Gloria Steinem Marches On

A journalist from Ohio who once went undercover at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Club for a story, Gloria Steinem emerged in the ’70s as the aviator-shaded face — and de facto voice — of the women’s movement. Her magazine, Ms., which she co-founded in 1971, was notable for being owned and operated entirely by women, and was one of the first mainstream publications to directly address the issues of reproductive rights and domestic violence. And while many of her detractors (Richard Nixon, Rush Limbaugh) have fallen by the wayside, Steinem remains relevant. Her forthcoming memoir, ‘‘My Life on the Road,’’ documents her travels as an activist, and, at 81, she is an icon for a new wave of celebrity feminists that includes Lena Dunham and Emma Watson. Here, a front-line look at Steinem’s legacy.