Older women disappear from presenting roles across the BBC while older men are regarded as “gaining gravitas and wisdom”, according to an internal review of the broadcaster’s record on representation.
A “noticeable mismatch” in the number of staff and freelance male and female presenters over the age of 60 was uncovered by the review.
It heard evidence that while older men are seen as becoming imbued with greater authority, older women had to either keep looking younger or develop “idiosyncratic personas”.
While women outnumbered men in terms of presenters under 50, men “significantly outnumbered” women among the over-50s – with 237 women to 394 men.
Pretty young totty gets a leg up (fnarr, fnarr) in getting a presenter’s job. When those looks, that lusciousness, fade, that advantage goes away. Shrug.
So, if we require sexual equality here the totty has to stop getting the leg up, right?
The totty could always go trans at 50.
Privatise it and then who gives a shit?
The review also warned of a “noticeably low number of black reporters and presenters on-air”.
Bullshit.
Well, there’s a noticable low number of black people in the country, if they could be arsed to notice. 3% of the population.
And it’s “on air” not “on-air”. “on-air” is a *PRE*positional adjective. You have an on-air reporter, or a reporter on air.
Oi! Your host is meant to be the pendant…
“a reporter on air”?
I thought most of them were on coke.
Logic would also (as with boards and top mgmt) be that the >60 co-hort started their careers back in the days when the world was sexist. So if we become less sexist over time then it would be normal to have fewer females in the older cohorts. To prove sexism now vis-a-vis > whatever age you would have to prove that females were being forced out at a higher rate
Indeed. Selina Scott is complaining but she got a very good career going at a young age. She was under 30 presenting Breakfast Time.
Apart from being the norm everywhere, this is about women viewers as much as men. Women prefer to watch more attractive women, but authoritative men.
Personally, I don’t give a shit who is “presenting”. Axe them and get to the point.
Selina Scott. Mmm.
I remember one occasion when the Breakfast Time weather forecast was presented by Francis Wilson from the roof of the BBC building. Ms. Scott decided to make an appearance at the end of the forecast and said to Wilson “It’s nice up here, perhaps I could present the programme from here.”, to which he responded “Yes, Selina, but there’s no autocue on the roof.”.
Yes it is true.
But quite simply quality will out. A presenter as good as Val Singleton could offer gravitas and aged accordingly. Many turned to the wireless, where looks don’t matter ( Lawley, Kirsty Young ). As the daytime TV audience is mostly over 60, they still have some aged totty who were beautiful in the 1980s showing off their Botox jabs.
Why many women lack gravitas…
And another reason why many women lack gravitas…
Down with this sort of thing !
Careful now !
.
Notwithstanding Emil’s excellent point, its interesting that they chose 50 as the cut-off.
There was some research a few years ago, discussed on here IIRC, that showed that lap dancers got more tips when they were ovulating. The implication being that men instinctively knew which women were ready for impregnating.
Given that 50 is the age which the average woman is well in to the menopause could it also be to do with male audiences instinctively losing interest in them as child bearers, whereas men can sire children at any age so keep women interested?
Or the ovulating lap-dancers were readier to smear themselves with baby oil …
Not that I would know, but it seems to me that oiled stage dancers would be more attractive, but oiled lap dancers would be less.
There’s that whole “Now I’ve got oil-smeared clothes to go home in” bit.
Might they not be smeared in, er, something else, anyway?
Reading the endless articles on this theme I am reminded of the late Anita Roddick, when well into her 50s, waxing lyrical about some primitive tribe where the more mature women were highly prized “for their wisdom”.
It is however unusual when, as in this case, the piece is written by a simp rather than an actual middle-aged woman.
I never quite believe these stories. Wanting to shag young birds is evolutionary for males. People who are wanking off to Miss Marple don’t produce the next generation.
How many shags does it take for you to produce your share of the next generation? And how many shags do you want to have in your life? I suspect there is a very large difference between the two, leaving plenty opportunities for shagging which does not result in babies.
There’s also the issue of competence. If a man gets a presenting job at a young age he’s probably pretty good at it (because he’s competing with all the pretty girls). So as the prettiness of his competitors reduces as everyone ages, his competence (and added years of experience) becomes a significant advantage.
I can imagine the reaction of the middle aged woman to that!!
Somehow, the fact that men are under-represented under 50 didn’t seem to raise any concern. Hmm?
Also, curious about this bit “older men are regarded as “gaining gravitas and wisdom”” -according to whom, exactly? Did this phrase come from the people making the hiring decisions, from the one who wrote this up, from a “gender studies expert”, from one woman who’s unhappy that she didn’t get the job?
Aren’t the people who are currently 60+ in the age bracket that wimmen retired at 60 and men at 65? So you’d *EXPECT* more over-60 men than women.
They should broadcast on the wireless (as we called it when I was young). Remember Moira Stuart? She had a beautiful speaking voice and a pleasing West Indian accent. Did anyone give a bugger what she looked like or how old she was?
A fine looker in her time, too.
Gamecock sees the problem. WTF would you order this ?!?! And don’t tell me that they didn’t know what the results would be before ordering it.
“It’s good for the soul to confess what a bad person you are.”
Ah, those older men with experience and gravitas tend to be expensive.
And they are harder to lay off. The perfect example is Alastair Stewart whom ITN could only expel by trumping up some racism charge against him.
That was then.
That these people still consider presenting roles as important . . .
They’re called ‘newsreaders’ for a reason.
2027: Labour introduces the new state pension plan.
Given the ridiculous salaries of the over 60s presenters at Aunty Beeb, they should all be given the cut. The licence fee supposedly pays for what commercial services wouldnt, so in such an anti-capitalist organisation top salaries ought to be capped. Once a presenter reaches the threshold of being worth more then off they go into the market and a vacancy to the next up-and-comer can be offered.
If I paid my licence fee that’s what I’d be demanding anyway. As it is all they send me is threatening love letters, every month, but they never actually call…