Golden Girls

Charlie's Angels 3?

In their cover story this week, Entertainment Weekly is happy to point out the Academy Awards' ageism when it comes to the Best Actress award. Yet, before this issue, with "The Silver Foxes" on the cover (Meryl Streep (57), Helen Mirren (61) and Judi Dench (72)), when was the last time the magazine put a woman over 50 on its cover? Or over 45?

In the last three years, three women older than 45 have graced the cover - though all three appeared as part of the cast of a television show with younger and/or male co-stars: Mary McDonnell (54), Lorraine Bracco (51) and Patricia Heaton (47). Before Bracco, the last cover girl over 50 was... Meryl Streep (54 at the time), who had to share the spotlight with Al Pacino.

In that time, the oldest women to get a solo cover were Marcia Cross and Felicity Huffman (both 42 at the time), though each had to settle for being one of five collectible Desperate Housewives covers that week. The oldest woman to own a cover outright? Halle Berry, at 37.

Meanwhile, just in the past year, old fogeys like Mel Gibson (50), Clint Eastwood (76), Hugh Laurie (47), Samuel L. Jackson (57), Al Gore (58), Tom Hanks (49) and Howard Stern (52) have had solo shots on the cover. And that's not including gentlemen like Randy Jackson (50), Simon Cowell (47), Tim Gunn (53) and Terry O'Quinn (53) who shared covers.

Granted, Entertainment Weekly's cover selections are reflecting the general ageism/sexism double standard of Hollywood and society as a whole. But perhaps they should at least acknowledge that they're part of the problem.