Who  are or were the women of television? Google might send you to the Emmy  listings, as nominees and winners reveal some of the most talented in  the business for any given year. The feminist canon is shaped by many more women and men than just the big names. In their lives, they may have not received their due recognition.

Our In Memoriam episodes list TV women who passed in that year and are foundational to the mission of Advanced TV Herstory. For instance, MTV brought Irene Cara (theme song singer of Fame and Flashdance)  and Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac right into our worlds. We studied  their polish and joy in making music. They are among the bigger names  who passed in 2022.

Dead  celebrity lists contain lots of men, because media elevates and  sustains their celebrity status. Sports, politics, literature and  entertainment — their accomplishments are so close at hand. Dead women  celebrities or women behind-the-scenes, on the other hand, often have  short bio profiles in IMDb or Wikipedia and few magazine or news  mentions. If a woman left the business 20 years ago for whatever reason,  she may not want to shore up her little bio.

But that shouldn’t mean she didn’t exist or that her work is no longer remembered. Advanced TV Herstory calls for a celebration that gives these women their final flowers and will preserve them on the internet years to come.

On  a more personal note, the same can be said of women in our lives –  relatives, old neighbors, co-workers, teammates or classmates. In 2023, I  pledge to do even more to celebrate the women in my life and remind  them just how caring, talented, smart, etc… they are. It’s much more  rewarding than saving kind words for the end of the year in which they  passed.