Female ageism

Angela Rippon , Gloria Hunniford, Tina Turner, Dolly Parton and lots more, actually I think we do rather better than the men

88 year old Joan Bakewell, 81 year old Gloria Hunniford and 80 year old Esther Rantzen are still on tv, but none of them sport grey hair!

I think Mary Beard has lovely hair. I certainly wouldn’t call it straggly!

OH is 80, came home, complaining about being held up in the supermarket by "An old woman" having a long chat with the checkout girl!
She was probably lonely and needed the social contact.
Wonder how old she really was?
Possibly younger than us

Katie59 and varian I think youve made the ops point for her.
As your examples have advantages that normal women dont.

I strongly dislike the idea that older women are only acceptable if they don’t have grey hair. Many of the above mentioned have either wigs or dyed hair.

I’m not sure what normal women are, most of us retire and take it easy, a few organize or help out with charity work, others take up local politics. Surely it all depends what we want, do we want the commitment of a work schedule in our 70s and beyond.
Are there more opportunities for older men of the same age?,

I would imagine plenty of older women in the media eventually get to a point where they've had enough.

So many other people retire, why not the people in the media?

but most of the women you name varian are on tv niw in the role of performing steers. Look at this well known old lady, gosh she can still speak and, shock horror, has a boyfriend.

We need to be on the media with out our presence being a feature. Just 'here are a group of women (aged 18-90) discussing the problems of travelling by bus, eating candyfloss, or dealing with the AA.

Blossoming

I think Mary Beard has lovely hair. I certainly wouldn’t call it straggly!

I would, I think it’s horrible and in dire need of a cut and style. Having said that I respect her decision to wear it however she likes.

it also happens to women actors, the y get to 50 or 60 and tend to drop off the media circus, whereas men go on being sought.
remember that business with older women on the countryside programme being replaced by younger versions, also with newsreaders etc.
and the way older people esp women are portrayed in adverts.
OP, could you send in an audio file of you reading some news to various broadcasters, inc independent radio news.
they have some odd sounding people on in the wee small hours, and for traffic announcements.
i know being on radio would not get the visibility you talk of, but it's a start, networking and all that. good luck.

Judi Dench is in her 80s and still sought after. As is Maggie Smith.

Kate1949

Judi Dench is in her 80s and still sought after. As is Maggie Smith.

They are, and it's good to see people like them, and Pauline Collins etc in films, but they do tend to be in films where the point is that they are old. Their oldness is the plot.

I agree with M0nica that it would be better if women of all ages were cast in role in which age wasn't an issue. Strides are being made when it comes to casting black people in roles that aren't about being black, and gay characters who are just characters who happen to be gay, and it would be good if age were treated in the same way, whether in acting roles or as pundits/experts/members of the public on fox pops and discussion programmes.

What about Moira Stuart, she’s still got an active career as well as being a woman about town who seems to have lots of fun - and she doesn’t dye her hair.

Brenda Blethyn is still playing Vera. I'm not sure that there are any DCIs male or female who've not retired by the age of 75.

It’s a state of mind isn’t it?
If someone is boasting about reaching pension age and being old enough to stay at home now......then they are surely old. However if someone wants to quit working because it’s their time and they want to do things, thats a whole other ball game.
Let’s be real, some are old in their forties and others vibrant and fun to be with into their nineties.

Why does everyone want their particular niche to be particularly "represented"? We are all 'special' in our individual lives but in the mass we are just people.

People are "represented" everywhere in the media and you can now represent yourself on a whole host of social media forums.

Because when a group of people is never represented they stop being in the public consciousness, and they stop being significant for many people. If the only time you see Africans is in ads for charities or news reports about the starving, you see all of Africa as a problem, and ignore the fact that it is a continent with many different countries, economies and lifestyles.

Similarly if old people are always portrayed as lonely or needy, or in care homes or hospitals instead of workplaces or at the heart of families, that is how they will be perceived.

Better to show a range of different ‘types’ of oldies, as is happening with other groups such as gay people or black people.

White thirty/forty somethings are portrayed as good, bad, indifferent, rich, poor, criminals, police, etc etc. As long as they dominate the media it will be their (albeit diverse) views, needs and concerns that will dominate society.

varian

Brenda Blethyn is still playing Vera. I'm not sure that there are any DCIs male or female who've not retired by the age of 75.

I love the series ‘Vera’ and don’t care how old she is.

The point about Brenda Blethyn as Vera was that she portrays a successful detective- who could be a man or a woman of any age (maybe over 25). The point is that she is not just portraying an old person with old person's issues

The media should represent a cross section of the whole population. Articles about older people should not always be illustrated by photographs of the old, frail and needy. You do not need to be frail and needy to qualifiy for Pension Credit, a bus pass.

varian

The point about Brenda Blethyn as Vera was that she portrays a successful detective- who could be a man or a woman of any age (maybe over 25). The point is that she is not just portraying an old person with old person's issues

Exactly.

Doodledog

Because when a group of people is never represented they stop being in the public consciousness, and they stop being significant for many people. If the only time you see Africans is in ads for charities or news reports about the starving, you see all of Africa as a problem, and ignore the fact that it is a continent with many different countries, economies and lifestyles.

Similarly if old people are always portrayed as lonely or needy, or in care homes or hospitals instead of workplaces or at the heart of families, that is how they will be perceived.

Better to show a range of different ‘types’ of oldies, as is happening with other groups such as gay people or black people.

White thirty/forty somethings are portrayed as good, bad, indifferent, rich, poor, criminals, police, etc etc. As long as they dominate the media it will be their (albeit diverse) views, needs and concerns that will dominate society.

A good post, doodledog but I think, even without a telly, that I manage to expose myself to a very wide variety of news sources because all the sorts of things you suggest might not be covered are indeed covered. For example, the old people I see in the media I look at are not always lonely or needy; there is masses of information about the various countries and peoples of Africa; the images I see of people are extremely diverse in every possible way.

There is no shortage of coverage of all sorts of everything. This is why I don't think there's really an issue.

M0nica

The media should represent a cross section of the whole population. Articles about older people should not always be illustrated by photographs of the old, frail and needy. You do not need to be frail and needy to qualifiy for Pension Credit, a bus pass.

I agree with your shoulds and should nots. The articles I read are not lacking the qualities you say should be there.

Maybe people need to diversify their news and information consumption.