On March 25, the award-winning activist, organizer, and journalist Gloria Steinem celebrated her 90th birthday—a milestone, she tells Vogue, that is “hard to imagine.”
In addition to an afternoon sculpture dedication in the garden of her Manhattan home (the work is by South African artist Deborah Bell), followed by a cocktail reception and dinner at the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice, she marked the occasion by launching her second collaboration with New York jewelry designer Jill Platner. The pair first partnered in 2022 on a chunky sterling silver ring, the proceeds of which benefitted Planned Parenthood. For their latest project, Platner produced two new designs: the Steinemite Keychain—available in brass and sterling silver—and the Wonder Women Cuff, a textured sterling silver statement that becomes doubly bold when worn in pairs. (The latter is especially apt: As a child growing up in Toledo, Ohio, during the 1940s, Steinem idolized Wonder Woman. Little did she know, she’d eventually become multiple generations’ very own feminist superhero.) Both pieces are engraved with “Gloria,” in Steinem’s handwriting.
Jill Platner’s Steinemite Key Chain
Photo: Kisha Bari for the Ford Foundation
100% of the profits of each accessory will benefit Gloria’s Foundation, which Steinem recently established to continue nurturing the feminist movement. The organization’s first goal is to assume ownership of Steinem’s three-story Upper East Side brownstone, where she has lived since 1968. Her apartment has hosted countless young activists and world dignitaries over the years, besides serving as an instrumental gathering space for some of the earliest meetings of Ms. magazine, the feminist publication Steinem cofounded in 1971.
Below, she reflects on her singular life and future ambitions. Indeed, the rest of us can only aspire to be half as zealous, shrewd, and gracious as the eternal feminist icon is at 90.
Vogue: Everyone knows aviators have long been your power accessory, but what is your personal connection to jewelry?
Gloria Steinem: [The aviators are] actually a myopic accessory—I’m very nearsighted, so it isn’t as if I had an option, but I wanted to have some glasses that were fun as well. Regarding jewelry, my father had a small summer dance hall in Michigan, but his other occupation in the winter was buying and selling jewelry and small antiques. My older sister [Susanne Steinem Patch, who would become a gemologist] and I came into the world with an appreciation for antiques and jewelry in particular. I’ve maintained that, not really with diamonds, but with silver and gold jewelry.
How did you connect with Jill Platner, and what do you love about her designs?
I’ve always loved her designs and her generosity. Her studio downtown is well worth a trip. [Editor’s note: Platner’s Crosby Street studio also happens to occupy a building that served as the first hospital to be staffed by women and train them to become doctors and nurses.]
Can you tell us the story behind the Steinemite Keychain you two created?
The keychain says, “Adventure beyond every open door!” At Ms. we made a subscription premium that was a keychain engraved with “Ms. opening doors for women.” So this keychain is like a sequel. As for “Steinemite,” this was my father’s idea of business stationery [his personal stationery was inscribed with “It’s Steinemite!”], which really conveys his spirit.
Steinem with her extravagant birthday cake on Monday.
Photo: Jenny Warburg
In the spirit of birthday gifts, can you recall the most touching gift you’ve ever received, whether it’s something tangible like jewelry, or, perhaps, a gesture?
I would say the most touching gift I ever received was my older sister offering to take care of our mother so that I could go to India, where I lived for two years. This was not a simple task, as my sister was in the course of having six children. That was such a freedom and such a big gift which profoundly changed my life.
Given that sales of these accessories will benefit your foundation, whose first goal is to preserve your brownstone, what’s your long-term vision for your home? How important is it to you to provide people with meaningful spaces to convene?
My living room has long been a place for meetings. I can accommodate up to 20 people. Over time it became clear to me how difficult it was to find a place that was quiet, private, and free, so I’m happy to be able to supply my living room. One time when I was in London, I saw a building with a plaque outside that noted how it had been a suffrage headquarters, and it still served as a place to have meetings. So my hope is that every city might have at least one place where it’s possible to meet without having to pay.
Reflecting on your nine extraordinary decades of life, what have been your most challenging lessons and gratifying moments?
The hardest moments are sitting down to write instead of answering the phone or email—you may share that. Most rewarding moments are more individual. If I’m walking in the street or in an airport, usually women—sometimes men—stop me and thank me as if I was responsible for the global women’s movement—which I’m not—and tell me how it changed their lives. Those stories are the most precious.
We don’t know how what we are doing—or what the movement is doing—affects individual human beings. But because of Ms., especially, I would not only get people stopping me in the street, but also writing letters to the magazine. In fact, there are books of letters to Ms. from women saying how it changed their individual lives: how they left a violent marriage; how they went back to college; how they traveled or attained a job. Our minds work on stories, on narrative. We don’t remember statistics, and so I remember those stories.
To say it’s been a devastating couple of years for women’s reproductive rights would be an understatement. As a self-proclaimed “hope-aholic,” how do you remain optimistic and encourage others to do the same?
Hope is a form of planning. If you don’t imagine what could be, you’re already defeated. We need companions in hope because we are social animals. But hope is practical and necessary.
What do you hope to be celebrating at your 100th birthday? Are there certain aspirations or changes that you’d like to see happen over the next 10 years?
Certainly much less emphasis on race, ethnicity, and gender. Also less emphasis on groupism and more on shared, unique human individuality. And it goes without saying that wars, killing, and crime in the street are tragedies.
And what about personal goals for the next decade—any writing or special projects in the works?
As both my editor and I would tell you, I have a book of essays overdue, so I hope to finish that.
This conversation has been edited and condensed.
