Feminist icon Gloria Steinem's youthful work fighting Soviet propaganda revealed
American feminist Gloria Steinem, who recently passed away, had a lesser-known chapter in her early life — she received CIA funding to counter Soviet propaganda aimed at young people.
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Gloria Steinem, who recently passed away, is widely recognized as one of the most influential American feminists and advocates for women's rights. Yet her biography contains a lesser-known chapter that resembles a Cold War espionage story more than the life of a future feminist icon.
The CIA connection
Before Steinem became a globally recognized voice for feminism, she received funding in her youth from the United States Central Intelligence Agency. She used this money to counter Soviet Union propaganda that was, at the time, specifically targeting young people.
This detail reveals a lesser-known side of her life story — a period when the US and the Soviet Union competed fiercely for ideological influence over the next generation worldwide during the Cold War. Steinem's involvement in this effort came years before she achieved international recognition as a leading figure of the feminist movement.
Steinem later became one of the most influential voices for women's rights of the 20th century, shaping how entire generations viewed gender equality. Still, this Cold War-era episode involving the CIA remains a notable and somewhat contradictory fragment of her broader biography, illustrating how personal conviction and the political realities of the time could intertwine in complex ways.
