i loved bea, i never cared for the golden girls, but i remember watching maude as a kid and loving her. she was exactly what tv needed-- a feminist answer to archie bunker. yes, i know, bunker was a satirical white american male, and his ignorance was the point of all in the family. but no one could stand toe to toe with him....except for maude. she was his polar opposite-- smart, dry, knowledgeable, open to the world, yet, had his virtues as well. she was strong and unafraid to speak her mind, let the chips fall where they may. when she debuted on all in the family, feminists all over the country stood a little taller. she spoke for all of us, and made women that knew little of feminism pay attention.

i only hope that younger generations get such a role model, even half of the one you played. there is a reason that busties, say "thank maude!" it's more than just a tongue in cheek reference, she was-- is our patron saint.

thank you, bea-- for being another role model that made me want to grow up to be a strong woman. hopefully i'll get there some day.

R.I.P.

Aw. Balls. That's sad.

That's sad

I really loved her in Golden Girls and Maude. I loved that both characters were feminist role models. I also identified with Dorothy in a weird way, even though I was a teenager.

What an amazing career she had, and what an incredibly brave voice. That abortion episode on Maude was significant for a number of reasons--the first being that, as a character, she chose to have the abortion without telling her husband about the pregnancy at all; the second being that Roe vs. Wade hadn't even been made into law yet. So we had a character on television making and then carrying out a decision that was considered immoral, and actually illegal--portraying that decision as her inherent right and her right alone.

I am blown away by just how powerful that is, in retrospect--and how much we've lost in comparison today, simply because media has allowed us to forget that history women have had--even our recent history, which Bea had a hand in creating. You would never see such a thing on television now, you can't even mention the word abortion in a script, you can't talk about it anywhere in a debate, it's just the topic no one wants to discuss and everyone wants to control. Try to imagine which actress now working would have the strength to portray that anywhere now--television or film--and not fear career suicide. But Bea had no problem with it. When people stress that "Bea was no feminist but she played one on TV", all I can think is no one would play a role like that if she weren't a feminist, that's for sure.

On top of everything else, she was an incredible comedienne.

ChaChaHeels, sorry if I seem like I'm nit-picking, but are you sure about all of your details for that episode of Maude? I listened to an old interview with Bea Arthur on "Fresh Air" last night during which they played part of that episode. It sounds like Maude and her husband decided together to have the pregnancy terminated.

Marilyn French died.

Confessions from the I'm A Bad Feminist files: I tried reading "The Women's Room" for the hell of it when I was in high school and for the life of me could not get into it. It was one of those books I was supposed to read and like (I got this impression from one of my friends who had read it and was all gung-ho about it), but the reality is that I barely made a dent in it before casting it aside.

Me, too, Raisin. I read the whole thing on a friend's rec & thought it was abysmal. I felt like such a bad feminist.

Uhhh, confessions from a worse feminist, I've never heard of the book.

I too loved the Golden Girls, It was the first time I had ever seen older women portrayed as sexual beings.

I'm late on this, but Maude & Walter *DID* talk about the abortion & he agreed that at their advanced age (Late forties), having a child wasn't a good decision for them. Ultimately the choice was Maude's, but Walter was aware of the pregnancy & supported Maude.

I'm joining the bad feminist book club in that I hated The Women's Room too.

Bea Arthur was awesome; I really liked the tribute Go Fug Yourself did about her.

Hey, at least you guys tried to read it- I recognized her name and the name of the book, but I've never read it. Sounds like I didn't miss much.

*wipes sweat from brow* THANK COD I AM NOT ALONE ON THIS ONE! It's always felt like a stupidly dark secret of mine. Plus, my friend who realllllllllllly liked it didn't have the best taste in reading material. She went on to study science; I went on to study literature. It really was poor writing.

I've watched so many episodes of the Golden Girls in the last week. Some cable channels have been showing back-to-back episodes around dinnertime and it is just so great. I think I saw what must have been the final episode ever (Dorothy gets married and moves out of the house) and I was totally tearing up at the end when she was saying goodbye to the three of them. Beautiful tribute to friendships.

Dom Deluise RIP

Um... I actually liked The Women's Room. I even re-read it. Yes, it is maudlin, biased, and ultimately reads as a thinly veiled autobiography. I didn't even like the main character, Mira, and downright disliked a lot of the other characters.

However, the first half really shows the brain-numbing minutae of suburban housewife life... which I appreciate is no fun to read about. I found it on my mom's shelf (she is a good feminist, natch) and read it on a visit home in my early 20s. None of it spoke to my experience but I knew I didn't want almost all the options presented as defaults in the book, so it worked as a good piece of feminism.

Aww, see, that's exactly why I didn't read much of it before losing my patience. Plus, my brain was likely fried that summer from too many late nights watching Comedy Central and MTV.

I still love ya, Syb! haha

Oh noes! Koko Taylor died today!

Then I shall be pitching a wang dang doodle all night long. RIP, Koko!

David Carradine was found dead in a hotel room in Bangkok this morning. There are conflicting reports about whether it was a suicide or not. I think I remember hearing that he suffered from depression, or it ran in the family.

I wonder who will be the third celebrity to die in the next few days.

polly i'm guessing it will be a political or sports figure. we've got music (koko), and acting (carradine)... what else is left?

I bet you're right- Ted Kennedy or Henry Kissinger?

Sorry, this has probably veered into the insensitive.

perhaps.

*crosses fingers and daydreams fondly about kissinger obits*

Polly, every time a celebrity dies lately, I'm surprised it is not Patrick Swayze. Last picture I saw of him was not good.

Oh yeah, that's another one on Death Watch 2009.

Soooo, we have the three, bets on the next three? I'm also thinking the same about Swayze, the man is looking pretty horrible these days.

ETA: More info on David Carradine's death.

Geez, makes me wonder how many people die every year from auto erotic asphyxiation.

Ed McMahon died last night.

Watching the news about Ed McMahon, I realized something. Normally, when celebrities die, it seems that they either die in some scandle ridden way, die at the absolute bottom of the life (drugs, alone, impoverished, etc.) or they die while still famous through some fluke. Ed McMahon died the way that our elders and grandparents will/have died. Often it is slow and painful, with multiple losses, little and big, along the way. Watching the stories of his house forclosure, his injuries and all of that, it just reminded me of my grandfather and the way that I fear I would die.

I hope he is in a better place now.

Hey-oh, Ed. Hey-oh.

I'm saddened that the last time I saw Ed McMahon on TV he was in one of those Cash For Gold ads.

Dr. Jerri Nielsen FitzGerald survived cancer--by treating herself!--while trapped at the science outpost in the Antarctic. Talk about a pioneering spirit.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31524259/ns/health-cancer/

RIP, Dr. FitzGerald.

Farrah Fawcett died.

I just came in here to post that. Wow, she was only 62.

Me too. Her cancer left her pretty ravaged.

So, who is the third going to be? I'm still looking toward Mr. Swayze.

Looks like Betty Allen is number 3. I don't much about her, but a friend of mine who's into opera is a fan. Sounds like she was a pretty amazing woman. Really sad about Farrah and such an agonizing way to go.

That's so sad about Farrah.

Just heard on the radio that Michael Jackson died.

holy fuck i just saw that too! why the 3's? wow. just, wow.

WHAT?!? I was just going to post that Michael Jackson was hospitalized in the gossip thread.

ETA: I haven't seen or heard anything in the news. It just says he was taken to the hospital, not breathing, possible heart attack.

Our local news just announced that Michale Jackson has died. The source is TMZ so I'm tempted to take it with a grain of salt. Since when does the local news trust TMZ? Are they really that reliable?

E! news confirmed it through a hospital source (yes, i consider E! news real news)

me too, rose but well, i've had a steady diet of crow. but nbc, and fox are still waiting to confirm his death.
cnn as of now reports that he is in a coma. they say from several sources. they say it would be a result of his cardiac arrest. his heart stopped for some amount of time, and the lack of oxygen to the brain would put him in a coma if the restarted his heart. at best he's probably a vegetable.

la times says he's dead according to cnn and msnbc, but in a coma according to fox.

as of 3:29 pacific time, everyone but cnn (including cnn hln)confirms that he has passed.

Yeah, they confirmed that they were unable to resuscitate him.

ABC News is taking the Time's word for it.

Wow. I'm just ... stunned.

Him and Farrah Fawcett in one day. So strange to lose 2 such icons at the same time.

that one is totally out of left field, I'm shocked. I think it was suicide.

I seriously can't believe it. This is a strange day.

There is also a bad rumor going around that Jeff Goldblum died after a bad fall. I have no idea if it is true or not but it is all over Google.

Kitten, that's a hoax. A really old one, too.