Gloria Steinem, who championed the cause of equal rights for American women for more than six decades using her skills as a writer, activist and public speaker, has died. Steinem’s death on Thursday was announced in a social media post by her foundation, which didn’t give a cause of death. The feminist icon “passed away peacefully at her home in New York City, surrounded by some of the many who loved her,” the Gloria Steinem Foundation said on Instagram.
Known for her acerbic wit, cool beauty and trademark aviator glasses, Steinem became the public face of feminism starting in the late 1960s. A co-founder, along with New York lawmaker Bella Abzug and feminist author Betty Friedan, of the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971, she fought for abortion rights, the Equal Rights Amendment and economic equality. The caucus still works to increase the number of pro-equality women in elected and appointed positions at both national and state levels.
Steinem also pushed the women’s movement to include the concerns of minority groups.
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