‘She pushed us all forward’

Dua Lipa, musician

Gloria was someone who pushed boundaries to their furthest extent. She fought for women all over the world, whether she knew them or not. Women have the rights we do today because of feminist icons like Gloria. She pushed us all forward and encouraged us to look beyond our own experience. It’s amazing to see how her work and legacy continue to be embraced by each new generation of feminists.

‘Completely unapologetic’

Sandra Bernhard, actor and comedian

In coming of age, Gloria Steinem was my northern star: she gave me license to have unbridled confidence and audacity, first as a girl in high school and then as a fledgling performer. I never had to play down who I was: I didn’t have to. Gloria paved the way for me to put it all on the line – the first generation of women who could be funny and completely unapologetic. I owe so much to her.

‘One of my models for standing your ground’

Margaret Atwood, author

I knew Gloria through her Ms magazine days – indeed, it was at a Ms party that I met Dolly Parton, another terrific American star. Gloria was the epitome of second-wave feminism, and gave it a public face that nullified the bra-burning stereotypes that had been pasted on to it. Gloria was one of my models for standing your ground – gracefully if possible, but if not, not. She withstood a great many buckets of pig slop thrown her way. Reading the list of her accomplishments and of the movements in which she was active, I’m amazed that any human being could do so much. Wonder Woman was one of her heroes, and that’s what she was: a Wonder Woman.

‘Impossible to imagine my life without her’

Tavi Gevinson, author and actor

I am one of countless people who can say that it’s impossible to imagine my life without the activism, vision, and courage of Gloria Steinem. There would have been no Rookie without Ms magazine and its lineage. I am grateful beyond words for her example and encouragement.

‘Cool, sexy and badass’

Ronan Farrow, author and journalist

Gloria taught a generation how to live with a sense of purpose and justice. She found the good fights and fought them, even in unexpected corners; I discovered only after knowing her for years that she’d once intervened in a case involving my family, advocating for a child-welfare investigator who lost his job after finding a controversial allegation of abuse to be credible. But more than her great fights, Gloria was an example of how to be the best we can be. She was a riot. She was cool. She was sexy. She was a badass. She made no pretense of perfection, and reckoned with mistakes openly. Like a lot of people, I hoped to grow up to be Gloria. I still do.

‘Invited everyone else to stand a little taller’

Melinda French Gates, philanthropist

Generational change doesn’t happen by accident or fate – it takes leaders like Gloria Steinem, who work hand in hand with so many others to build a lasting movement. The decades of energy, brilliance and advocacy she devoted to women’s rights helped so many of us see that we belonged at the tables where decisions are made. Her dedication helped illuminate a simple truth: when women can stand in their power, they invite everyone else to stand a little taller, too. What a light she was for me and so many others. What a debt we owe her.

‘She reimagined a more just world’

Elaine Welteroth, author and Birthfund founder

Losing Gloria Steinem feels like losing a lighthouse in dark times. But her legacy will live on through the torches she lit inside women of every generation. I am humbled to consider myself one of millions of those torches, shining proudly in her honor. Gloria showed us what it means to use your voice, challenge the systems that diminish women, radically reimagine a more just world – and then have the courage to build it. Her life is a blueprint for the work still ahead of us.

‘A very tall tree has fallen in our forest’

Padma Lakshmi, TV host and author

Gloria was very generous with her time and her energy, right up until the end. Every time I spoke to her, I heard about another event or trip or cause or organizing event. It’s been said many times and she’s spoken about it herself: she really loved getting people together.

I want people to know that she had a wicked sense of humor. That she was always willing to listen. That she was a joy to be with and didn’t take herself very seriously, but took the world incredibly seriously. And in spite of all of the recent setbacks that we’ve had in America as it relates to women, she was hopeful. She was not deterred.

I see her towering legacy as someone who really lit our way. Someone who told us that words matter – yes, she was such a tall figure in civic service and community organizing and in the women’s movement, but she was first and foremost a writer, and to me her words are what will outlive her for generations. She was intrepid. She made you feel motivated and fired up and made you feel powerful, too. She was not interested in just holding forth. She was interested in listening, as I think all great people are. She cast a long shadow, and I’ll miss her very, very much. It’s a big hole, not only in the world, but in my heart. A very tall tree has fallen in our forest.

‘Sex and the City wouldn’t exist without her’

Candace Bushnell, author

Sex and the City wouldn’t exist without Gloria Steinem. She gave me and so many other women the courage to question societal norms – and the patriarchy – around what women could do, be and, most of all, think.

‘Called forth a radical redefinition of women and ageing’

Margie Adam, musician

Gloria Steinem made news when she turned 40 and a reporter remarked: “You don’t look 40!” She responded: “This is what 40 looks like.” I was 27 years old at the time. When I began to get this same comment when mentioning my age, I used Gloria’s exact words. By then her comment was part of the mantra women used to call forth a radical redefinition of women and aging that the on-going Women’s Liberation Movement continues to keep front and center. Just a few months ago I had a birthday and announced my age to a room full of people. Someone called out: “You don’t look 79!” To which I conjured Gloria and answered: “This is what 79 looks like.” Let us channel the force field that is Gloria Steinem.

‘A model of empathy’

Melissa Auf der Maur, musician

Gloria Steinem has left us, but countless of her sayings are at hand for us to learn from: “We shall overcome” and “The truth will set you free, but first you will be pissed off” come to mind. But as I comb through her speeches, one from this year feels most urgent. “We only experience real empathy when we are flooded with oxytocin, and it only happens when we’re together,” she said while sitting in her living room, hosting a feminist salon in her 90s. The importance of coming together in person used to be a given, but not now in the age of digitized divide. May we gather in each other’s living rooms and activate empathy salons, united and empowered in honor of Gloria and all the women who have gathered before us.

‘The most present person in the room’

Sarah Ruhl, co-writer of The Glorias

I had the honor of meeting Gloria Steinem when working on a film (The Glorias) about her extraordinary life. Gloria rushed into the meeting wearing her signature silver belt and black tunic. She apologized, with humility, for being late; she was coming from a meeting at the United Nations where she was speaking about the powerful connection between countries being peaceful and equal rights for women. I couldn’t believe she’d been apologetic about being late to a film meeting when she’d been busy addressing an international body about subjects of deep import. But that was Gloria: humble, charming, funny, insightful and concerned about everyone else.

Every time I met with Gloria, she was the most present person in the room. When I say present, I do not mean the kind of charisma that demands attention for the self; I mean that she activated the entire room with the unique quality of her listening. I bonded with her over shared feminist values (which I’d inherited, in part, from her), but also over the act of writing. Many first associate the image of Gloria with her fist raised at a podium, speaking out and marching; what fascinated me as I dove into her history was how she managed to overcome a fear of public speaking because she had more latitude to speak freely at demonstrations than in print.

First and foremost, she began as a writer. She came to speaking later, when the journalistic constraints of the 60s (pre-Ms magazine) barred her from writing about feminist concerns like abortion. This is one of her many enduring lessons: that great leaders are not born with every quality they need, but are created through incredible acts of bravery, shaped by their profound sense of mission. Thank God that we still have her writing and her example as a road map. We need her legacy now more than ever, and though we won’t have her robust and encouraging laughter in the room, we will always have her powerful words.

‘She was my Wonder Woman’

Lynda Carter, actor

Gloria was bold, beautiful and feminine. She was my Wonder Woman.