An open letter by the UK’s Acting Your Age Campaign (AYAC) has challenged the entertainment industry’s “entrenched” ageism by urging for better representation of women over 45 in onscreen roles.
The letter was signed by over 100 actors based in the UK, including Zawe Ashton, Meera Syal, Alan Cumming, David Tennant, Juliet Stevenson and Richard E Grant.
“Today’s in-demand young actress is tomorrow’s unemployed middle-aged actress,” the letter begins, citing several disturbing statistics regarding the underrepresentation of older women in film and television.
In the letter, the AYAC said women in the UK only have a “shelf life” on screen while their male colleagues have a “whole life” and calls for “a parity pledge”, with equal representation in the UK between men and women over 45.
“We are fighting to ensure that our generation of excluded women is the last generation of excluded women.
“Ageism targeting women is an entrenched industry staple that is outdated, harmful and neglects the millions of audience members who appreciate seeing women over 45 telling the stories of our lives.
“Last year, the BAFTA TV awards couldn’t find a single woman over the age of 38 for their leading TV actress category,” the letter reads.
All female nominees were under 38, while there were two men over 45 in the male category.
According to an AYAC study, the average age of nominees in the Leading TV Actress category has declined from an average of 52 to 32 over the last two decades of BAFTA TV awards.
Meanwhile, the average age of men in the Leading TV Actor category went from 48 to 45 — a minor drop by comparison. “[It] means that men can continue to work comfortably within their playing age, and women can’t,” the letter states.
The AYAC has recommended multiple actions for broadcast and production company commissioners and those who work in news and current affairs. One suggestion would be to ensure equal gender and age representation in all onscreen fictional content and light entertainment programmes.
It also calls for writer/performer dramas and comedy commissioning to feature 50:50 age and gender parity in programming and for all broadcaster diversity initiatives to incorporate age.
“A panel of only middle-aged men and young women is dated and unrepresentative,” the letter states.
“This isn’t an attack on artistic freedom. This highlights that too often excluding older women is enabled through the cloak of artistic choices.”
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