Susan, Miriam, and Ageism

Almost two years ago, a 47 year-old woman by the name of Susan Boyle appeared on a show called Britain’s Got Talent (the British version of American Idol). Most of you already know her story, given that her appearance on the show generated more than 100 million Internet hits and Boyle quickly became a world-wide media sensation.
When she appeared on the show, she announced that she was going to sing “I Dreamed a Dream,” from Les Miserables. When the notorious Simon Cowell asked her age, Susan said “Forty-seven.” Mind you, this frumpy looking woman was wearing an old-fashioned dress and her hair was out of style. The audience and the judges, including Cowell, began to smirk, laugh, and show their disbelief that this old woman, old at least by Idol standards, would be so foolish to tackle such a difficult piece. To make a long story short, she sings the song brilliantly and the audience is clearly caught “off guard.” They stand to applaud while the judges’ jaws drop.
Fast forward to 2011. Recently, it was reported that 53 year-old Miriam O’Reilly, a television “presenter” for BBC, finally won her lawsuit. The court ruled she had been a victim of ageism, after hearing testimony that O’Reilly had been asked by her superiors if it was “time for Botox.” Moreover, she had been warned to be “careful with those wrinkles when the high definition comes in.” Since then, BBC has apologized, is considering training for those execs who make these decisions on tv presenters, and is looking into working with her again.
Discrimination on the basis of age is on the rise, as our attitudes toward aging evolve and try to catch up with a new reality; namely, aging populations and an older workforce in the UK, U.S. and throughout the world. Clearly, we cannot judge individuals in entertainment or in any industry by their wrinkles, grey hair, or sagging chins. As we try to recover economically, attitudes such as these delay our ability to do so. Wasted talent, at any age, is a losing proposition for all of us.