Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The “Golden Girls”: A Sociological Analysis Of One Model Of Communal Living For The 21st Century, Josephine A. Ruggiero

Sociology Between the Gaps: Forgotten and Neglected Topics

Does art imitate life? Is that an important explanation for why certain television shows have developed a following, even years after the show moved from prime time to syndication? Beside their entertainment value, what else do we find in the episodes? This paper offers a sociological analysis of a shared housing arrangement as modeled in the popular sitcom, The Golden Girls. The author addresses the question of what it takes sociologically to build a successful, liveable community on the micro level of a single household comprised of four older very different women who decide to share a house by …