Gloria Steinem, who gave second-wave feminism its face and its argument, dies at 92

Gloria Steinem, who gave second-wave feminism its face and its argument, dies at 92

She never burned a bra. That much needs saying at the outset, because for half a century the myth clung to her name harder than most of her actual words ever did. The story goes back to a 1968 protest outside the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, where demonstrators tossed girdles, curlers and copies of Cosmopolitan into a "freedom trash can." No fire was lit; a police permit had denied one. Gloria Steinem, who died Sept. 2, 2026, at her home in New York City, at 92, was not even there.

by Trans World Features September 04, 2026