GOP hates women so much that they erased a 'Golden Girl'
Yes, Bea Arthur was in the Marine Corps
Today is the 15th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, and I still remember volunteering to help people sign up for it. As someone who absolutely needed it as a five-year freelancer who had to get an ultrasound after a mammogram showed something unusual, I am beyond appreciative of this. It was benign.
ORIGINAL POST BELOW
Years ago, there was an episode of “Love & Hip Hop Atlanta” in which Stevie J. made a snarky comment about his ex talking to her friends. It’s been too long for me to recall what the exact remark was, but he was being dismissive of their conversation by calling them “The Golden Girls.”
I can’t take much seriously about reality TV in general, but my eyes narrowed when I heard him describing these sistas as Blanche, Dorothy, Rose and Sophia like that was an insult. The only thing that could’ve been less impressive as an insult was calling the women “Living Single” — even if Khadijah don’t need ya!
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I adore both shows. On the topic of “Golden Girls,” I don’t think there’s one episode I haven’t seen less than five times. My favorite episode will always be when a jewelry thief was living next door, and a couple of detectives had to hide out in their homes to try to catch the criminals. On top of this just being a fun will-he-won’t-he between Dorothy and one of the detectives (played by Joseph Campanella), I also always liked Season 2’s “To Catch a Neighbor” episode because Bea Arthur looked like the type who could hold her own if somebody tried her.
When I first saw this episode, I had no idea she’d ever been in the Marine Corps. Actually, I was Today Years Old when I found out, but I’m extremely irritated by the way I found out.
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About Bea Arthur in the U.S. Marine Corps
On February 13, 1943, a call went out to women across America: “Be a Marine . . . Free a Man to Fight.” The public had the bright idea to try to rename the women. Dismissing stupid names like the Glamarines and Femarines, Corps Commandant General Thomas Holcomb apparently felt the same way as me about this re-branding decision.
“They are Marines,” he told Life magazine in 1944, according to the National World War II Museum. “They don’t have a nickname, and they don’t need one … They inherit the traditions of Marines. They are Marines.”
More than 20,000 women reservists became marines by the end of World War II. And one of those women was a New Yorker named Bernice Frankel (who we now know as Bea Arthur). Two months before she turned 21, she joined the ranks of the Marine Corps as Private Frankel on February 20, 1943.
Staying for a little over two years, she worked as a dispatcher and a truck driver, and she was honorably discharged on September 26, 1945.
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And the reason I found out Bea Arthur was in the Marine Corps was because the U.S. Department of Defense scrubbed her history from their official site, minus a pic and one line. Although I haven’t been on Twitter (now known as X) in about two years, it was brought to my attention via Bluesky and a link to The Pink News.
After seeing what’s left of her federal page, all I can do is shake my head. The GOP hates women so much that they’re dismissing historical women within the military. I wasn’t particularly surprised when the Arlington National Cemetery website removed links to webpages about Black, Hispanic and female veterans buried at the site.
Recommended Read: “No More Female 4-Stars: Franchetti Firing Leaves Top Ranks Filled by Men”
And a Trump-led military taking down pages about the Tuskegee Airmen and the 2019 profile of the 10 women who piloted one specific stealth bomber just seemed like racism as usual.
Recommended Read: “Post-backlash from anti-DEI campaign, Air Force resumes with showing Tuskegee Airmen and WWII women videos ~ Tuskegee Airmen stunt confirms how much Trump plans to desperately erase Black history”
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But for whatever reason, it somehow surprised me that this crew of Republicans is so petty that they’d erase a “Golden Girl” — the kinda show that I suspect their voting base really likes. Then again, if an unapologetically Liberal, Democratic woman like me loves the show — along with having fond memories of watching her veteran grandfather crack up watching it — then maybe this show was too “left-leaning” for them. (When he and my grandmother weren’t watching “Golden Girls,” they were all about “Mash.” I can guarantee you that this GOP would have no love for Major Margaret Houlihan — although they may be OK with calling her “Hot Lips.”)
Either way, this entire erasure stunt is idiotic. Erasing women from a website doesn’t erase their hard work and proven history any more than burning down a feminine hygiene aisle would make women stop having menstrual cycles. You can get rid of an object, but you can’t stop the natural cycle of a woman’s life. And in Bea Arthur’s case (and all of the other Black women, Hispanic women and white women who earned their pins and stripes), erasing this page just made me pay more attention to her. The erasure is working backward and making Women’s History Month even more significant in 2025.
Before you go …
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As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a percentage from purchases with my referral links. I know some consumers are choosing to boycott Amazon for its DEI removal. However, after thinking about this thoroughly, I choose to continue promoting intriguing products from small businesses, women-owned businesses and (specifically) Black-owned businesses who still feature their items on Amazon. All five of my Substack publications now include a MINIMUM of one product sold by a Black-owned business. (I have visited the seller’s official site, not just the Amazon Black-owned logo, to verify this.) If you still choose to boycott, I 100% respect that decision.
Did you enjoy this post? You’re also welcome to check out my Substack columns “Black Girl In a Doggone World,” “BlackTechLogy,” “Homegrown Tales,” “I Do See Color,” “One Black Woman’s Vote” and “Window Shopping” too. Thanks for reading!