S8 E1 Extra Sugar - Golden Girls: What Golden Girls Taught Us About Aging Women in Hollywood

Covering Golden Girls got us thinking about what a feat it was to get four women – let alone those over the age of 50 – in leading roles on TV in the 1980s. We decided it was time for a temperature check: how is Hollywood doing all these years on? What has and hasn’t changed since these iconic women left the screen 30+ years ago? What did Golden Girls get right at the time and where did they miss the mark? You’ll be utterly shocked to learn, well, it’s complicated. 

Reads:

• How “The Golden Girls” Celebrated—and Distorted—Old Age | The New Yorker 

• Beyond the Stereotypes: The Reality of Aging Women in Films page - Geena Davis Institute 

• Boxed In: Women On Screen and Behind the Scenes on Broadcast and Streaming Television in 2023-24 

• Cannonball with Wesley Morris

• Kamala Harris’ hidden foe: pervasive bias against powerful middle-aged women - Berkeley News 

• Older Women Are Finally Being Represented In Hollywood 

• Women Over 40 Are Being Excluded from Hollywood - Ms. Magazine

And, as always, thank you for being a friend!

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