Daria: The Fragrance
Smells Like: Exasperation, coffee, notebook paper, pizza, slightly bitter notes tempered with occasional bits of warmth
Bottle Style: A herd of beautiful wild ponies running free across the plains. Well, either that or the creepy eye-spiral from "Sick Sad World."
Cost: Your soul, you sell-out. The world needs another celebrity fragrance like it needs another member of the Fashion Club.
Tagline: "Everything Stinks, And Now So Can You."


Tim Gunn: Make It Work
Smells Like: Clean, crisp notes, calming essences for times of crisis, hints of the Red Lobster to evoke happy memories of the past, done with impeccable taste, of course.
Bottle Style: Gunn, who holds a BFA in sculpture, could certainly come up with a creative bottle design.
Cost: Relatively affordable: Gunn has said in the past that "you don't have to spend a lot of money for fashion!"
Tagline: "Carry On!"


Eau De Joan
Smells Like: Cigarette smoke, vodka gimlets, broken hearts, warm, rich, mysterious notes: the kind strong enough to cover up a woman's secrets.
Bottle Style: Curvy and red.
Cost: Affordable enough to be purchased on a secretary's salary in 1963.
Tagline: Peggy Olson is working on it right now; we'll let you know.


Amy & Tina: Smells Belles
Smells Like: Hilarity, hints of lemon, multi-layered scents that adapt to the wearer's mood as a tribute to Fey and Poehler's ability to quickly move in and out of character, junk food, good times.
Bottle Style: Something both glamorous and funny.
Cost: Something you can earn with a lot of hard work, talent, and late nights at the office.
Tagline: "For Good Nights And Pleasant Tomorrows" or "Yeah, We Have A Scent...Jealous?!?"


Golden Girls: Stay Gold
Smells Like: Miami beaches, influences from Southern, Sicilian, and Norwegian-by-way-of-St. Olaf culture, friendship, romance, Zbornak-inspired bitterness, and, of course, cheesecake.
Bottle Style: Gold and sassy.
Cost: Let's just say that if you threw a party, and invited everyone you knew, someone would be able to afford it. Look for the biggest gift.
Tagline: "Thank You For Buying Our Scent."

What celebrity fragrances would you like to see? Feel free to design your own in the comments.

Shop Your Favorite Stars' Signature Scents! [People]
I Told Tim Gunn My Shoes Are From Old Navy [iVillage]

A piece in the Times claims that the newest generation of widows and widowers sees a dramatic shift from the dynamic they knew in married life: widows feel comfortable being independent, while a generation of men who rarely learned to cook or keep house finds itself lonely and dependent. Often responsible for organizing the family social lives, women generally have an easier time maintaining a circle of friends and contact with family and neighbors - in part because, perhaps, men of this generation might feel uncomfortable being dependent or seeking help. And perhaps partly as a result, a far higher percentage of widowers over 65 choose to remarry than do their female counterparts.

What's more,

Left to their own devices, older men don't eat as well as older women, are less likely to seek medical care when they are sick, and more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. Older women have more chronic diseases, in part because they live longer, but older men are more likely to die suddenly from heart attacks and other catastrophic, stress-related diseases. Men over 65 are five times as likely as women to commit suicide. Divorced and widowed men have suicide rates three times higher than that of older men living with a spouse.

While it's delightful to hear that older women are increasingly happy and independent - and the truth of these assertions are certainly borne out anecdotally, I know in my own family - I don't like the tone of some of the comments in this piece. Especially this:

In a strange twist of fortune - some might call it poetic justice - age can bring with it something of a reversal in gender roles. The rise of an old girls' network, friends and family who see women through a lifetime of transitions, often contrasts sharply with the decline of the old boys' network, the professional associations that secure young men's places in the world but offer little support or solace in later life.

"Poetic justice?" Yuck. I get the point they're making - but I think this callousness belittles both these women's accomplishments and the sorrow of those men who have succumbed to loneliness. Certainly no one who's seen a grandfather struggling through learning basic housekeeping and eating poorly can take any larger satisfaction from the turn of events. Why can't we instead realize that the same rigidity of roles that we deplore could hurt not just women, but men, and find that not a source of satisfaction, but of sorrow? Nowadays, one hopes, the increased equality at both home and work will also serve to benefit men as well as women - that they, with some knowledge of cooking and caring for themselves, won't be left helpless.

The author also talks about the "liberation" some widows feel, and the plans for a new life, "none of which involved managing another man's domestic life." While this may be true for many, I rankle at dismissing decades of life according only to the modern terms that equate marriage of that generation only with domestic slavery. I'm thinking of my great-aunt here; after her husband's death, she took full advantage of her "freedom," traveling and enjoying friends, volunteer work and culture. She was happy, and yes, surely free of the need for security that may have bedeviled widows of earlier generations - but she'd also have loved a few more years with her husband. Maybe I'm thinking too of yesterday's "Modern Love" that painted a touching portrait of a long marriage and the joy of its companionship. Are men of this generation frequently troubled by a "loss of status?" Are women often happy to stay unmarried? Surely. But aging in our society is a lot more complicated than this - as are the individuals.

With Friends Aplenty, Many Widows Choose Singlehood [NY Times]
Yes, We Do. Even At Our Age. [NY Times]

Thanks to Night at the Museum 2, Amelia Earhart is apparently having a moment. Which is great. But even nicer than Amy Adams playing the great aviator is the possibility of some actual living pilots getting their due. The Women Airforce Service Pilots, founded in 1942, was designed to create a corps of female civilian pilots who could take over home front flying jobs while male fliers served overseas. Although many of them flew military aircraft - the first women in American history to do so - they were not considered part of the army, and are only now being considered for the highest civilian honor, the the Congressional Gold Medal. The bill is being pushed by Kay Bailey Hutchison and Barbara Mikulski, and as in many such cases, it's a race against time: there are fewer than 300 surviving WASPs, all in their late 80s if not older.

The program was started largely at the urging of prominent pilot Jacqueline Cochran, who argued that women were more than capable of doing a civilian pilot's work with proper training. Standards were rigorous: of the 25,000 women who applied, only 1,830 were accepted, and of these about seven hundred dropped out of the arduous training course. Among other things, all pilots had to be over 21 and at least 5' 1/2" tall in order to man a cockpit. If they did make the grade the pilots were forced to pay their own way to the 21-27 week training camp, and were given only $250 a month. They flew everything from bombers to test planes, and their jobs ranged from helping with aircraft training to testing repaired planes, working as flying instructors, and transporting flyers and cargo - in short, all the work of a military pilot, with the risks to match: thirty-eight pilots died in the line of duty - at which time, their families were responsible for the transport of their bodies.

The women were summarily dismissed after the war without so much as a thank-you or any reorientation help, and did not receive veterans' benefits until 1977 (women had been accepted into the Air Force three years previously.) The attitude of many of the pilots was, however matter-of-fact; says one 89-year-old WASP, "We were proud of what we did, and the war was over. It was time to get on." Most of them speak of how pleased they are to serve as role models, and must be gratified at the growing number of female pilots. However, Deanie Parrish, who, with daughter Nancy, maintains the Wings Across America WASP website, is pleased to have received one form of official recognition; it always troubled her that those WASPs killed while on the job didn't qualify for the honors of a military funeral. Says she, "I didn't care for veteran status, but now I could have a flag on my coffin ... that is important to me."

Unsung Heroes Of World War II Finally Get Their Due [CNN]
Wings Across America
Amelia Earhart's Soaring Spirit [LA Times]

Congressional Gold Medal for My Hero! [Everyday Citizen via Daily Kos]
Ask the Pilot [Salon]
Alumna Leads Charge To Honor WWII's Female Pilots [Baylor]

Although in the past twenty years the world has become increasingly aware of the many Korean women - between 150,000 and 200,000 - forced into slavery by Japanese soldiers during World War II, their fight for acknowledgment - let alone reparation - is far from over. As an L.A. Times piece makes clear, It's a complex issue, because for decades many of the women, who were generally abducted or tricked into prostitution, regarded their enslavement as such a shame that they never spoke of it and, in some cases, took it to their graves. As a result, it's hard to know exactly how many were subjected to such treatment, or how many survive; an attempt to locate survivors in the 1990s found only 234, of whom 93 are still living.

Now in their eighties and nineties, eight of these "comfort women" live together in an idiosyncratic retirement community on the outskirts of Seoul, established as non-profit about fifteen years ago. Funded by philanthropists and Buddhist organizations, the House of Sharing, in addition to a museum of "Japanese Military Sexual Slavery," features "a full-time chef and nurse and volunteer caregivers. There are regular art classes, exercise sessions and trips to the doctor." This is a heartening nod to the respect accorded older generations; it's hard, although nice, to imagine a comparable facility here. House of Sharing also a lot of activism, since the residents, whatever their differences, are joined in a need for closure. The women and their sympathizers picket the Japanese Embassy weekly, seeking both reparations and a formal apology from the Japanese government - who, in 1993, acknowledged but did not answer for the Imperial army's practice - and pushing for more support from South Korea. Some have traveled as far as Washington to testify before congress, which has called for Japan to apologize (complex given the U.S.'s own history of sexual exploitation in Korea - albeit not one involving official recognition or forced recruitment.)

Time, as both activists and the victims themselves are aware, is running out. Ideally, reparation can be made while a maximum number of these women are still alive, and, almost as important, enough awareness can be brought to the issue in Korea that the history is destigmatized and more feel emboldened to come forward. Like any issue of sexual assault, it's a deeply complex one, and the desire to respect privacy and individual comfort wars with a very real need to see justice done. Because there are still conservative factions in Japan who deny evidence of these war crimes, it's more crucial than usual that victims come forward - and do so before it's too late, and there really is no living evidence of the kind of crime that's all too often forgotten.

.South Korea's Wartime Sex Slaves: Hoping For Closure At The End Of Their Lives [LA Times]

Earlier: South Korea, U.S. Military Accused Of Encouraging Prostitution

Earlier: The Internet Celebrates The Feminist Legacy Of Bea Arthur

Because America is both a melting pot and a fairly young country, our shared culture is pop culture; we are influenced, informed, and ultimately reflected by television, movies, music, books, etc. And Bea Arthur's work on both stage and screen was defined by much more than her deep voice and deadpan delivery. It played an important part in our social change.

1.) Maude
The Tony and Emmy-winning actress worked in show business for most of her adult life, but it wasn't until she was 50 that she really made it big — in what she refers to as her "middle-aged Cinderella story" — starring in Maude (a spin-off of All in the Family) that ran from 1972 - 1978. In the title role of Maude Findlay, Arthur played an outspoken liberal feminist and civil rights activist, and the show was far ahead of its time, addressing topics of menopause, alcoholism, plastic surgery, and most notably, abortion.

During the first season, in a two-part episode titled "Maude's Dilemma," 47-year-old Maude discovers that she's pregnant. She and her husband and her adult daughter (Adrienne Barbeau) weigh her options, and ultimately, Maude terminates the pregnancy — a first for network TV. Although abortion was legalized in New York, where Maude was set, the episodes were broadcast in November 1972, two months before Roe v. Wade was decided. Two CBS affiliates refused to broadcast the program. Here's a clip:

Although Arthur enjoyed the role she played, she didn't enjoy another—that of a champion of the women's movement—thrust upon her, saying in a 2001 interview, "They just assumed I was the Joan of Arc of the women's movement. And I wasn't at all. It put a lot of unnecessary pressure on me."

Later in life, however, Arthur adopted some of the language of feminism when discussing the breakup of her second marriage, which she blamed on her dedication to her career. "I don't think I ever truly believed in marriage anyway. I guess marriage means that you're a woman and not a . . . person."

She elaborates on that — and the social importance of Maude — here, in this interview for The Archive of American Television.

2.) Sex and the Single Senior
Playing Dorothy Zbornak in the hit sitcom Golden Girls (which ran from 1985 - 1992), Arthur, and her costars Rue McClanahan, Estelle Getty, and Betty White, achieved on prime time TV what seemed to be the impossible: Showcasing post-menopausal women as trendy, funny, and sexual. Way before Sex and the City was lauded for its portrayal of strong female friendships and the discussion of shopping-bag swinger lifestyles over brunch in NYC, Dorothy, Sophia, Blanche, and Rose talked about their very active sex lives over plates of cheesecake in Miami. In this clip, the girls go out to buy condoms to prepare for a romantic cruise they're about to embark on with their boyfriends:

All four actresses on the show won Emmys for their roles, making it the first time since All in the Family that a sitcom had an entirely award-winning cast. (You can read an oral history of Golden Girls here.)

Of her role on the show, Arthur said, "It's very nice to have women realize that women our age can be attractive and well groomed and wear fabulous clothes and earrings, and have a sex life." Interestingly, when GG first premiered, Dorothy was about the age of Kim Cattrall in the SATC movie.

3.) Breaking the Mold
Having reached the crest of her career in middle age, and being 5'9, with a baritone voice, Arthur was not exactly the ingenue. With her trademark, cutting one-liners, Arthur was way too salty for the sugar-and-spice female stereotype. Instead of fighting the aging process cosmetically, she used it to get a laugh and earn a buck, as seen in this Golden Girls clip.

She carried the same attitude later on in her career, as well, as seen in the TV Land show Back to the Grind in 2007. (Clip below.)

4.) Gay Icon
In addition to her work as an animal rights activist, Arthur involved herself in AIDS awareness, speaking at many events. (She once said, "Of course I have gay friends — doesn't everybody?" and when lesbian rumors surfaced, she responded, "I think it is because of the voice, but who cares?") Episodes of Golden Girls and Maude both addressed the subject of homosexuality, but this '70s performance, featuring Arthur singing about drugs with her friend Rock Hudson, stands out the most.

5.) Ribald and Refined
While a lot of the humor on Golden Girls was assuredly bawdy, Arthur pushed the envelope for a joke in real life, too. We leave you with her dramatic reading from Pamela Anderson's novel Star Struck, regarding anal sex.

Cheers To 'Maude' Bea Arthur [NPR]
Here's Looking At You, Bea Arthur [USA Today]
Beatrice Arthur: A Towering Comedic Talent From Another Era [LA Times]
'Golden Girls': A 20th Anniversary Oral History [EW]

Earlier: Bea Arthur: Golden Bitch
Bea Arthur Does Carrie Bradshaw In Old Lady Version Of Sex And The City

"I don't think anybody thought that it was okay to be a feminist back when she was doing Maude," McClanahan tells Entertainment Weekly, "And I'm sure that [show] released a lot of inhibitions.I know The Golden Girls certainly did because I've got fan mail saying "Thank you for allowing me to act and dress like I feel." Because in those days, when you were over 50, you were supposed to be wearing certain types of clothes and behaving a certain way. And women were writing saying 'Thank you, thank you, thank you for the freedom, for the release, for the permission.' And I'm sure Bea got that same kind of fan mail, too."

Arthur, who passed away yesterday at the age of 86, is being celebrated across the internet, with various tributes pointing out her important role in challenging what it meant to be a woman on television. As James Poniewozik of Time notes: "Spun off by Norman Lear onto her own show, she created a legendary character in her own right by showing Maude wrestling with serious issues for a TV sitcom-alcoholism, drug abuse, and famously in 1972, abortion, as her character decided to terminate a pregnancy late in her 40s. (Even today, it's extremely rare for a TV female lead to make that choice.) What endeared Maude to us, beyond her quick wit, was the fact that she was a person with doubts, not just a paragon of liberal rectitude."

Salon's Rebecca Traister also celebrates Arthur's feminist legacy, noting that the actress consistently challenged the public's perception of women, from her role as "Maude Findlay, the Democratic-voting, women's liberation-supporting, four times married cousin of Edith Bunker," (a character who also had the first prime-time abortion, two months before the Roe vs. Wade decision was made) to her role as Dorothy Zbornak on The Golden Girls a show that Traister praises for "one of the most female-friendly and respectful looks at the experience of aging while female ever broadcast on national airwaves, simply by showing women — living, talking, having sex, making friends, cracking wise, living full lives together with energy and engagement." Golden Girls, the New York Times notes, also provided a platform for the discussion of "serious issues, especially those involved with aging, but also matters like gun control, gay rights and domestic violence."

Perhaps Arthur's most lasting legacy will be her undeniable presence: through her quick wit and humor, she was able to bring her audience along, drawing them into discussing issues they might have otherwise shied away from. "[Thirty-seven] years ago she showed me how to be very brave in playing comedy," McClanahan recalls, "I'll miss that courage. And I'll miss that voice." So will we, Rue. So will we.

Golden Girls Say Emotional Goodbye To Bea Arthur [Kansas City Star]
Sharp Tongued Sitcom Roles Symbolized Rise Of Feminism [WashingtonPost]
Bea Arthur, Star of Two Television Comedies, Dies At 86 [NYTimes]
Remembering Bea Arthur, Feminist TV Pioneer [Salon]
Bea Arthur, 1922-2009 [Time]
Rue McClanahan Remembers Bea Arthur [EW]
5 Things You Didn't Know About Bea Arthur: A Tribute [Neatorama]

According to the Associated Press, Arthur died peacefully in her sleep after a battle with cancer. "She was a brilliant and witty woman," said her personal assistant, Dan Watt. "Bea will always have a special place in my heart." In ours, too. Thank you Bea, for being a friend, and for bringing such joy and laughter to us all. You will be missed. [AP]


In a small tribute to both Bea and Estelle Getty, here is one of my favorite clips (feel free to share your own in the comments):