Gloria Steinem remains a strong advocate for equality and social justice.  A 1934 Aries, she chose not to marry because she felt the role too restrictive for her as a young woman in the 1950s.  But she did finally marry at the age of 66. How does this show up in her birth chart?

We see Steinem’s personal strength and self-sufficiency in her Scorpio Ascendant and its ruler Mars.  Mars is placed in its other ruling sign of Aries and conjoins the Sun, a very dynamic combination.  The Sun is exalted in Aries and rules her 10^th house of career.  This might be a combination focused on children, since the Sun and Mars are in the 5^th house.  But Evangeline Adams’ teacher Catherine Thompson said that the Sun in the 5^th house has the potential to “burn up.”  Mars is also inconjunct Neptune in Virgo in the 10^th, showing a less conventional outlet.  Gloria pursued a career that she liked and enjoyed.

The 5^th house also relates to creative self-expression and Steinem began as a freelance journalist.  Her Moon in Leo in the 9^th house found a wider audience through writing, editing, lecturing and political activism.  She became a celebrity in 1963 for her exposé on the treatment of women at the Playboy Club in New York after being hired as a Playboy bunny waitress.  This was the time of her Saturn return, when it also opposed her Midheaven, showing a major turning point in her life.

Her experiences with marriage and partnerships are 7^th house issues, and she has Taurus on the cusp, ruled by Venus in Aquarius.  Venus conjoins Gloria’s 4^th house cusp, so again we might consider an outlet through the home, or a sense of security as inducements to marriage.  Though the sign of Aquarius is not known to necessarily follow conventions.

Saturn also conjoins her 4^th house cusp and Venus, so we can see why her concept of relationships had a sense of restriction.  With both planets conjunct in Aquarius, Steinem needed a feeling of independence in partnerships, and her focus remained on special-interest advocacy.  The early home is also represented by the 4^th house, and Gloria’s youth was peripatetic, with some freedom but obligations as well.

Her father was a travelling antiques salesman, and the family rarely stayed in one place for long.  When her parents divorced when she was 12, she became responsible for the emotional support of her mother, who suffered from chronic depression.  This might also be indicated by Mercury in Pisces in the 4^th opposite Neptune, giving her empathy and compassion through an experience of suffering at an early age.

In keeping with the prominence of the dignified Saturn in Aquarius, Steinem’s paternal grandmother had been a noted Ohio suffragist in the early 20^th century, astrologically showing her feminist roots.

Taurus on the 7^th and its ruler in fixed signs typically supports longer lasting connections, and Gloria had several long-term relationships with prominent men over the course of her life.  She came close to marriage once, even getting a license, but didn’t follow through.  She has said that it was always her own choice not to marry, but both Saturn and Aquarius may shy away from legal permanence.

Steinem’s marriage to businessman and environmentalist David Bale on September 3, 2000 at the age of 66 is in keeping with Saturn’s influence for a delayed or late marriage, or one that demands maturity.  The marriage seems to have been a good one, but while Bale was seven years younger than his wife, he died of brain cancer in late 2003 at the age of 62, putting Steinem back in a caretaker role during the last two years of his life.

At 90, Gloria Steinem continues to fight sexism and campaign for equality, working from her Manhattan brownstone home.  Google Arts & Culture says that “Since 1966, this apartment has served as birthplace and host to many movements and limitless ideas… countless organizations and individuals… coalesced here to organize, strategize and create.”  Real estate is another 4^th house theme, and the activist eventually bought her apartment, which is extremely valuable today.  Ultimately, it seems that the home and the relationships that it supports became the real center of stability in Steinem’s life, a connection that’s lasted nearly 60 years.

Gloria Steinem was born on March 25, 1934 at 10:00 p.m. in Toledo, OH, rated AA on Astrodatabank (from “officially certified birth data”).

Ms. Gloria Steinem: A Life by Winifred Conkling is an excellent biography that inspired me to look at Steinem’s horoscope.