The advertising and film industries are underrepresenting middle-aged women aged over 40, according to researchers at the University of Birmingham’s Birmingham Business School.
According to the work, which has been published in a book entitled ‘Responsible marketing for wellbeing’, the female experience is not accurately represented.
Dr Julie Whiteman argues that portrayals of women can be broken down into younger desirable women, the ‘sexy oldie’ who rejects her aging and the ‘asexual older woman’ who is not seen as desirable or attractive.
She also highlights that women who do not fit into those categories are being symbolically annihilated by “patriarchal marketing”.
Subscribe to Marketing Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest marketing news sent straight to your inbox each morning
Other recent reports, for examples Creative X’s latest ‘Gender In Advertising Report’ have also explored how women of colour are represented.
“It will come as no surprise to women young and old that there is a societal double standard when it comes to how we view ageing for men and women,” said lecturer in marketing at Birmingham Business School Dr Julie Whiteman.
“For women, we are held to an impossible-to-reach heterosexual and Eurocentric standard, intersecting our age, femininity, and sexuality,” she continued.
Dr Whiteman also argues that representation matters for self esteem and mental health, with both of those damaged by negative and lacking representation.
“Marketers are among the people who create the media, and they have a responsibility to create definitions that challenge negative and damaging stereotypes, if not lead the way in creating positive and liberatory visions that foster inclusivity,” she added.
