Toronto Star
· collected 2026-09-06 · by Denise Balkissoon, Contributor
The article is an opinion piece that mourns the loss of feminist icons Dolly Parton and Gloria Steinem, but urges younger women to fill the void they left behind as "badass old ladies". The author highlights the importance of preserving institutional knowledge and historical context, particularly in the face of efforts to erase or distort the past. As examples, the author cites notable older women who made significant contributions to their fields, including Jane Fonda, who has been a vocal critic of tech billionaires and advocate for reproductive justice.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Somebody protect Jane Fonda.
asserted
Somebody → protect → Fonda
I’m joking, but I’m not.
asserted
I → joke → ?
I’m not, because after losing Dolly Parton and Gloria Steinem in the same week, I’m not ready to mourn another badass old lady.
asserted
I → ’m → lady
I am, because Fonda has never needed anyone’s help.
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Fonda → need → help
Also, she’s 88 and not afraid of it.
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she → ’ → it
On Thursday, she paid tribute to Steinem, then criticized tech billionaires for being woman-hating weirdos who “want to live forever, while killing the rest of us.”
asserted
who → pay → us
Wise old women accept their time on Earth is limited, and make the most of it.
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time → accept → it
They’re not insulted to be called “old,” because they know every year is a privilege and a gift.
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year → insult → ?
As the role models of my youth fade away, the way to honour them is to let my youth fade, too.
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youth → fade → them
The space they created needs to stay filled.
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they → create → ?
This is an invitation to all the girls with big mouths, big hearts and grey hairs — whether dyed, wigged or flying free — to step into it.
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This → dye → it
It’s always been a critical role, and now we live in an era that is purposefully historically obtuse.
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that → live → era
Vaccine-preventable diseases are resurging as those who witnessed the suffering caused by measles and polio pass on.
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who → resurge → measles
Rigid gender roles are being romanticized as the people that they trapped, stifled and harmed leave us, too.
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they → romanticize → us
Whether residential school denialism in Canada or the diminishment of slavery in American schoolbooks, there’s a concerted effort to pretend every fight for human dignity is new.
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fight → ’ → dignity
This essential context is one big reason the loss of elders, famous and otherwise, hurts.
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loss → hurt → elders
Our feminist foremothers knew their history and worked to change the future.
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foremothers → know → future
Parton came from rural poverty, and helped thousands of children learn to read.
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thousands → come → children
Steinem had an illegal abortion, then won, then lost and kept fighting for reproductive justice.
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Steinem → have → justice
Stó:lō author Lee Maracle, who died in 2021, created space for generations of Indigenous writers whose ancestors’ stories were buried.
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stories → die → writers
Toni Morrison, who died in 2019, nurtured a similar lineage in Black literature.
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who → die → literature
Jane Goodall, who died last year, protected ecosystems and non-human animals even as misinformation began to poison our collective memory of a stable, healthy planet.
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misinformation → die → planet
They were tough old broads who showed us how to survive tough times, stand up for others and dismiss fools as needed.
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who → show → fools
These are high heels to step into.
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These → step → ?
But another trick up their sequined sleeves was that they often made it look really fun.
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it → make → sleeves
It’s important not to forget that.
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It → ’ → that
Thankfully, it’s easier than ever to see grey-haired heads having a good time.
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heads → ’ → time
Middle-aged and genuinely old women are increasingly visible — like Fonda, who spent seven seasons alongside Lily Tomlin on “Grace and Frankie” being 70ish, silly and sexy, simultaneously celebrating wrinkles and good face cream.
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who → spend → wrinkles
In 2019, she was nominated for outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series.
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she → nominate → series
That same year, she was arrested at demonstrations for climate action — five times.
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she → arrest → action
Madonna, 68, has a very good new house album and the ability to make a knee sleeve look kinda cool.
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sleeve → have → album
Kristin Scott Thomas, 66, rocks a deadly wardrobe, a lack of face fillers and ice in her veins on the spy series “Slow Horses.”
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Thomas → rock → series
If spies are your thing, the two “Killers of a Certain Age” novels are a fast-paced send-up of old women’s legendary invisibility, which the protagonists employ to be effective assassins.
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protagonists → pace → which
It’s a great time to be a badass old lady.
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It → ’ → ?
So squeeze on that estrogen gel, grab some stylish yet comfortable sneakers and get a T-shirt that says “I Can’t Believe We Still Have to Protest This Sh*t.”
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We → squeeze → Sh*t
Unfortunately, we do.
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we → do → ?
Fortunately, righteous anger has long been good fuel for a great party, no matter how many decades you have under your belt.
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you → have → belt
Olivia Rodrigo just held a concert that raised $20 million for maternal health, domestic violence and reproductive justice.
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that → hold → health
We all have to pick up the weight our elders need to put down.
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elders → have → weight
Yes, it’s already 9 p.m. but the more joint pain you have, the more important it is to dance like no one is watching — because actually, they are.
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they → ’ → pain
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
