Gloria Steinem became one of the most recognisable figures of the American feminist movement, using decades of writing and activism to campaign for abortion rights, equal pay, same-sex marriage and an end to the death penalty and female genital mutilation. Her prominence made her a target of sustained backlash, including harassment from both men and women, yet she remained a defining voice for women's equality from the 1960s onwards, shaping public debate for generations.

Born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1934, Steinem had a difficult upbringing, caring for her mentally ill mother after her father left the family when she was 10, and she did not attend school full-time until she was 12. After a formative period doing grassroots organising in India, she moved to New York to become a journalist, gaining notoriety in 1963 for going undercover as a Playboy Bunny to expose the sexism and poor conditions faced by waitresses at Hugh Hefner's clubs. Her 1968 column on the women's liberation movement brought her national fame, and in 1972 she co-founded Ms. magazine, the first periodical founded and run entirely by women, which sold out its first print run despite predictions it would quickly fail.