Alarming statistics and their rescue plan

Recently we have seen a spate of older women appearing in ad campaigns, with major brands signing on the likes of Joni Mitchell, Twiggy, Helen Mirren, Anjelica Huston, Catherine Deneuve, Iris Apfel and Jessica Lange. Despite this, the Q10 Firming - Women & Ageing Research study launched this week found women are still being made to feel invisible by society as they age.

The study discovered 60 per cent of women aged 50+ feel invisible in society, while 68 per cent say that is relative to how they felt when they were younger. A further 50 per cent of women 50+ said they feel less valuable than they did when they were younger.

The NIVEA research also revealed 87 per cent of women believe ageism is a reality, with 74 per cent agreeing it is more prominent for women. And it seems celebrities are accountable for some of the blame, with 68 per cent of women believing Hollywood has contributed to ageism.

We’ve all heard the saying “mutton dressed as lamb”, but that’s not likely to be muttered in relation to these study participants, with 74 per cent of the women revealing that as they grow older they feel the need to adapt their style to their age (e.g. have short hair and not wear short skirts). It was also agreed by 70 per cent of women that as they grow older, society expects them to be less sexy.

“Life can whiz by so fast. One day you are the `life of the party’, feeling amazing, being told how fabulous you are and then like a giant slap in the face from the universe….it stops. Why? Just because we are getting older does not mean we are not getting MORE fabulous and wiser. But society tends to ignore women over 50. You just seem to become invisible,” says campaign ambassador and media commentator Bianca Dye.

“I definitely feel way more invisible than I did when I was 32 and voted `sexiest woman in radio’! I totally can relate to losing confidence and feeling more open to being judged if I wear a short skirt, or simply just not being noticed. It’s time to reclaim our fabulousness and remind ourselves to shed some of that light and love and compliments and pay it back to our mums, sisters, friends!”

But it seems the tides may be turning for this “invisible” society, with the study finding  91 per cent of women believe we should be mindful of helping older women feel more confident and visible, and  93 per cent believing we should constantly remind our mothers of their worth.  Daughters also have a part to play, with 84 per cent of daughters saying that as their mother grows older, it is becoming more important for them to support their mothers.

To help in the fight against women over 50+ becoming invisible, NIVEA has created the #standfirm campaign encouraging mothers and daughters to join together to boost each other’s confidence.

The NIVEA campaign follows a similar vein as Trilogy's What I Know Now campaign that asked women to share their thoughts on the positive and empowering side to ageing.