Angela Bassett, Michelle Yeoh and Jennifer Coolidge, all in their 60s, won their respective categories and in their speeches addressed the significance of receiving these awards later in their careers. The recently announced Oscar nominations also featured many older women, with four of the five nominations in the best actress category taken by women over 40 – including Yeoh and Cate Blanchett (53). Other categories also featured women over 60, like Jamie Lee Curtis (64) and Bassett for actress in a supporting role.
This has been heartening for many. In the past female actors have felt like there was an expiry date on their careers and it’s nice to now see women over 40 thriving in complex and exciting leading roles.
I remain sceptical about this becoming a long-term trend. Ageism is very deeply embedded in our society and it will not go away with several women in their 60s winning at the Golden Globes or being nominated at the Oscars.
After all, look carefully at the media coverage around this and you’ll notice that much of it is rooted in ageism. There was a slew of articles about older women having a “sartorial moment” at the Golden Globes. The underlying message here was that “they looked great despite their age”.
No one was talking about “older men” even though there were many in their 40s and older on the red carpet, and many articles about best-dressed men at the Golden Globes. Men do not require this classifier. Their ages were not typically mentioned in these articles. Women, on the other hand, are qualified by their ages and judged accordingly. Age is definitely not just a number for them.
Continues at...
To read the full article by Pragya Agarwal,Visiting Professor of Social Inequities and Injustice, visit The Conversation.