# RIP Gloria Steinem at 92 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [September 3, 2026, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798 "2026-09-03T14:37:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798/1 "2026-09-03T14:37:39Z")
> Gloria Steinem, a trailblazing journalist and activist who devoted her life to fighting for women’s rights, died on Wednesday. She was 92… > > Starting in the 1960s, at a time when women were largely limited to domestic roles, Steinem challenged gender stereotypes and championed feminist ideals like equality, sisterhood and reproductive freedom. In doing so, she inspired generations of women to do the same. Today, she’s a household name that is synonymous with the women’s rights movement. > > “Because of her work, across America and around the world, more women are afforded the respect and opportunities that they deserve,” then-President Barack Obama said when he awarded Steinem the [Presidential Medal of Freedom](https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/11/20/remarks-president-presidential-medal-freedom-ceremony) for her commitment to activism in 2013. “She also changed how women thought about themselves.” > > **Gloria Steinem, trailblazing journalist and activist, dies at 92** [https://www.npr.org/2026/09/03/nx-s1-5718381/gloria-steinem-dies](https://www.npr.org/2026/09/03/nx-s1-5718381/gloria-steinem-dies) > **[Gloria Steinem’s Feminism for All](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/09/gloria-steinem-obit/688506/)** > > The activist and writer, who died yesterday at the age of 92, steadfastly fought for her belief that women could change the world together. **Gloria Steinem, Personification of the Women’s Movement, Dies at 92** [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/us/politics/gloria-steinem-dead.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/us/politics/gloria-steinem-dead.html) Did she make a big impact on anyone here? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798/2 "2026-09-03T16:56:53Z")
She was one of my mom’s heroes. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798/3 "2026-09-03T18:26:03Z")
Really good article about her in today’s NYTimes. > # Gloria Steinem, Personification of the Women’s Movement, Dies at 92 > > _She challenged sexist assumptions, helping women develop a sense of self-worth and gain a measure of equality at work, at home and in society at large._ > > [Gloria Steinem, Personification of the Feminist Movement, Dies at 92 - The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/us/politics/gloria-steinem-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-VA.81Um.FoXqz3ESrMOu&smid=url-share) Anyone under about 50-ish might not believe it, but when I graduated from college in 1970, the classified ads were listed as “Help Wanted Male” and “Help Wanted Female.” Guess which category the good, well-paying jobs were in. A woman couldn’t get a credit card in her own name. Men were routinely paid more than women for doing identical work. I worked in a bakery (the factory where everything was made) where this was well-known. When I was in the first grade in 1954, I thought the only thing girls who wanted careers could be were a teacher, a ballerina, or a nurse, and no one advised me otherwise. The TV series _Mad Men_ portrays some of this culture. We’ve come a long way…and now we’re backsliding… Gloria fought and accomplished a lot. If you can’t access this article, find one about her life. Contrary to her sophisticated appearance and manner in later life, she led a rocky and peripatetic childhood and didn’t attend one full year of school until the sixth grade. > While Gloria’s formal education had been severely lacking, she compensated for it by devouring books and reveling in words and ideas. She followed in her sister’s footsteps to Smith (also Ms. Friedan’s alma mater), where she majored in government. She graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1956. A remarkable and important person. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798/4 "2026-09-03T20:03:29Z")
Did she make and impact on me? Certainly she did. And what affected me the most of all she did, I think, was mentioned above, that she changed how women thought about themselves. You have no idea how much that changed things. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798/5 "2026-09-03T20:11:09Z")
Gloria Steinem was smart and graceful in her advocacy----which contributed to its success. She was a superb writer, too. Some of her famous essays: > [@](#): > > (this is from AI) > > - “If Men Could Menstruate” (1978/1983): A famous satirical piece imagining how society would view menstruation if men had periods, showing how normal male biological functions would be treated as signs of power and status. > > - “What It Would Be Like If Women Win” (1970): Published in TIME, this piece envisions an egalitarian society with equal pay, shared domestic labor, and equal political representation. > > - “I Was a Playboy Bunny” (1963): A piece of first-person undercover journalism exposing the harsh working conditions and objectification women faced at the Playboy Club. I just wish she could have seen the ERA passed in her lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798/6 "2026-09-03T20:22:18Z")
I was wondering why I kept seeing photos of her pop up today. I’m in my fifties, and even for me it’s tough to contemplate what life was like for women when Steinem was growing up and fully appreciate her work. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798/7 "2026-09-03T20:39:28Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > - If Men Could Menstruate” (1978/1983): A famous satirical piece imagining how society would view menstruation if men had periods, showing how normal male biological functions would be treated as signs of power and status. To be fair, I think we women also use our periods as a chance to brag to our close girlfriends about ourselves. However, we covertly brag by describing in great detail about how much we suffer through them. We relish talking about how painful and messy our periods are, and all the emotional turmoil we have to slog through. We really like to complain. It’s telling how masochistic feminine complaining (My suffering is soo much worse than yours!) can be. Anyway, good rest to her. Gloria Steinem really was an icon, and she made tremendous positive change in the world. We must fight to preserve and push forward from here. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798/8 "2026-09-03T20:50:41Z")
She was a great role model when I grew up in Northern Idaho, then again when I later joined the USAF. She taught me how to spot the prejudicial crap women went through, and how to fight against it. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798/9 "2026-09-03T22:00:36Z")
She was one of the main founders of _MS_ magazine, whose name put the term in permanent public consciousness and use. No other women’s magazine had the political content and clout, or ran so many pointed articles on women’s interests outside of the kitchen. People today totally forget how much hate she got for standing up politically for women’s causes, including abortion. But here’s a fun fact: she’s Christian Bale’s stepmother. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798/10 "2026-09-03T22:15:46Z")
She certainly had an impact on me. The girls I dated in high school, born in the early 1960s, had mothers (like mine) who were told they needed a man to be complete. Those mothers, through the influence and work of women like Steinem, raised their daughters to know better. Alas, there were no male role models to tell young men of my generation the same thing. We had to learn from the women we knew. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798/11 "2026-09-03T22:55:47Z")
> **[In her final memoir, Gloria Steinem looked back with hope and planned to live...](https://apnews.com/article/gloria-steinem-memoir-takeaways-323d2b435bb050eba5c2c0c19733a40e)** > > Gloria Steinem died less than three weeks before the release of her newest book. The memoir, titled “An Unexpected Life,” looks back to her childhood in Ohio and continues through her rise as a feminist leader. It is scheduled for publication September 22 ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798/12 "2026-09-03T23:10:49Z")
I’ve never experienced that … now swapping childbirth stories … I’ve also heard: She’s bitchy she must be raggin’ it or She’s bitch she needs to get laid. Ugh ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798/13 "2026-09-03T23:16:55Z")
She was brilliant funny, and fearless. I wish I could be like her when I grow up. RIP Ms Steinem. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798/14 "2026-09-04T01:02:56Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](#): > > To be fair, I think we women also use our periods as a chance to brag to our close girlfriends about ourselves. You must have very different friends than I do. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798/15 "2026-09-04T01:08:19Z")
Her “I Was a Playboy Bunny” piece is a great read. You can find it archived here. > **[I%20Was%20a%20Playboy%20Bunny.pdf](https://web.archive.org/web/20111027052018/http://www.gloriasteinem.com/storage/I%20Was%20a%20Playboy%20Bunny.pdf)** > > 2.00 MB ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798/16 "2026-09-04T02:22:10Z")
Ugh. Did not like her. But RIP. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798/17 "2026-09-04T03:21:09Z")
I remember an interview she gave in the wake of the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings, which raised consciousness of sexual harassment. She remarked that there had actually been progress, because of the very existence of the term sexual harassment. “Before that, it was just, life”. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798/18 "2026-09-04T21:43:09Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](#): > > We relish talking about how painful and messy our periods are, and all the emotional turmoil we have to slog through. We really like to complain. It’s telling how masochistic feminine complaining (My suffering is soo much worse than yours!) can be. Possibly many men, later in life, match this with “my prostate” stories. How many times per night it’s necessary to get up to pee, etc. And @needscoffee --thanks so much for posting the link to the “Playboy” essay. (I was in a hurry yesterday and didn’t see links to ‘free to read’ copies of the articles, which I otherwise would have included.) ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798/19 "2026-09-05T00:25:25Z")
Was I affected by Gloria Steinem? Yes of course I was. We all were. If you were alive, or particularly, were born after approximately 1970 you were affected by her even if you don’t realize it. She helped to change and reimagine the cultural environment we existed in or grew up in. She challenged gender and cultural norms and just the way that we thought about the equality. I was born in 1981. And by the time I was old enough to start paying attention to the world around me the idea of feminism didn’t seem radical. It just seemed like common sense. To the points made in @ThelmaLou’s post above, near the top of the thread, that world seems alien to me and not in a good way. I know intellectually that those were traditional gender norms, but that’s not the environment I grew up in and I have Gloria Steinem, at least partially, to thank for that. And it’s depressing and disappointing to see so much backsliding occurring around us right now. RIP Gloria. (JFC can the good ones stop dying please? Just for a second? The world is depressing enough as it is.) ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2026, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798/20 "2026-09-05T01:30:14Z")
Didn’t like her. I think she did a disservice to women. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-gloria-steinem-at-92/1032798.md?page=2)