How Old Was Gloria Bunker-Stivic , Supposed to Be?

May 2024 ยท 4 minute read

It was stated she was born 11 months after the Bunkers were married.

It is explained that Mike and Gloria met in 1969, the evening of President Nixon's inauguration (Michael had been planning to protest the event, but opted to go on a blind date with Gloria instead). And Gloria was still in high school then.

The first episode established Archie and Edith were married 22 years. Which means Gloria would be 21.

In the second season Archie wonders why Gloria is so interested in the 1972 election till Edith says "It's her first time voting"

I can't remember the episode where Gloria says she is getting a part time job, three days a week, behind the cosmetics counter.

Which brings up the question, what did Gloria do from the time she graduated high school until she met Mike?

by Anonymousreply 6June 23, 2023 6:11 PM

She scrubbed terlets for Sybil Gooley.

by Anonymousreply 1June 23, 2023 4:33 PM

Fighting fires on oil rigs, Rose

by Anonymousreply 2June 23, 2023 4:41 PM

You're reading way too much into things; AITF is a sitcom, not a historical documentary.

Wiki entry says:

"In season 7's "Mike and Gloria Meet", it is explained that Mike and Gloria met in 1969, the evening of President Nixon's inauguration (Michael had been planning to protest the event, but opted to go on a blind date with Gloria instead). They did not initially like each other, until they discovered that they share a mutual love of ballroom dancing. They married in 1970 in Archie and Edith's home in a civil ceremony (as a means of compromise between Archie's wish that they are wed by a Protestant minister and Michael's Uncle Cass' preference for a Catholic priest)."

and:

"Gloria is the main breadwinner for the couple while they live in her parents' home during their first five years of marriage.[3][4] With Michael attending college, initially for a bachelor's degree and then continuing for his master's, Gloria works full-time at a department store.[4] She is sensitive about having only a high school education and sometimes feels that Michael condescends to her, particularly during arguments."

If Gloria Bunker graduated high school at 18 (normal age) in 1969 she would be twenty in 1970 when she married.

As for rest of it Gloria Bunker was born anemic so her parents (especially Edith) babied her quite a bit. She likely was lazy and spoiled meaning Gloria probably didn't help her mother around the house like other daughters. Also due to her "fragile health" as a child and perhaps young woman neither Archie nor Edith pushed Gloria to get a job after she left high school. If she wasn't going to work why bother going to college or even secretarial school like many other girls her age.

Only job young girls had even in 1970's was to get themselves married either by senior year of high school or shortly after such as during or shortly after graduating college.

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by Anonymousreply 3June 23, 2023 4:53 PM

I envy you, OP. To have so few worries or responsibilities in life that you can sit around and navel-gaze about the employment history gap of a supporting character in a fictional sitcom from 50 years ago.

Have you considered furthering your education as your mind appears to be on the verge of atrophy? At minimum, you can be productive and dust your collection of ceramic unicorns.

Perhaps your next endeavor can be getting to the bottom of which toy store Shirley purchased Boo Boo Kitty. Our greatest thinkers have struggled with this question for decades.

by Anonymousreply 4June 23, 2023 5:06 PM

What ever happened to that tap dancing girl from down the block?

by Anonymousreply 5June 23, 2023 5:31 PM

Gloria suffered from ADD, ADHD, was on 'the spectrum', had anxiety and depression, was diagnosed as 'bipolar' and was heavily medicated since she was a child. She first identified as a cis female, but each season changed her gender and sexual identity. She told Edith in the kitchen one Sunday morning in the summer of 1973 that 'sexuality is fluid' as is 'gender identity'.

In other words, she was what we call today, ' a millennial' or 'zoomer'.

by Anonymousreply 6June 23, 2023 6:11 PM

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