Ageism Stereotyping and Prejudice against Older Persons

Here is a scholary report:

"Ageism Stereotyping and Prejudice
against Older Persons"
Edited by Todd D. Nelson  http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=10385


Here is"Ageism" on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ageism

"Life after 40: Ageism in Hollywood"

"Life after 40: Ageism in Hollywood" is an 
an article posted on February 18, 2011 by Jennifer Shewmaker onto her blog called "Don't Conform Transform".


 http://dontconformtransform.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/life-after-40-ageism-in-hollywood/

Q&A: "Too old to start at 42?"

Check out the question and answers of the topic "Too old to start at 42?" at the 
 

http://bbs.backstage.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6031061/m/962102823/p/3

Check out 'In Praise of (much) older (women) actors"...a post by Kate Foy on her blog "Greenroom"

http://actorsgreenroom.net/archives/546

Jessica Tandy at the age of 80 Won Best Actress Oscar for her performance in Driving Miss Daisy, 1989

Jessica became both the oldest winner and the oldest nominee ever in the history of the Best Actress category

Older women unhappy over their portrayal in films

Actor Celia Imrie 
in the 2003 movie 
Calendar Girls

The cast of "Calendar Girls" 
featured older female characters 


Older women unhappy over their portrayal in films, survey shows Sixty-one percent of women aged 50-75 want more focus on their sexual desire, according to UK Film Council poll...what do you think?...most women aged 50-75 felt they were under-represented in films.

By Ian J Griffiths
Monday 28 March 2011 
guardian.co.uk


Older women want to see more of their sexual desire depicted in film, a survey has suggested, while black and gay people would like to see less of a focus on theirs.


Sixty-one percent of women between the ages of 50 and 75 questioned for a UK Film Council survey of 4,315 people said women of their age were portrayed on the big screen as not having sexual needs or desires. Half said they were comfortable with older women being seen as attractive to younger men. Seven in 10 also felt that their group was generally under-represented in films and that younger women were glamorised.


In contrast, two-thirds of black African and Caribbean people said black characters were portrayed as being overly sexual. Eighty percent of the gay people questioned felt gay characters' sexuality commanded disproportionate attention.


The survey highlighted a series of stereotypes and imbalances in films, with 80% of black respondents also believing films contained too many black drug dealers, and 74% calling for more superheroes who are not white males.


Almost three-quarters of eastern Europeans who participated pointed to a tendency to portray them as poor, while 74% of Asian respondents said films failed to represent their culture authentically.


The release of the survey's findings is expected to be one of the last acts of the UK Film Council, which is on the verge of closure. Its funding responsibilities will be transferred to other bodies on 1 April, following the abolition decision announced by the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt last July.


Mary FitzPatrick, head of diversity at the UK Film Council said: "Film has the ability to change behaviour and shift opinion, so we in the industry all have a responsibility to ensure that these findings are not ignored.


"The figures speak for themselves in demonstrating there is a real opportunity for the industry to more accurately portray these groups in film. This research will form an important part of the UK Film Council's legacy and will help make a powerful and dynamic change to the way in which diverse groups are portrayed in film going forward."


Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/mar/28/women-unhappy-portrayal-films-survey

The Real Live Women 

Who Were the Inspiration 

for the movie Calendar Girls




Here they are again, 
ten years later, five out 
of the six 'girls'

Demanding Equal Pay in UK

Zoe Wanamaker is demanding equal pay for actresses

Photo: BBC

By Heidi Blake
27 Jul 2009  
Telegraph.co.uk

Zoe Wanamaker demands equal pay for actresses

Zoë Wanamaker, the actress, has joined the chorus of female performers demanding more money to match the pay packets of their male counterparts.

Wanamaker, who stars in the popular BBC sitcom My Family, revealed she had to fight the Corporation for equal pay with her co-star Robert Lindsay and said women were "always at the bottom as far as pay is concerned."

Her comments came after fellow actresses Imelda Staunton, Harriet Walter and Maxine Peake signed a petition earlier this year demanding better representation for women in drama on ITV, Channel 4 and the BBC.

They also follow accusations of sexism and ageism in the BBC after the corporation replaced the choreographer Arlene Phillips as a judge on Strictly Come Dancing with the much younger Alesha Dixon.

Wanamaker, who appeared alongside Simon Russell Beale in Much Ado About Nothing at the National Theatre last year, said agents and bookers should be "more careful" when negotiating deals for female performers.

"Women are always at the bottom as far as pay is concerned – the equal pay business is a big struggle," she told The Stage newspaper.

The BBC refused to comment on Wanamaker's salary but said it was "absolutely committed" to equal pay for female actresses.

A spokesman said: "We will not go into specifics on talent pay but we are absolutely committed to equality for men and women. There are many factors which determine artists' salaries and which results in them being paid at varying levels. The BBC hugely values Zoë Wanamaker as an artist."

It is not the first time Wanamaker has spoken out on the issue of pay. She accused the makers of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone of being "notoriously mean" after appearing in the film as games mistress Madam Hooch in 2001. The actress declined a deal to appear in three Harry Potter films because of the "terrible" pay.

A recent petition demanding equal pay for women launched by Equity, the actors' union, states that though "over half the viewing public is female, in TV drama, for every female character, there are two male characters".

A survey conducted across 20 countries last year by unions representing nearly 80,000 performers found female actors get paid less than men and have fewer work opportunities.


Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/5912078/Zoe-Wanamaker-demands-equal-pay-for-actresses.html