Last night I watched an episode of The Golden Girls with my partner, who’d never seen it before. When I was a kid, I loved this show and watched it religiously, endlessly entranced by, especially, Dorothy Zbornak’s sharp, sarcastic wit – I don’t remember the exact context, but I still remember her snapping down the phone, “No, I will not have a nice day!” That is the energy I still strive to bring to work every day.
Now – after seven years at HAAG – I see more clearly the ways Dorothy, Blanche, Rose and Sofia are creating their own housing option in a world that doesn’t always have another place for them. The care, support and mutual aid they show for each other is often as moving as it is funny. Dorothy might joke about sending Ma back to the comically awful retirement village Shady Pines, but really it’s their shared life together that lets them all keep living independently.
Within the safe bounds of a television sitcom, friendship is the real security of tenure. There must be a special episode about homelessness in there somewhere (specific episodes often tackling, and then resolving, important contemporary social issues), but the Girls never really need to think about public housing or eviction laws. Of course, the show is more fun that way – I don’t need or want to see how badly Rose misunderstands her rights, or an episode where Blanche gets into trouble when it turns out the gentleman she thinks she’s flirting with has actually signed her up to a predatory retirement village contract.
But it’s nice to let my thoughts drift between the idealised fantasy of the show and the realities of contemporary Australia, where older women are one of the fastest growing groups of homeless people. Sharehousing has often been a preferred form of tenure for many marginalised groups – students, LGBTI people, refugees, etc – but has generally not suited older people. Partly this is because sharing is a less desirable lifestyle for some older people, but it’s also because Australian housing laws have not properly served or protected shared housing arrangements. If tenancy laws provided the security for housemates to age in place and the flexibility to leave as they needed to, maybe we’d see real-life Golden Girls situations working out as well as they do in the show.
Please let us know what you think about this – would you like more and better options for shared housing, or is independence more important? What would you need to feel safe and comfortable sharing a home with friends? And who’s your favourite Golden Girl, and why is it Dorothy Zbornak?