The Golden Girls is a show about four older women living together in Miami, Florida. The show originally ran from 1985 to 1992, but it still has a huge following today and its messages still hold up.
Betty White, Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty star as Rose, Dorothy, Blanche and Sophia, respectively. All of these women were of a certain age when they played their roles and proved that women can be funny at any age. It’s still rare today for older women to have good rolls on screen and even rarer for a main cast to be composed entirely of older women.
The Golden Girls shows the importance of friendship, and Dorothy and Sophia’s relationship shows how strong a mother-daughter bond can be. The women argue from time to time, but they always solve their problems and never let anyone come between them. Occasionally a couple of the women will be interested in the same man, but they know that friendship is more important than having a boyfriend.
The show also goes into less trivial issues as well. All of the women are widows except for Dorothy, who is divorced. The show deals with grief and moving on with life after relationships end. Additionally, Dorothy became pregnant when she was in high school, but still went on to have a successful life. Other taboo topics like addiction and menopause are actually addressed on the show as well. The Golden Girls takes issues that many (and sometimes all), women face, but don’t talk about and it lets them know that they are not alone and can find help and support.
One of the biggest running jokes of The Golden Girls is Blanche’s promiscuity. Blanche receives a lot of flack for her sexuality, but she completely owns it and remains strong and confident. On the flipside, Rose’s choice to remain abstinent long after her husband’s death is completely accepted. When any of the women face sexism, they stand up for themselves and each other. The Golden Girls shows that women can (and should) own their sexuality and not take abuse from anyone.
The Golden Girls went off of the air 25 years ago, but it is still far more progressive than any show on the air today. The ladies on the show would definitely consider themselves feminists and can still be inspirational to women (and men), of all ages.