBN|978-0-345-40621-7}}
• Gloria Steinem: Her Passions, Politics, and Mystique by [https://sydneylstern.com Sydney Ladensohn Stern] (Birch Lane Press, 1997)
• Why Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Gloria Steinem Still Matter by Salamishah Tillet (The University Of Chicago Press Journals) https://doi.org/10.1086/689646

{{Wikiquote}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{Official website}}
• [https://findingaids.smith.edu/repositories/2/resources/1006 Gloria Steinem papers] in the Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150920013124/http://www.feminist.com/gloriasteinem/ Profile] at Feminist.com
• [http://www.makers.com/gloria-steinem Gloria Steinem] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910150308/http://www.makers.com/gloria-steinem |date=September 10, 2015 }} Video produced by Makers: Women Who Make America (affiliated with Women Make Movies)
• [http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/sophiasmith/mnsss66_main.html Gloria Steinem Papers at the Sophia Smith Collection] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060902133636/http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/sophiasmith/mnsss66_main.html |date=September 2, 2006 }}
• {{C-SPAN|6494}}
• Michals, Debra [https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/gloria-steinem "Gloria Steinem"]. National Women's History Museum. 2017.
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dVeAL7b2K0&t=10s Interview with Gloria Steinem], A DISCUSSION WITH National Authors on Tour TV Series, Episode #97 (1994)

{{Ohio Women's Hall of Fame}}

{{National Women's Hall of Fame}}

{{Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities}}

{{100 Women by BBC in 2023}}

{{Feminism}}

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