BBC regards older women as figures of fun

Just heard Virginia Ironside saying on Women's Hour that 60 is NOT the new 40. That being 60 is easier than being 40 etc etc. I agree with her. As she also said 61 is going on 70 and 41 is going on 50. Two quite different things. She was not at all funny but sensible and gave a few tips on how to be taken seriously. Don't wear things that look comfortable, they can be comfortable, but shouldn't make a comfy impression.
Older women being made tp look funny, its like the mother-in-law jokes. Many men still have to get over the influence their mother had or still has on them.

Occasionally i hear a R2 programme with "the old woman" on it making inane comments. Gulp. Is that still on?

As Pamela Stephenson was on the same series as Anne Widdecombe, I don't think that argument stands up. She was highly successful as a dancer (reached the final, I seem to remember), not as a figure of fun. If AW was a figure of fun, it wasn't because of her age.

The voice Terry Wogan used to put on when quoting something an older person might have said, was ridiculous and insulting.

"When they did appear on shows such as Strictly Come Dancing they were "exploited" as figures of fun and as the subject of jokes."

"Viewers highlighted Miss Widdecombe who they said had been on the talent show "just for a laugh". "

I think those quotes say more about the viewers surveyed than it does about the programme. I don't Ann W. was selected just for a laugh. I think she was selected to add depth to the show, and to show that the most unlikely people can have it in them to succeed at dancing, or whatever. How boring would the show have been if only fit young people were selected for it?!

I think there are many examples of older people - women especially - being poked fun of by the Beeb, but Strictly is not an example of this.

Because they were told to do that by their grandparents!

Yes and the BBC was the one to actually commission this survey! Why do it to show yourself in a bad light? About time more respect shown to older women in my opinion.

People like to laugh at things they fear!