American journalist, activist and feminist icon Gloria Steinem has died, her foundation said in a statement on Thursday. She was 92.

Before becoming a leading figure in the women’s rights movement, Steinem got her start in journalism in the 1960s and wrote an expose of the pervasive sexism faced by cocktail waitresses at New York’s Playboy Club.

She credited her feminist awakening to a 1969 meeting where women spoke up about the experience of having abortions, and she moved from writing to public speaking.

She spent decades of her life traveling across the United States and the world, attending conferences and protests.

In the 1970s, Steinem founded Ms. Magazine and the National Women’s Political Caucus, and organized the first National Women’s Conference in Houston.

“Gloria’s near-century on earth were years well-lived, and she continued working for equality until the very end,” her foundation said.

AFP

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