Gloria Steinem, the feminist icon who once dismissed marriage as an institution that destroys relationships, is a first-time bride at the age of 66.
Steinem, the co-founder of Ms. magazine, married South African-born entrepreneur David Bale, 61, in rural Oklahoma on Sunday.
"Though I've worked many years to make marriage more equal, I never expected to take advantage of it myself," Steinem said in a release issued Tuesday by Voters for Choice, a political action committee she helped create.
"I'm happy, surprised and one day will write about it, but for now, I hope this proves what feminists have always said — that feminism is about the ability to choose what's right at each time of our lives."
For years, Steinem said the chances of her ever marrying were slim. In 1987, she said: "I don't think marriage has a good name. . . . Legally speaking, it was designed for a person and a half. You became a semi-non-person when you got married."