Gloria Steinem, the journalist who brought feminism to the center of the debate and paved the way for millions of women

Gloria Steinem understood very early on that telling women's lives could also change the distribution of power. The American journalist, writer, and activist has died at 92. She passed away this Wednesday at her home in New York, surrounded by some of her loved ones, as announced this Thursday by the foundation that bears her name.

Born on March 25, 1934, in Toledo, Ohio, she grew up amidst continuous travels and took on the care of her mother, who suffered from mental health problems, from a young age. After graduating from Smith College, she spent two years in India, where she learned about forms of community organization that would eventually influence her understanding of activism. Listening, gathering, and building from the bottom up became part of her method.

Her first major journalistic breakthrough came in 1963. Steinem infiltrated one of New York's Playboy clubs as a waitress for eleven days and recounted in 'A Bunny's Tale' the exhausting shifts, low wages, harassment, and control exerted over the bodies of the workers. The report dismantled the glamorous image sold by Hugh Hefner's empire, although for years it also made it difficult for editors to take her seriously for other assignments.

Her transformation into one of the great figures of the women's liberation movement accelerated in 1969, when she attended a meeting where several women spoke publicly about their abortions. Steinem had clandestinely terminated her own pregnancy in London at the age of 22. That experience fueled a constant defense of reproductive freedom and every woman's right to decide about her body.

A magazine to tell women's lives

In 1972, she co-founded 'Ms.', a pioneering magazine that brought to newsstands issues previously relegated or directly silenced by major publications. Gender violence, workplace discrimination, abortion, caregiving, and political inequality began to occupy covers and reports written from the experience of women themselves. She remained connected to the publication for decades.

Steinem also promoted the National Women's Political Caucus, the Ms. Foundation for Women, Equality Now, and the Women's Media Center. She traveled across the United States with African-American activist Dorothy Pitman Hughes and forged alliances with Black, Indigenous, and Latina women. Her commitment also extended to the fight against female genital mutilation and domestic violence, the rights of LGTBIQ+ people, and pacifist movements.

Her work received the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013. Spain honored her in 2021 with the Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities, which recognized her role in social transformation and her ability to bring feminist demands into the public sphere. During her speech in Oviedo, she left a phrase that well summarized her way of resisting: "Laughter is a test of freedom."

Steinem continued writing, traveling, and participating in mobilizations until an advanced age. In 2017, she spoke before the massive Women's March in Washington and later maintained her support for new generations of activists. Her latest book, 'An Unexpected Life', will arrive in bookstores on September 22. She finished those memoirs a few weeks before she died.