May I see your library card?

Lately it seems that the age for dressing provocatively has been in a downward death spiral. Young mothers that wish their parents would have let them dress too suggestively buy scandalous clothes for their daughters and label it "cute". Well, I have seen grade-schoolers in mini skirts shorter than their attention span and tube tops that look like a sleeve cut off my T Shirt. Besides being tasteless, this has created a difficult situation for single male human beings all over the universe.

If she looks like she's 24, and she says she's 24, she's probably 10. When meeting new prospective dating options, a prudent gentleman should require a valid photo ID. Well, even that is a little extreme, but asking a fraulein her age is generally a good idea. It is difficult to judge a woman's age because makeup and clothes can make them appear years older. Stars like Hillary Duff and Lindsay Lohan are fine examples of this.

This is nothing new though. Where did it start? Who is to blame? Well, as with most of our nagging social problems, it spawned from 80s television.

Mama's family began in 1983. This program featured Vicki Lawrence as Thelma "Mama" Crowley Harper. Though only 34 at the time, Lawrence played a woman much older than that. Do not assign Vicki 100% of the blame, the idea originated as a sketch on the Carol Brunette show. Oddly enough, Betty White of the Golden Girls played Ellen Jackson on the show between 1983 and 1986. This segways to the other half of the conspiracy.....



The Golden Girls started in 1985 with Estelle Getty playing Sophia Spirelli Petrillo Weinstock. She was 62 at the time, 2 months younger than her TV daughter Bea Arthur. Yet, she played an elderly woman that had previous experience in a nursing home. Picture this, a generation of young people watching this show and following this example. These ladies broadcast that it was funny to misrepresent your age, but the menfolk today are not laughing. [note: I do think the Golden Girls is hilarious, so I guess I am laughing...]

Officer, she said she was 80. I swear!

Pictures taken from vickilawrence.com, poeforward.com, and quotenmeter.de.