Images of Older Women in the Media - USA

On-air radio interviews by Bissera Kostova with media specialists Burtch Drake, President of the American Association of Advertising Agencies; June Colbert, a prominent personality in advertising; Ayoka Chenzira, a professor of Media & Communication Arts at the City College of New York; Penny Wensley, Abassador of Australia to the UN & Lisa Ellis, the project manager of an Australian coalition of businesses and organisations for the International Year of Older Persons (1999). Interviews discussed images of older women in the media, how to go about making changes, and talked about a campaign with The Body Shop (a skin care business) to promote positive attitudes towards ageing. A weekly programme on Women's Issues by UN Radio was available on the website where transcripts of the series are available.

Ageing, Women, Gender, Population

A programme prompted by a study which showed women to be "virtually invisible" on United States network television. Media specialists admitted the fact that most of the people responsible for marketing products, creating the advertising & working in television networks are under 35 years of age. The absence of older women in the media is a blind spot which can only be rectified with women coming forward and demanding to be more fairly represented. The ageing population increases steadily: 1 in every 10 people in the world is over 60 (2001). Penelope Wensley says "older people should realize the enormous political & economic power they hold as a result of their growing ranks & should use it to change their image in society". The youthful image of women in cinema finds very few women working over the age of 40. Ayoka Chinzira holds workshops in South Africa, "where they used to have a very strong 35mm feature film industry" & has found a change in attitude regarding Hollywood formula films. There is now a desire to see film which better reflects their lives & resources, which has created a growing community of video makers. The UK based Body Shop Company recently held a campaign to create a more empathetic & sensitive image of the elderly & used "a photograph of an older woman that was actually part of a high profile & controversial photographic exhibition in Australia" with the copy line "Look past the wrinkles". The radio programme concluded that the media needs to make "a conscious effort to include images that are more representative of humanity in general, including older women".