filed in Myths and stereotypes
Joan Rivers as “Spinster Aunt?” Please Explain
I’m still surprised when outdated spinster references show up in prominent newspapers. Today I emailed Mike Hale, from the New York Times, asking him to clarify this, from his review of Joan River’s new television show, “How’d You Get So Rich?
Ms. Rivers, long one of the smartest, funniest and nastiest people on television, officially enters her dotage with this six-episode series…On “How’d You Get So Rich?” she’s the slightly out-of-it spinster aunt, trailing self-made millionaires…through their highly manicured homes and asking how much the carpets cost.
(Spinster aunt emphasis is mine) Dotage or not, I don’t get what Joan Rivers–a public figure with an enormous fan base, who has been married twice, with a child, a grandchild and a business empire–has to do with a spinster aunt. What does that term mean today, anyway?
Please help me understand. What was Mike Hale thinking?
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ooo ooo I am looking forward to hearing what he has to say when he writes back. I hope he does–that would be polite of him.
I can see that he was trying to describe the persona she puts forth in this gig, but. . . but. . . you’re right, it doesn’t really describe anything concretely. How are we to imagine a “spinster aunt” acts, laughs, eats, talks? Why would her spinsterhood confer any particular traits that we could use to establish a mental picture of the person’s manner? All singlism aside, it’s sloppy, lazy writing.
So if a NYT author can be a sloppy, lazy writer, then what’s stopping ME, who tries hard not to be sloppy (and sometimes succeeds), from being in the NYT? First the injustice of singlism, and now THIS? Too much.
Let us know when he gets back to you!
Christina
Maybe he’s just an idiot?
Hmm…perhaps he actually meant it in a GOOD way? Like, in a madcap, Auntie Mame, what-WILL-she-do-next? kind of way?
But, true, she’s not a “spinster” at all, if one is looking at its literal definition.
(In case anyone is wondering, I personally love the term “spinster” and refer to myself as one all the time.)