How Gloria Steinem’s Ms. Magazine Became the Voice of the Women’s Movement
Gloria Steinem’s Ms. magazine became one of the most influential publications of the modern women’s movement, giving feminist ideas a national platform at a time when mainstream media often ignored or dismissed them.
Steinem, the pioneering journalist and feminist activist who died at 92 on September 2, 2026, helped turn Ms. from an ambitious publishing experiment into a lasting institution. The magazine became a place where women could read about issues that were rarely treated seriously in publications aimed at female readers.
The Birth of Ms. Magazine
The story of Ms. began in 1971, when Steinem and other feminist writers and editors worked on a preview issue with New York magazine editor Clay Felker.
The 40-page publication appeared as an insert in New York magazine in December 1971. It was initially intended as something of a test. The founders wanted to discover whether women would actually buy a magazine devoted to politics, equality and the growing women’s liberation movement.
The answer came quickly.
About 300,000 copies sold out in only eight days. The response convinced the editors that they had found an audience hungry for a different kind of women’s publication.
The first standalone issue followed in July 1972. It featured Wonder Woman on its cover and tackled subjects that were considered controversial or unsuitable for traditional women’s magazines.
A Magazine Unlike Traditional Women’s Publications
Before Ms., many magazines marketed to women focused heavily on beauty, marriage, family, cooking and raising children.
Ms. challenged that model.
Its writers covered abortion, workplace discrimination, economic inequality, domestic violence, sexuality and political power. The publication treated women not simply as consumers or homemakers, but as citizens with political, economic and social interests.
That approach helped make feminist journalism more visible to a national audience.
The magazine’s own history describes its mission as translating a movement into a magazine. It became a place where feminist activists, writers and readers could connect with one another.
Giving Women’s Issues a National Voice
One of Ms.’s greatest achievements was making subjects that were often pushed to the margins part of mainstream public discussion.
The magazine was an early national publication to prominently address abortion rights and the Equal Rights Amendment. It also put domestic violence and sexual harassment on its covers and reported on issues surrounding date rape and discrimination.
The publication also challenged the idea that there was only one kind of feminist experience.
Its coverage included debates involving race, sexuality, class and economic inequality. That effort reflected the increasingly broad nature of the women’s movement and helped create space for voices that were frequently absent from mainstream media.
Steinem’s Role
Steinem was not the only person responsible for Ms.’s success. A group of editors, writers, activists and business leaders helped build the publication.
But her public profile gave the magazine enormous visibility.
As a journalist, Steinem had already gained national attention for her reporting and writing about women’s experiences. Her work helped connect Ms. to the wider feminist movement, while the magazine gave her and other activists a powerful platform.
Steinem also understood that the magazine had to survive beyond any individual personality.
In her reflections on Ms.’s 50-year history, she recalled being surprised that the publication survived for so long. She also emphasized the importance of its readers, whose letters demonstrated that Ms. had become much more than a magazine.
Surviving Financial Challenges
Ms. faced serious financial difficulties over the decades.
The magazine struggled with advertising because its editorial approach did not always fit comfortably with commercial publishing. It eventually went through several ownership changes before finding a long-term home with the Feminist Majority Foundation.
In 2001, the Feminist Majority Foundation became the sole owner of Liberty Media for Women and took over publication of Ms.
The magazine eventually embraced an advertising-free model, relying on subscriptions and contributions instead.
That helped preserve its editorial independence while keeping its focus on feminist reporting and political analysis.
A Legacy That Continues
Ms. magazine’s influence extends far beyond its original print readership.
Its archives document decades of debates over women’s rights, while its current print and digital work continues to connect feminist journalism with activism.
For Steinem, the magazine was always part of something larger.
She helped create Ms. during a period when many Americans were beginning to challenge traditional expectations about women’s roles. The publication gave that movement a national voice and helped transform personal experiences into political conversations.
More than five decades after its first appearance, Ms. remains a symbol of how journalism can help build a social movement.
Steinem’s death has therefore renewed attention not only on the woman herself, but also on the magazine that became one of her most enduring contributions.
Ms. did not simply report on the women’s movement. It helped document it, organize it and bring its arguments into millions of American homes.
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