The data tells us that the population in the UK is ageing. Ageing happens over time. It happens physically. But ageing is also a self-perception, shaped by the cultural view of our society. As we get older, western culture attaches stigmatising attributes to our ageing –particularly for women. These attributes include our appearance, how we hold our body, our physical capability and so on. Put simply, older people face ageism and lookism.
Ageing-vs-Ageism
Ageing is the process of growing old. It happens to all of us. Whereas, ageism should happen to no-one.
Ageism is a negative stereotype, prejudice, and/or act of discrimination directed toward older people. Not only is ageism endemic in western societies and escalating, it’s unlawful under the Equalities Act 2010. It is seen in people’s presumption of competence (e.g. people talk slowly to the older person, assume they are not active or are out of touch) and in their invisibility and hence inconsequence in society (e.g. older people disappear in public life)
Ageism acts as an amplifier of other inequalities. Women feel ageism more than men – they face greater discrimination in healthcare, finance, poverty and employment. Older women are particularly impacted. Far more often than men, older women also report experiencing societal invisibility and erasure from public life.
Lookism
The gendered nature of ageism is particularly apparent when it comes to appearance. The media replicates and exaggerates the cultural ideal of female attractiveness. Women face social pressure to be ever thin, youthful, light-skinned and toned. Termed “lookism,” they are measured against an appearance that is neither representative of, nor attainable by, the vast majority of women. This is particularly true for older women.
The pressure of “lookism” causes women to pay considerable attention to their appearance. The ensuing challenge is huge:
- Don’t look like “mutton dressed as lamb” – the critique we level at women who we think are trying to look younger than they are (but in a way we believe is unattractive).
- Don’t “let yourself go” – this marks the woman as incompetent, slovenly and in the low social status group of “old.” Or worse still, if you do “let yourself go,” then please slip into the background and make yourself invisible, so as not to shame us.
For older women in the workplace this poses a dilemma between being seen as competent (requiring their compensatory effort of managing their hair, their clothes and their cosmetics) or as authentic (and hence having the freedom to look authentic relative to their years and wisdom).
It seems that men, on the other hand, rarely face this dilemma. They are often seen as more distinguished and attractive as they get older – termed by some the “George Clooney Effect”.
“As Hillary Clinton put it, “Pay attention to your hair, because everyone else will”” (Zernike, 2001, p.B4).
Of course, there are many healthy reasons for women to do things to help them feel young and gain the positive impact this can have on wellbeing. However, many women feel compelled to change their appearance in order to avoid the stigma of age. They may choose to adopt a mask, so they can hide or camouflage the visible signs of ageing and hence avoid discrimination.
The stigma of grey hair on a woman
“Grey hair on a woman … produce[s] one of the least desirable personas in Western society – an old woman” (Symonds & Holland, 2008, p. 29)
Women are used to covering or masking in the workplace. For example, they mask their status as a mother, or they cover their ability to be as assertive as men. When it comes to age, masking may include choosing to wear clothes to hide their “faults” or having cosmetic surgery to change their appearance.
One of the most observable aspects of age is our hair colour. Hair colour changes as we get older. Grey hair on women is seen as an attribute that is deeply discrediting. Colouring hair is a common way women attempt to mask the stigma of age. What might start with passing as younger, becomes an attempt to cover ageing by dying their hair; or if they do not dye their hair, by compensating in other ways such as wearing bright red lipstick.
Reduce “lookism” and the stigma of age for women
Above all, to reduce stigma for older women, businesses need to think very carefully about how they manage ‘lookism”. The face value facts of what you see as you look around your organisation, whether a real person, a picture or a video, hide the myriad of cultural assumptions you make. Your assumptions shape women’s experience at work.
66% of women cease to feel represented in media after age 45
The starting point is to raise your own awareness of what is depicted by and in your business when it comes to women who are older.
Look at the picture at the top of this blog
Firstly, simply describe what you see: the people and objects, the shapes, the lighting, the colours, the words, layout and fonts.
For example, you might describe a woman wearing a dark winter weight coat, clean brushed short grey hair, wrinkled skin on her face. She is wearing lipstick and earrings. She has white, straight teeth. She is making eye contact and the background is blurred.
These facts are the signifiers, the things you consciously or unconsciously pick out in the image you see.
Then look again and describe the connotation of the picture – what is implied by this image? Not what is there, but the cultural meaning of the image you see.
For example, do you see wrinkled skin and grey hair and imply an age beyond ‘normal’ retirement. You might assume she is retired, lunches with friends and spends weekends with her family.
However, if you notice the straight white teeth and care in her appearance, as well as the glint in her eye, you might believe this implies a degree of capability and competence. You might assume she does still work, as well as live an active and healthy lifestyle.
Choose carefully
They key here is to pay attention to the assumptions that you make when you look at people in your workplace. Ask yourself:
- What images are you choosing to represent your business?
- What facts, what signifiers do you pay attention to?
- What assumptions do you make when you look at women in your business who may be older or younger?
- What cultural stigmas are you reinforcing or challenging?
Choose carefully. You have an opportunity to significantly change older women’s experience at work and your company’s view of their authenticity and capability. You do this simply by changing how you see – the lookism of – the women you recruit, employ and promote as authentic and capable members of your business.
Come to our Safe Space Event on Oct 18, 2023 12:00 noon (BST) to discuss the impact of ageing for women in the workplace,
To register: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMpfuysqDwoGdTmBMZTqUZGHGarYiAY5Xbi
