Marlo Thomas has no time for men who are surprised by vocal women.
“I think they’re neanderthals,” she told Page Six. “I mean, where the hell have they been? We’ve been speaking up since —what? — 1961!”
Before taking the stage at the Paley Center for Media on Tuesday night for a panel titled “Better Than Ever: Actresses Are Fighting Ageism and Winning,” the icon, whose career spans over 50 years, told us she just doesn’t get men who are shocked that women speak up, an issue she dealt with when her TV series “That Girl” became a hit after its 1966 debut — much to the surprise of network executives at the time.
“I don’t understand that kind of sexism that underestimates women or the sexism that thinks we’re just sex objects,” the 79-year-old said. “That is just so old-fashioned.”
Joining Thomas on the panel were actresses Carol Kane and Tovah Feldshuh, producer Sheila Nevins and NY1 anchor Cheryl Wills.
Although she was one of the first actresses to take on a progressive role at the time, Thomas gave credit to women including Mary Tyler Moore and Candice Bergen for the evolution of female characters on TV.
“The truth was it wasn’t as if ‘That Girl’ was a revolutionary figure like all these men thought,” she explained. “She was in every house in America, she gave everybody permission to be who they already were.”
Her advice for Page Six?
“Just stay away from them, do not date them.”
“You want a man that encourages you,” she said. “I’ve been married for 36 years [to Phil Donahue] and he encourages me, he supports my dreams, he gets a big charge out of what I do, and I feel the same way about him.”