Tackling Ageism with Style
Former Playboy bunny Dorrie Jacobson is 83 and reinventing herself as a style blogger. A few months ago she donned her bunny ears once again for an Instagram shoot. “I wanted to do something to combat ageism. I didn’t see older women being represented. It also makes me feel self-confident.” Her Instagram account, @seniorstylebible has over 35K followers and features Jacobson in chic and stylish ensembles including lingerie, evening-ready looks, and bold animal prints.
Jacobson is one of a number of women over 55 who have taken to Instagram to prove that style knows no age. Jacobson’s advice for the young at heart, “We do not have an expiration date. Get out there and enjoy life.”
Read the full article: Former Playboy bunny and great-grandma becomes the world’s oldest underwear model at 83
Actress Nicola Clark is re-launching her career after time out of the spotlight caring for her special needs children and a mother with Alzheimer’s. She noticed the film industry’s long history of casting older leading men opposite much younger women. So she’s started a campaign called Acting Your Age to call out ageist and sexist casting practices. Among her supporters are actors Ricky Gervais, Michael Sheen, and Juliet Stevenson.
In an Op-Ed in The Guardian, Clark wrote, “The marginalisation of middle-aged women is not limited to acting… older women are portrayed negatively in all walks of life. But perhaps if we achieved visibility on the influencers that are TV and film, we might be deemed to exist across the board.”
Read the full article: Middle-aged women are invisible on screen. I’m taking on this ageism
The Book Club, starring Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen is a brand new entry to the rom-com genre, with its stars all over the age of 65. Yet the studios originally wanted much younger actresses for the roles. Fonda took the opportunity to call out this ageism in the press junkets. “It’s an industry that’s very much driven by youth and beauty. Ageism is alive and well,” she said.
Outspoken as ever at 80, Fonda went on, “I wouldn’t want to go back for anything. Yeah, your body starts to fail you in many different ways but you’re wiser, you don’t tend to get stressed as much. You don’t sweat the small stuff. And I don’t think that’s unique to me, it’s true of the majority of people over 50, if you’re healthy. In the United States, we have a fetish about youth and I’m doing all I can to get rid of ageism and to show with Book Club that you can be pretty interesting and have a lot of fun when you’re older.”
With The Book Club raking in over $60M at the Box Office, Fonda may get lots more chances to prove her point.
Read the full article: Age discrimination in Hollywood is still ‘alive and well’, says Book Club star Jane Fonda
