Gendered agism in the media industry: Disavowal, discrimination and the pushback

Abstract

This study aimed to understand the experiences of older women media professionals whose age and gender had prompted discriminatory behavior (gendered ageism) towards them by their line managers and/or employers. It draws on the testimonies provided by 24 women media professionals who self-identified as ‘older’ and who were interviewed for the work. All the participants had worked (and some still work) as journalists, presenters, producers or actors, and alongside diverse and routinised micro-aggressions, their experiences included having their contracts summarily terminated or not renewed, being manoeuvred out of front-of-camera roles, seen their career opportunities evaporate when they reached their 40s or even earlier, and been replaced by younger, ‘fresher’ women. However, some participants are fighting back by creating their own media and developing opportunities for other women to thrive.

Keywords:

• Aesthetic labor
• gendered ageism
• media industry

Acknowledgements

My thanks go to the 24 women who responded to my invitation to talk about their experiences of gendered ageism in the media, gave up their time to talk to me, reviewed the interview profiles and gave me approval (or not) to use and attribute their comments, albeit that in the end, all names were changed. Without their generosity, this work would not exist.

Ethics statement

Ethical approval from Newcastle University’s Ethics Committee was granted on 4 December 2021, ref: 16703/2021.

Disclosure statement

The author reports that there are no competing interests to declare.

Data availability statement

This article draws on a series of qualitative interviews which were recorded on Zoom, all of which contain confidential information which cannot be made public in order to protect the identity of the participants. I have permission to use some of the material from the interviews and such material is what is included in the body of the article.

Video

Inside Amy Schumer (2015) Last F***able Day. Comedy Central. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPpsI8mWKmg

Websites

Noon: https://www.noon.org.uk/

Women of a Certain Age: https://www.youtube.com/@flipandmaggie7661

Cork Films (Emily Corcoran): https://www.corkfilms.co.uk/about

National Union of Journalists: https://www.nuj.org.uk/about-us/equality-diversity-and-inclusion/women.html

Additional information

Funding

The project on which this article draws has not received funding.