Lady Gaga said last week she thinks it "insane" that "the world might consider a woman in her late thirties old for a pop star," adding that she's "just getting started."
Yes, Gaga! We're here for your outrage. Why should great female musicians be cast aside because they don't look young and cutesy? Surely as the years pass, their prowess only increases? Their work becomes all the richer for their experience.
Historically female musicians had a cutoff point of about 30. Maybe 35 at a push. After that, those left standing were moved into the 'diva' category and castigated for being too difficult or demanding.
© FilmMagicLeading actresses were similarly relegated to older mother roles - with Hollywood's gender distortion meaning they often got cast alongside 'sons' often only a few years younger than them.
Elsewhere, models' jobs started drying up by their mid-twenties. And news readers were replaced by younger colleagues only a decade after that (whilst the males stayed and got ever more 'distinguished').
It was as if seeing anyone on screen post-40 was deemed offensive to the eye and thus removed before causing visual distress.
Outside of the media, it was only in the 1960s that the maximum age for air hostesses was 37. It was also written into stewardess' contracts that they had to retire upon marriage, so many didn't even make it to that age. (Oh, and FYI they needed to retain their "neatly proportioned figure" and "pleasing appearance").
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!But that's so long ago," you might think. "It's different now!"
Well as recently as 2023, a Liverpool University report said age discrimination for women starts at 40. Which, incidentally, is ten years earlier than for men.
Depressing. But before we start weeping into our empty pension pots, change is happening. Not least because women like Gaga are speaking out.
I also listened to Kate Moss talking about successfully modelling at 50, which she never thought she would be doing. And in other news, older news readers took the BBC to court this year and bought female ageism to our attention.
© WWD via Getty ImagesI'm lucky that I very rarely feel it myself. In the beauty industry, I'm surrounded by midlife and older female entrepreneurs. From beauty brand owners such as Trinny Woodhall, 61, to make-up artists such as Ruby Hammer at 63, they make it seem like second act success is entirely possible. I know I'm lucky, but I hope this is soon the same for everyone.
Wishing Lady Gaga another 40 years of music domination.
