Gloria Steinem, journalist and icon of feminism, dies aged 92

Gloria Steinem never drove a car in her life, let alone a motorcycle. The journalist and radical feminist, who died on Wednesday, September 2, in New York, at the age of 92, according to an announcement posted on her official Instagram, relied on others for transportation in a country that made individual mobility the be-all and end-all of emancipation. She titled her autobiography My Life on the Road (2015), and she spent her life in transit. Of all modes of travel, taxis and airplanes were her favorites. She said talking with taxi drivers and flight attendants was ideal for anyone who wanted to take the nation's pulse. Born in 1934 in Toledo, Ohio, Steinem spent her childhood on the road. Her father, a nonconformist, supported his family as a dance hall manager and roaming antiques dealer. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, he drove his wife and children around in a trailer that served as their home. He was the only one who drove; Gloria's mother was ill, suffering from severe depression. Caring for her would become the defining ordeal of the future leading figure of Women's Liberation, especially after her parents separated in 1944. Travel would remain the defining theme of Steinem's life. In her 20s, she spent many months traveling across India, returning transformed. There are many ways to tell a life story. She chose to highlight, at the beginning of her autobiography, the debt she owed to an English doctor who made that journey possible by freeing her from an unwanted pregnancy – abortion was illegal at the time. He set one condition: The young woman had to promise him that, throughout her life, she would always follow her own path. You have 84.97% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.