Media Images of Older Women Are Getting Real.

By Karen and Erica

One of the main reasons we turned to social media and started Lustre was to change the image of post-career and older women. Regular media, to the extent it pictured older women at all, showed us sitting in rocking chairs, wearing dumpy clothes, looking vacantly into the middle distance, or excited about protection from bladder leaks. This focus on only the negatives of physical aging is what we might call visual agism.

[The advertising industry] has traditionally treated any woman over the age of 40 as suitable only as models in ads for adult incontinence products. An analysis of 2019 Cannes Lions ads by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media found only 7% of the characters in ads were older than 60, and men outnumbered women two to one across all age groups. Similarly, a much-discussed 2019 analysis by the AARP (a group with advocates for Americans age 50-plus) found that although 46% of U.S. adults are age 50 years or older, only 15% of the online media images include people of this age. When they do appear in imagery the portrayal doesn’t tend to be flattering.

Nothing wrong with advertising protective gear, but why were images of older women limited to that? 

According to industry sources, ageism in advertising is a carryover from the 1950s and 60s – the “Mad Men” era – when Madison Avenue ad executives and creatives helped to perpetuate a youth-obsessed culture. At the time, a rapidly expanding economy was fueled by consumers who enjoyed more leisure time and greater disposable income than any previous generations. Youth was prized as they were perceived to be the big consumers of the future. Unfortunately, nNegative stereotypes of older adults resulted and, 60 years later, still resonate.

In 1961, a Pepsi campaign introduced the slogan “For those who think young.” This was followed by “the Pepsi generation” – subtle message: don’t drink coffee like your parents do.  Likewise, a “youthquake,” the term coined by Vogue magazine’s editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland, took over the fashion and cosmetic industries, which began targeting their products and advertising to the youth market. Research showed that the attractiveness or the beauty of product endorsers had positive effects on consumers, which impacted their purchasing decisions.

In recent years, the language of advertising has changed, but the underlying message often has not. It has morphed from aging is a death spiral that leaves you somehow less human into aging is a problem that requires us to use anti-aging products to fix it.

While selling the anti-ageing product as a solution to a problem, the advert also suggests a second solution: ageing is a problem that can be ‘cured’ through lifelong investments in the body project.These adverts in a sense pathologise ageing. [T]he problem is defined within the current social context whereby youth continues to be privileged in many respects, while visible signs of ageing are considered undesirable and unattractive. The common assumption endorsed in such adverts is that women should be proactive in finding solutions for the physical effects of their ageing faces – solutions that would enable them to preserve the appearance of youthfulness. (References removed.)

We started to realize that the failure to show us as we are–older, for sure, but vibrant and energetic, looking for fun and purpose–had tangible negative effects. Not only did other people assume post-career and older women were done, and boring–but we started to believe it ourselves. This seemed particularly nonsensical because these messages targeted women who had achieved much, were still vital, and would are a huge and growing market for all kinds of non-rehab products–like sports cars and vacations and fine dining. We would never be interested in any product that used stereotypical and archaic images of older women. Why was the industry actually foregoing profit just to propagate demeaning messages?

So we started regularly to write about the need for advertisers to picture us as we are–for our benefit, of course, but with the added reward that they would profit. Seemed a no-brainer. And there are some signs of progress.

Slowly but surely, we’re seeing brands start to update their attitudes around ageing. One way that’s manifesting is more ad campaigns that portray aging as something positive rather than something to be warded off at all costs. In Spain, for example, Ausonia (a Procter & Gamble feminine hygiene brand) recently launched a breast cancer research campaign called We Want to See You Get Old which reframed growing older as a sign of good health and something to celebrate. We’re also seeing more beauty brands move away from terms like ‘anti-aging’ and start to talk about ‘pro-aging’.

Some new ads are really excellent. Look at this and this. And this clever tagline: Admit It, Age Suits You.

One reason for the progress may be because older women have adopted social media themselves. Lustre is not alone! Many of us have become influencers. 

Social media has made it possible for older women — and all other under-represented or excluded groups — to take the reins and ensure their representation. Content creators such as Ghanem, Euler, and Tan are not only defying the status quo and fighting ageism; they are captivating the attention of millions of people of all ages. Considering their following, it is obvious that the people want to see more older women included.

There is still plenty to do. We wanted to write a long post about advertising we loved, like the videos above, We came up short. But we do think there is forward movement, Our message–not old, not done, still cool–is resonating–among us, and among those who see us.  All of you are part of the movement.

So let’s raise a glass to ourselves! Onward!