The Extraordinary Impact of Gloria Steinem, Who Has Died Aged 92

American women were on the march for equality and at their helm was a journalist trying to affect change amongst politicians. Gloria Steinem had made her name going undercover as a playboy bunny in 1963 to expose working conditions for women there. She would go on to be hailed a feminist trailblazer, fighting for equal rights for women and calling for the legalization of abortion. Over the years, male-dominated legislatures and courts have tossed around women's rights like a political football. The current threat to the right to abortion in New York is the most serious and the most stark example of this kind of maneuvering with women's lives. Fighting for women's rights to have credit cards and mortgages in their own names and the freedom to work. The whole idea is that we make decisions for ourselves and the second big issue is having two jobs while men have only one because men are not yet caring for children as much as women are. Today, the former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid her tribute. I saw in my own life over the course of about 10 to 15 years, Gloria's pushing on those doors to finally get them open, not only for her to walk through, but for her to lead literally millions of others. And on social media, the Duchess of Sussex said, privately, she was even better than you would imagine, loving our children with her whole heart, counseling me during hard times. And from Oprah Winfrey, what a life, what a legacy, what a difference she made. We are just beginning to discover, each of us, who we can be. Several dramatizations of her life cemented her status as a global icon. But Gloria Steinem continued fighting on many fronts. In 2017, she addressed the historic Women's March, the day after President Trump's first inauguration. Just this march in Washington today required 1,000 more buses than the entire inauguration. From the Women's Media Center to her feminist magazine, Muzz, what Gloria Steinem founded, what she changed, is still having an impact today. She will always have an extraordinary place in history. Remembering the late Gloria Steinem, who's died at the age of 92. Well, in 1992, Gloria, who was the co-founder of the American feminist magazine Muzz, spoke to ITV News following the publication's launch in the UK. Well, I think the expense is not the right thing to consider, that it's like a book. You know, if you think about it, sometimes we call it a megabook, because it has no advertising pages. When you buy a woman's magazine, normally you're buying at least half pages that should be given to you free, because they're just advertising products. So this is sort of midway between a magazine and a book. What about the label of feminist? It puts them in off. How do you overcome that? Well, it doesn't put us off if we look in the dictionary and see that it just means a person, male or female, who believes in the full equality of women and men. The problem is that the culture out there tries to make it into a bad word so that we will, you know, be impeded, you know, in our connections with each other. But you might as well call yourself, actually, the only alternative to being a feminist is being a masochist if you're a woman. Because, you know, either we're full human beings or we're not. So what do you think is the main thing for women in Britain now? What's the key issue? Well, the key issue is whatever the individual woman watching this thinks is the key issue. That's the important thing. The whole idea is that we make decisions for ourselves. And the second big issue is having two jobs while men have only one, because men are not yet caring for children as much as women are. That day will come. You know, a friend of mine who's 19 said to me, well, I know 20 years ago when we did the important things, but now that seems simple and, you know, the present seems complicated. So on her behalf, I was trying to think what the next big psychic leap forward similar to 20 years ago when we began to realize women can do what men can do, you know, would be. And of course, it's the reverse. Men can do what women can do. Until men are raising children, doing the work inside the home as much as women are, women can't be people outside the home. And also, men will be deprived, too, of closeness to their own children.