Golden Girls

With age (usually) comes wisdom. This is not only the finding of numerous studies on the subject, but also a popular principle of life. This is not surprising, because age means, not least, real life experience. At least that's the theory, because existing know-how must also be tapped. In the media and entertainment industry in particular, however, there is a strong bias toward youth. Women suffer considerably more from this than men: While men are allowed to lead evening shows into old age and portray gigolos in midlife crisis in film and television, women simply no longer seem to exist in the media after a certain age - neither in front of nor behind the camera. And if they do, then only in specific niches that do not really do justice to either them or the viewers. So what can be done to guarantee female visibility in the media for women beyond 50? The session explores why it is not a good idea to exclude half of society from the media landscape and discusses approaches on how the media industry can become more diverse when it comes to age.