An appreciation of nuance is not something usually afforded to women on here so I’m going to choose my words carefully (not that it will help tbh) and I’m going to mention TV shows (which you & I may otherwise love ) it’s not personal, so warily but with that love, here goes ….
TV & film has a woman problem. Not all women,just women who aren’t young. For the longest time, discrimination was just something we lived with. People of colour, women, disabled people, gay people -to name ‘just’ many millions,were struggling to see ourselves accurately onscreen
We’re seeing much needed leaps forward in onscreen representation. Gay characters aren’t just comedic caricatures, colour blind casting is opening up roles & disabled actors are not just being traduced to the least interesting thing about them (disability) in hospital dramas.
But in all these leaps forward there is one demographic which isn’t moving forward at all in terms of representation but has instead stalled & now gone into reverse - older women. As I mention too often the average age of leading TV actresses has fallen by 20 years in the last 21 
Conversations around representation are key. Maureen Lipman & @baddiel were featured recently on @BBCr4today talking, rightly in my view, about jewish characters routinely not being played by jewish actors & how this is an issue & conversation worth having. They’re right.
Since 2018 I’ve been campaigning on representation for women over 45 onscreen & on stage. I’ve been trying to have this conversation too but with limited success. Even @BBCWomansHour in all these years won’t feature my campaign or the impact of poor representation of older women
It’s not deemed important or a societal issue. But it is. I can’t think of any other industry which normalises female ageism at work like the entertainment industry does as standard. Every discrimination & abuse that young women experience older women do too. Every single one
The impact of gendered ageism is huge women matter from cradle to grave. We suffer sexism & misogyny & it intersects with age. From career trajectory to health outcomes, financial issues to mental health, violence & sexual assault to eating disorders & mental health & suicide
We still don’t matter enough to be anything in stories levelling representation but the worst of ourselves. The hideous unredeemable bigoted mother has featured in “Its a Sin” “This is going to Hurt” &“Promising Young Woman” All rightly applauded for raising important issues.
Then we have the unrelentingly dire spectacle of the pantomime dame older women in Mrs Browns Boys or Leigh Francis doing, whatever that was supposed to be with prosthetics. The idea of genuine older women actually leading comedies isn’t seen as a realistic option.
Even in “After Life” 1,2 & 3 where older women are featured & not all monstered, they are adjuncts to the 60 year old male lead & no amount of talking benches will resolve that. I could ask comedy commissioners to meet me to discuss, but I doubt Shane Allen is free for that
Alan Partridge, David Brent & other popular comedy characters have seen a return in recent years but a rebooted “Smack The Pony” with the same cast remains in the dark. Yet we’re reminded that 50:50 gender parity is definitely here with more projects for young funny women daily.
Sadly still in the U.K. from drama to comedy, presenting to podcasts - on screen men have a whole life and women still just a shelf life. My intention isn’t to offend, it’s to highlight a problem that no one wants to accept is real. ❤️#ActingYourAgeCampaign #DontCastHerOut
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