Hollywood Celebrity Mocked for Looking Older on the Red Carpet

Sarah Jessica Parker is an award-winning actress as well as a style icon thanks to her years on the HBO TV show, “Sex and the City”. When she steps out on the red carpet, her fashion choices usually start a conversation about her sense of style. However, the appearance of the 53-year-old star at the Met Gala in early May set off a series of comments that she might not find to be as complimentary as she hoped.

The theme of the night was “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination”. Parker’s fashion choice for the event was a metallic-gold Dolce & Gabbana gown paired with a nativity scene headpiece. While her outfit definitely caught the attention of fashion lovers around the world, her look sparked a series of nasty comments about her looking older on the red carpet.

Sarah Jessica Parker is Said to be Old Looking by Social Media Users:

The Met Gala is always a source of buzz on social media as fans all over the world talk about the show and their favorite celebrities. The Met Gala this year was no different and loads of comments were made regarding the show and the celebrities in attendance. Unfortunately, Sarah Jessica Parker was mocked for looking older at the Met Gala by some social media users on Twitter:

• “I didn’t realize Sarah Jessica Parker was 75 years old until I saw her at the Met Gala last night.”
• “Sarah Jessica Parker looked 80 years old last night. Wtf.”

Twitter users weren’t the only people to comment on her appearance. Some of the comments on Instagram included:

• “BIG put her through too much #StressandTheCity”
• “Girl has aged”
• “She is overdue for fillers”
• “Sarah, darling, the word for today is MOISTURIZER.”

In addition, photos showing her outfit were greeted with comments such as Parker “looks older” and “scary.”

Fillers and Botox on Older Women in Hollywood

When looking at characters form the 25 films nominated for “Best Picture” between 2014 and 2016, a survey conducted by the University of Southern California’s Media, Diversity, & Social Change Initiative found that, of 1256 characters in these films, only 11.8\\% were 60 years of age or older. In addition, half of the films that did feature an older character of significance, or in a supporting role, contained lines that were written to joke about the age of the character.

In an interview with Yahoo, Ashton Applewhite, the author of “This Chair Rocks” said, “The intersection of ageism and sexism devalues women — whereas age distinguishes men. It’s an outlook developed early in life from reading children’s books, watching cartoon characters like Homer Simpson, or being exposed to stereotypes, like all grandmothers sit in rocking chairs knitting.” Applewhite went on to say that women are advised to use fillers or Botox before taking “engagement selfies” to share with the world. They are advised to have these products under the assumption that the process of aging can somehow be stopped or slowed down. Applewhite went on to add “In the workplace, we see ageism around age 32, when women are often passed over for promotions based on the assumption that they may get married and have children.”

Andrew Hansssen is a professor of economics at Clemson University. He is also the co-author of a 2016 study that outlined the shrinking opportunities for women in Hollywood as they age. The study found that women in the “20-something” age range landed 80\\% of the leading roles in Hollywood. On the other hand, only 40\\% of 30-year-olds landed juicy parts and, after the age of 40, only 20\\% of women were able to nab a leading role. After the study results were released, Hanssen remarked that aging is seen as even more of a negative for females in the workplace. When it comes to movies, Hanssen noted that in popular romantic movies where sexual attraction plays a role, the youth of a female is seen as being prized above other attributes. While it often seems that female celebrities start and end their careers earlier than their male counterparts, men are often not taken seriously for major roles until they get a bit older and hit their 30s.

While it doesn’t look like older female celebrities, such as Sarah Jessica Parker, are going to be able to escape the “shame” of aging anytime soon, studies such as the one above point out the different ways men and women are perceived in Hollywood. It is hoped that these differences shrink in the future and older females in the entertainment industry are given the same opportunities as male actors. Whether or not these differences do go away in the future remains to be seen.