Jackie McGregor: The shame game - Female celebs are punished for the crime of time
A new trend is doing the rounds and, in my opinion, it's a particularly cruel one. It’s the “then and now” comparison photo.
We’ve all seen them, the deeply unflattering photo of a female celebrity past her prime snapped unawares by a lurking photographer.
Above the image a headline screams dramatically, “80s star looks unrecognisable.” We’re then lured to another page where the star will be revealed beside a gorgeous picture of herself taken decades ago in her youth. Or an old photo of a beauty from yesteryear will be published with the headline, “You won’t believe how they look now” leading to a juxtaposed image of the star looking stunning back then and not so hot now.
The subtext is clear, these women have committed a heinous crime: that of ageing. I recently saw a particularly harsh piece like this on actress, Kathleen Turner, photographed walking with a cane.
Kathleen, now aged 71, suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. Interspersed with several recent photos, where she looked pained by her ailment, were images of her taken in her 30s at the peak of her fame, looking ravishing, giving come-hither looks to the camera.
They may as well have included a headline that screeched, “How could you Kathleen?” above the pictures, because these weren’t harmless nostalgic photos. These ‘then and now’ images imply that the visible passage of time over the face of a once beautiful woman, is somehow a failure on her part, that she’s done something wrong by no longer resembling the siren we remember from movies in their heyday.
It’s an act of public shaming, driving home the age-old belief that a woman’s value is tied to her youthful beauty.
These beautiful female stars of yesteryear have become hostages of their youth. Their achievements aren’t highlighted or the fact that they have built legacies, what’s drawn attention to is the fading of their vibrancy and desirability.
Yet these standards don’t seem to apply to men. Stars like George Clooney are routinely praised for their mature allure. Clooney is branded as a “silver fox,” his natural grey hair seen as an asset to his attractiveness. Whereas actress Jodie Foster (62), was recently photographed casually out and about and described as, “flashing her grey roots while going make-up free.”
The subtext was, she’s turning grey with age and letting herself go. Someone once said: “Time is a great healer, but it’s a lousy beautician.” As a fifty-something, I can attest to that. Who doesn’t look different next to vintage photos of themselves?
When Jennifer Aniston and Sandra Bullock were snapped leaving a plastic surgeon’s office, it led to sneering speculation of what “tweakments” they may have had.
Women celebrities are expected to age gracefully but must do it without any visible signs of cosmetic work. It’s a lose-lose situation, they’re damned if they age and damned if they try to intervene in the process.
The scrutiny female stars come under with these ‘then and now’ comparison photos is misogynistic and unfair. Being lampooned for undergoing the natural process of aging, as though it were an offence, is reprehensible, it needs to end. Aging is not a crime, it’s a privilege.