Gloria Steinem: influences, peers and legacy

Every connection with its receipt

Gloria Steinem's feminism was forged as much in the magazine trade and in two years of post-college travel in India as in any manifesto. This mix tracks the texts that framed second-wave argument, the Gandhian land-reform organizers who taught her talking circles and walking politics, and the New Journalism newsroom that gave her a byline — then follows the line out to the writers who inherited Ms.

The Kynda mix for Gloria Steinem

• Key Influence · The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan (1963). Friedan's diagnosis of the suburban housewife's "problem that has no name" detonated the movement Steinem joined, and the two became the second wave's most visible — and most publicly rivalrous — figures, co-founding the National Women's Political Caucus in 1971 despite deep strategic friction over lesbian rights and media stardom. Any reading of Steinem's journalism begins with the book that made a mass audience for feminist argument in America.​
• Influencia Obscura · Talks on the Gita by Vinoba Bhave (1932). After graduating from Smith, Steinem spent 1957–58 in India on a Chester Bowles fellowship, walking with Gandhian organizers in the Bhoodan land-gift movement that Bhave led on foot across the countryside. She credited that experience with two lifelong methods: walking into a community rather than summoning it, and the talking circle in which everyone speaks in turn — the format she later used at organizing meetings for decades.​
• Local Roots · Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers by Tom Wolfe (1970). Steinem was a founding writer at New York magazine, where editor Clay Felker gave her the "City Politic" column; Wolfe was the same newsroom's star and the loudest voice of its New Journalism house style. The two represent the magazine's split personality — Wolfe satirizing the era's activism from outside, Steinem reporting it from inside — and Felker's New York later incubated Ms. as an insert in its December 1971 issue.​
• Beyond the Medium · The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago (1979). Chicago's ceramic and needlework banquet for 39 women of history did in an installation what Ms. did on newsprint: recover erased names and insist that craft traditions dismissed as women's work carry serious meaning. Built with a large collaborative studio of women, it became the movement's most argued-over artwork of the decade, and feminist print culture of Steinem's circle covered and defended it through its contested touring history.​
• Peer · Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde (1984). Lorde worked the same movement circuit in the 1970s and 80s while pressing the hardest internal critique of its white middle-class defaults, insisting difference be used rather than tolerated. These essays, including the Master's Tools address, are the indispensable counterweight to any mix about mainstream second-wave feminism, and the arguments they make shaped how Ms. handled race, class and sexuality across its later editorial life.​
• From the Canon · Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions by Gloria Steinem (1983). The collection that gathers her core journalism, including "I Was a Playboy Bunny," the 1963 undercover exposé of Hugh Hefner's clubs that made her reputation and then haunted it, plus her essay on Marilyn Monroe and the Ms. era's campaign pieces. It is the best single map of how a New York freelancer turned reporting assignments into a political position and a movement platform.​
• Key Collaborator · Color Me Flo: My Hard Life and Good Times by Florynce Kennedy (1976). The Harlem-born lawyer toured the early-1970s lecture circuit as Steinem's speaking partner, a deliberate pairing meant to present feminism as biracial, with Kennedy supplying the gallows humor and the lines the press quoted. Her memoir records the organizing life — abortion-law litigation, the Feminist Party, street theater — that made those joint appearances the movement's most effective road show.​
• Legacy · Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay (2014). Gay's essays argue with the second wave as a living inheritance rather than a museum piece, accepting the label while rejecting its purity tests — the position Steinem's generation made available and Gay's generation complicated. The book's mix of pop-culture reportage and political argument is the Ms. essay form carried into the internet era, and it did more than any recent title to make feminist writing a mass category again.​

What influenced Gloria Steinem

• Wonder Woman. Steinem grew up reading Wonder Woman and later advocated changes to the character. “a heroine for little girls, and also as a conscious alternative to the violence of comic books for boys.” (Ms.)
• Indian independence movement. Steinem modeled her campaign work on Gandhi's independence movement. “She was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and later modeled her campaign work after Gandhi's independence movement.” (Wikipedia)
• Judith Butler (1956). Steinem explicitly singled out Butler's theoretical approach for criticism. “She later singled out deconstructionists like Judith Butler for criticism, saying, "I always wanted to put a sign up on the road to Yale saying, 'Beware: Deconstruction Ahead'.” (Wikipedia)
• Kinsey Reports. Steinem advocated analysis of the Kinsey Reports. “In addition to feminism, Steinem was a prominent advocate for analyzing the Kinsey Reports .” (Wikipedia)
• The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago (1979). The Dinner Party (Judy Chicago) — culture for Gloria Steinem “In an interview with Gloria Steinem in 2018, Chicago described her "goal as an artist" has been “to create images in which the female experience is the path to the universal, as opposed to learning everything through the male gaze." From…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan (1963). The Feminine Mystique (Betty Friedan) — titan for Gloria Steinem “Her resulting 1962 article about the way in which women are forced to choose between a career and marriage preceded Betty Friedan's book The Feminine Mystique by one year.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Martha Nussbaum. The article connects Steinem's arguments with Nussbaum's later philosophical work. “Steinem's article contained the basic arguments that were later developed by philosopher Martha Nussbaum .” (Wikipedia)
• Mahatma Gandhi. The article explicitly identifies Gandhi as an influence on Steinem. “She was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and later modeled her campaign work after Gandhi's independence movement.” (Wikipedia)
• Better Off Dead. A contemporaneous article attributes the television film’s outlook to Steinem, its co-executive producer. “But it is her enduring spirit, her incisive intelligence and her unique perceptions of women and their role in the world that shape the contours of the film.” (Chicago Tribune)
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985). The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood) — culture for Gloria Steinem (openlibrary.org)
• The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir (1949). The Second Sex (Simone de Beauvoir) — titan for Gloria Steinem (openlibrary.org)
• A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft (1792). A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (Mary Wollstonecraft) — titan for Gloria Steinem (openlibrary.org)
• The Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mohandas K. Gandhi (1929). The Story of My Experiments with Truth (Mohandas K. Gandhi) — ghost for Gloria Steinem (wikidata.org)
• Talks on the Gita by Vinoba Bhave (1932). Talks on the Gita (Vinoba Bhave) — ghost for Gloria Steinem
• for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shange (1976). for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf (Ntozake Shange) — culture for Gloria Steinem

Peers and kindred spirits

• Robin Morgan. Steinem contributed writing to an anthology edited by Morgan. (also via Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, Sisterhood Is Powerful) “and co-founder (with Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem) of The Women’s Media Center” (Robin Morgan)
• Ruchira Gupta. Steinem co-wrote the named book with Gupta. “Now, Gloria Steinem and activist Ruchira Gupta in India have chosen from her lifetime of writing those essays that reach across borders.” (Apne Aap)
• Ms.. The article identifies Steinem as a co-founder of Ms. magazine. “In 1972, Steinem co-founded the feminist magazine Ms. alongside founding editors Letty Cottin Pogrebin , Mary Thom , Pat Carbine , Joanne Edgar, Nina Finkelstein, Dorothy Pitman Hughes , and Mary Peacock” (Wikipedia)
• John Lennon. Steinem interviewed Lennon for Cosmopolitan. “but Steinem does get to interview John and this article really conveys the frenzy that surrounded him.” (WorthPoint)
• Rosilyn Heller. Steinem and Heller co-produced Better Off Dead. “As co-executive producer, Steinem developed the project with her friend the veteran producer Rosilyn Heller.” (Chicago Tribune)
• Clay Felker. Felker edited an early assignment by Steinem. “he seemed perfectly comfortable with those people, as he seemed with people like me or Pete Hamill or Gloria Steinem or the rest of us, who were all people of the left.” (New York)
• The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight by Jimmy Breslin (1969). The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (Jimmy Breslin) — geography for Gloria Steinem “He revamped a Sunday section into New York and hired writers such as Tom Wolfe and Jimmy Breslin.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers by Tom Wolfe (1970). Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers (Tom Wolfe) — geography for Gloria Steinem “He revamped a Sunday section into New York and hired writers such as Tom Wolfe and Jimmy Breslin.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• New York by Lou Reed (1989). Steinem was a columnist for New York magazine. “Steinem was a columnist for New York magazine and co-founder of Ms. magazine.” (Wikipedia)
• Jane Fonda. The Women’s Media Center identifies Fonda and Steinem as co-founders. “WMC Co-Founders Robin Morgan, Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda with Chris Hayes.” (Women’s Media Center)
• National Women's Political Caucus. Steinem co-founded the caucus. “In 1971, she co-founded the National Women's Political Caucus , which provided training and support for women seeking elected and appointed office.” (Wikipedia)
• Sisterhood Is Powerful by Robin Morgan (1970). Sisterhood Is Powerful (Robin Morgan) — collaborator for Gloria Steinem “In 2005, Steinem, Jane Fonda, and Robin Morgan co-founded the Women's Media Center, an organization that "works to make women visible and powerful in the media".” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Apne Aap Women Worldwide. Steinem chaired the organization's advisory board. “She was also the chair of the advisory board of Apne Aap Women Worldwide, an organization fighting sex trafficking and inter-generational prostitution in India, founded by Ruchira Gupta .” (Wikipedia)
• Women's Media Center. Steinem was a co-founder of the Women's Media Center. “In 2005, Steinem, Jane Fonda , and Robin Morgan co-founded the Women's Media Center , an organization that "works to make women visible and powerful in the media".” (Wikipedia)
• Women's Action Alliance. Steinem co-founded the alliance. “Also in 1971, she co-founded the Women's Action Alliance , which until 1997 supported a network of feminist activists and worked to advance feminist causes and legislation.” (Wikipedia)
• Choice USA. Steinem co-founded Choice USA. “In 1992, Steinem co-founded Choice USA , a non-profit organization that mobilizes and provides ongoing support to a younger generation that lobbies for reproductive choice.” (Wikipedia)
• The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer (1970). The Female Eunuch (Germaine Greer) — peer for Gloria Steinem “However, Germaine Greer flatly contradicted Steinem's account, reporting, "Jacqui Ceballos called from the crowd to demand abortion rights on the Democratic platform, but Bella [Abzug] and Gloria stared glassily out into the room, thus k…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Second-wave feminism. The article identifies Steinem as a leader of second-wave feminism. “Gloria Marie Steinem ( / ˈ s t aɪ n əm / STY -nəm ; March 25, 1934 – September 2, 2026) was an American journalist and social movement activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in…” (Wikipedia)
• Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde (1984). Sister Outsider (Audre Lorde) — peer for Gloria Steinem (openlibrary.org)
• Women, Race & Class by Angela Davis (1981). Women, Race & Class (Angela Davis) — peer for Gloria Steinem (wikidata.org)
• Color Me Flo: My Hard Life and Good Times by Florynce Kennedy (1976). Color Me Flo: My Hard Life and Good Times (Florynce Kennedy) — collaborator for Gloria Steinem “Another phrase sometimes wrongly attributed to Steinem is: "If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament." Steinem herself attributed it to "an old Irish woman taxi driver in Boston", whom she said she and Florynce Kennedy met.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Crazy Salad: Some Things About Women by Nora Ephron (1975). Crazy Salad: Some Things About Women (Nora Ephron) — geography for Gloria Steinem “While at Esquire, she took on subjects as wide-ranging as Dorothy Schiff, her former boss and owner of the Post; Betty Friedan, whom she chastised for pursuing a feud with Gloria Steinem; and her alma mater Wellesley, which she said had …” (en.wikipedia.org)
• I'm Just Saying... It Looks Like Reparations to Me! by Dorothy Pitman Hughes (2000). I'm Just Saying... It Looks Like Reparations to Me! (Dorothy Pitman Hughes) — collaborator for Gloria Steinem “alongside founding editors Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Mary Thom, Pat Carbine, Joanne Edgar, Nina Finkelstein, Dorothy Pitman Hughes, and Mary Peacock; it began as a special edition of New York, and Clay Felker funded the first issue.” (en.wikipedia.org)

Who Gloria Steinem influenced

• Legally Blonde. The musical references Steinem in a scene. “And it just rung in my ears, and I immediately saw the connection to Legally Blonde .” (Parade via Yahoo Entertainment)
• Alice Walker (1944). The article describes Steinem as Walker’s mentor. (also via Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions) “Her godmother is Alice Walker's mentor and co-founder of Ms. magazine, Gloria Steinem .” (Wikipedia)
• Ain't Your Mama. Lopez's music video incorporates audio of Steinem's speech. “In Jennifer Lopez 's 2016 music video for her song " Ain't Your Mama ", Steinem can be heard saying part of her " Address to the Women of America " speech” (Wikipedia)
• Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay (2014). Bad Feminist (Roxane Gay) — legacy for Gloria Steinem “Gay is the Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair in Media, Culture and Feminist Studies at Rutgers University.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Full Frontal Feminism by Jessica Valenti (2007). Full Frontal Feminism (Jessica Valenti) — legacy for Gloria Steinem (openlibrary.org)
• To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism by Rebecca Walker (1995). To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism (Rebecca Walker) — legacy for Gloria Steinem