Tributes pour in after Gloria Steinem’s death: ‘She changed the lives of millions of women’

“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” That line captures the sharp-edged style of Gloria Steinem, the feminist activist and writer whose death has prompted tributes across the United States.

Steinem died at her home in New York on September 3, according to a New York Times report cited by the Hankyoreh. Hillary Clinton said Steinem played a central role in building the broader structure of women’s equality. Posting a photograph of the two together, Clinton said Steinem opened doors not only for herself, but for “literally millions of women” who followed her.

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The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.

Barack Obama, who awarded Steinem the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013, wrote that generations of women walk more confidently and aim higher because of what she fought for and achieved. Joe Biden and Jill Biden said Steinem understood that equality begins with the freedom to decide for oneself about one’s body, health and future. Nancy Pelosi, Melinda Gates, Meghan Markle, Jane Fonda, Julianne Moore and Oprah Winfrey were among others who posted tributes.

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Steinem became one of the people who played a key role in building the entire structure of women’s equality.

Steinem was born in 1934 to a traveling family in the American Midwest and experienced a troubled childhood. Her parents divorced when she was 10, and she grew up with a mother who had mental-health problems. She did not receive regular schooling until sixth grade, but graduated from college with honors after extensive reading.

Her early journalism included a 1963 undercover assignment at New York’s Playboy Club, where she worked in a “bunny” outfit and exposed waitresses’ poor working conditions. She became conscious of herself as a feminist after joining a 1969 gathering where women spoke publicly about illegal abortions. In 1971, she helped establish the National Women’s Political Caucus and co-founded Ms. magazine, described as the first national magazine created, owned and run by women.

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Steinem opened doors not only for herself, but literally for millions of women behind her.

Steinem published 12 nonfiction books. Her latest, An Unexpected Life, was scheduled for publication later this month. She also became known for aphorisms such as, “Self-esteem is not everything, but without it there is nothing.” Her 2016 remarks about young women supporting Bernie Sanders drew strong backlash. She later acknowledged the comments were wrong and apologized. The New York Times described the self-styled “social-change entrepreneur” as a figure who helped drive broad cultural change in American life, from boardrooms and courts to bedrooms.

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Generations of women walk a little more confidently and reach for something a little higher because of what Steinem fought for and achieved.