The face of American feminism
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Gloria Steinem, who died Wednesday at 92, defined feminism in the US. Where will that movement go next?
Gift American feminist leader and author Gloria Steinem photographed in San Francisco in 1977. Janet Fries/Getty Images Caitlin Dewey is a senior writer and editor at Vox, where she helms the Today, Explained newsletter. This story appeared in Today, Explained, a daily newsletter that helps you understand the most compelling news and stories of the day. Subscribe here .
Gloria Steinem — the one-woman powerhouse who, in many ways, defined modern feminism in the United States — died Wednesday at 92 after six decades of activism.
Steinem was a journalist and advocate who first rose to prominence in the late 1960s, just as the women’s liberation movement exploded. She co-founded Ms. magazine, a trailblazing publication that mainstreamed once-taboo topics like sexual harassment, wage inequity, and the unfair division of household labor.
As an advocate, Steinem also led protests, worked to elect more female politicians, and lobbied for abortion rights, employment protections, and the long-deferred Equal Rights Amendment.
The ERA, which would create a constitutional guarantee of equal rights for women, has never officially been adopted , despite being ratified by the required number of states. Many of the other causes Steinem championed, however, are now at least firmly part of mainstream cultural and political debate.
Later in life, as the feminist movement evolved, Steinem continued to serve as a kind of elder statesperson. (We’ll break down how exactly it evolved in just a minute.) Much of her recent writing and speaking focused — for obvious, depressing reasons — on the importance of hope and persistence in social justice movements.
“Hope is a form of planning,” she told Vogue on her 90th birthday, in 2024. “If you don’t imagine what could be, you’re already defeated.”
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Steinem was the single-most recognizable face of American feminism, but she represented a distinct wave of it that future generations of feminists built on. American feminism is a sprawling, evolving, multifaceted movement — and its history is often broken down into four distinct periods .
In fairness, not everyone is terribly enamored with the “waves” framework. But for those of us trying to get the gist of recent history — or to take stock of what has and hasn’t changed, on the occasion of Steinem’s death — it can be a helpful way to get oriented. Vox has lots of further reading if you want to get into the nuances .
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