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Ageism and Women

In the last couple of days a debate about ageism and women broadcasters has been going on TV and all the major newspapers in the UK. A well known BBC presenter dismissed from her job because of her age (over 50), at least so she claims, has submitted her case to an employment tribunal  and has won it for unfair dismissal. Such a victory should worm every woman's heart for a few seconds at least. But does it? Ageism towards women starts at a very early age. Remember the old song "Sweet Sixteen"? If you were in your 20s at the time you probably thought that your love life was already over and that men were too busy chasing after 16 years old in school uniforms to even notice you in your jeans and old jumper. In my opinion ageism is not the right word, reality is much uglier then that. What if you are young but are not, shall we say, "photogenic" (remember this word?) could you ever become a TV presenter. I think not. If we make a list in our head of all TV presenters and broadcaster, we'll soon discover that not all men are Adonis but that women must all be Venus. Men have the right to be bold, beauty challenged and overweight but women can't. So when we talk about ageism (which I strongly believe is something we should all fight against) let's look back and see where everything started (not at 50 but much, much earlier).
It seems to me that many celebrities have played the 'beauty game' and have ripped the benefits all their lives and only now that the game doesn't suit them any more are fighting back. What I'm saying is, let's fight all the time not just when we hit 50, because it might be just a bit too late. What about launching a 'no make up day' worldwide. A day in which women can be who they really are. How many women would follow me, I wonder!
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