Steinem co-founds Ms. magazine, the first national feminist magazine created and run entirely by women.
In early 1972, Gloria Steinem and a group of fellow feminist writers and editors, including Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Patricia Carbine, and Dorothy Pitman Hughes, formally established Ms. magazine as an independent publication. It was conceived as the first national magazine to be created, edited, and run entirely by women, dedicated explicitly to feminist politics and women's lived experiences.
The founding of Ms. represented a watershed moment in American media: prior to this, mainstream women's magazines were typically owned and directed by men and focused overwhelmingly on homemaking, beauty, and fashion. Ms. instead addressed topics such as domestic violence, workplace discrimination, abortion rights, and political representation, treating women as full citizens and thinkers rather than consumers alone.
Steinem became the magazine's most visible public face and a driving editorial force, shaping its tone and content for the next 15 years. The founding required overcoming significant skepticism from advertisers and the publishing industry, who doubted a feminist magazine could be commercially viable.
The magazine's creation is widely regarded by historians as a genuine institutional first in American publishing and a critical infrastructure-building achievement of second-wave feminism, providing a lasting platform for feminist journalism that continues to this day.