Attack of the 50something women

Nope, definitely not invisible!

Cate Blanchett bringing the house down with Sparks at Glastonbury last weekend

Last Friday afternoon I watched rapt as a black-clad 55-year-old captivated a huge crowd of all ages, voice soaring over the Somerset fields as they danced, pogoed and chatted their way through a back catalogue of hits you didn’t know you knew all the words to until you’d sung along to every last one. Texas’ front woman Sharlene Spiteri was not just incandescent as she belted out 90s hits including Say What You Want, Black Eyed Boy and Summer Son, she gave the lie to the oft-repeated BS that women over 50 are invisible - and if they aren’t, they should be. Spiteri stormed the stage and didn’t let up for the full 60 minutes. Just watching her energy levels and stamina left me in shreds. (Note to self, do more of whatever Sharleen does.) Thirty five years after she wrote I Don’t Want A Lover with her band mate Johnny McElhone and was catapulted to stardom with their very first single, she exhibited the kind of self-possession and confidence that put her younger self in the shade. No doubt about it, she was having a total ball.

Sharleen Spiteri owning the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury

So what? You might say. One slightly older woman who is still good at her highly visible job isn’t exactly a revolution. Lots of shrug emojis. Everybody knows that one example of anything does not a trend make. Or you might already be searching for a link to one of the many pieces about Glastonbury’s gender imbalance (here you go, I’ve done the finger work for you). But as Spiteri herself says, Emily Eavis, Glastonbury’s powerhouse organiser, is a “massive supporter” of female musicians, “Not because she’s ticking a fucking box to have them on the stages. She’s put us on these stages because she thinks we’re fucking amazing.” Well said, Sharleen. As you know, I’m fully on board with the f-bombs.

Anyway to return to the one’s a one-off, two’s a coincidence, three’s a trend argument… Slightly later the same evening, Sparks took to the stage. Two tracks in, Sparks brother Russell Mael welcomed a special guest who would be dancing to their track The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte. In one bound, Cate Blanchett single handedly sent sales of yellow suits soaring, and the audience and social media into paroxysms of ecstasy, as she reprised her dance from the song’s video. (There’s a reason Blanchett is the subject of a legion lesbian crushes, and has her own Reddit thread. It was in ample evidence at Glastonbury on Friday night.)

And the entire weekend’s festivities? They were presided over by a woman who has never been more in and of herself than she is right now, at 57. Jo Whiley. Fantastically fit, dressed to the nines, because why the hell not, and absolutely at the top of her game. After 27 years behind the BBC’s mic at Glastonbury (starting as John Peel’s more than slightly awestruck sidekick) she glided through epic hosting stints making it look effortless as she caught the many balls dropped by less experienced presenters while managing to convey all the energy and enthusiasm of someone who still couldn’t quite believe their luck. Like Spiteri, 55, and Blanchett, 54, Whiley is on fire right now. Creative, clever, confident, experience (yep, that much under-valued quality! I’ll say it again EXPERIENCE) oozing from every pore, these women have got it all going on and I don’t know about you, but I want a bit of it.

Pic from Jo’s Instagram

And they aren’t the only ones. Off the top of my head, there were also The Chicks (formerly The Dixie Chicks, aged 48-53), Beth Orton, 52, dance legend Alison Goldfrapp, 57, and Mica Paris, 54. And that’s before I get started on Blondie (Debbie Harry is a frankly astonishing 77), Chrissie Hynde, 71, Toyah Wilcox (I really am showing my age now, 65), Rickie Lee Jones, 68, and Candi Staton, 83 and making Elton look like a whipper snapper.

If you want to extend the age limit down to 40 (and I do) you can throw in Annie Macmanus, 44, Lauren Laverne, 45, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, 44, Kelis, 43, Melanie C, 49, and the brains behind it all, Emily Eavis, 43. I’m sure I’ve missed some, if not loads.

Does all this mean anything at all? Is it the start of a movement or just a fleeting moment? This year’s diversity? Admittedly I’m crossing my fingers as I type this, but I’m very much hoping it’s the former. Not exactly a tidal wave, but certainly a ripple that has been gaining momentum ever since I started writing about this subject in 2019.

In fact, three years ago, when I was finishing the first draft of the book that was to become The Shift, in the midst of the first lockdown, I spent an evening scouring (mainly) terrestrial TV in the UK for evidence of women over 50. (I say specifically evening because daytime has always been allowed to be a woman’s domain. Just as magazines were. And I will never not bow down to queen Lorraine Kelly.) After Fiona Bruce and Sue Barker (who was promptly removed from Question of Sport and then left/got left from Wimbledon depending who you believe. I guess I jinxed her) I tripped over Mary Beard and then stumbled to a halt. When I extended the criteria to include presenters and actors over 40, I managed to add news broadcasters Cathy Newman and Sophie Raworth. Not exactly what you might call representative. Scroll forward to this week and, in the wake of Glasto, I scoured the TV listings again. At a glance…

Bridget Christie’s The Change; Before We Die led by the never not fantastic Lesley Sharp and ably matched by Kazia Pelka (both, incidentally, in their 60s); And Just Like That (whatever you think of it, and I’m not a big fan, it still boasts a female cast over 40, and almost entirely over 50); Annika (starring the becoming ubiquitous Nicola Walker); Sharon Horgan starring, writing, producing and winning just about all the awards. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. If you extend to streaming then Shonda Rhimes and Reese Witherspoon deserve our undying gratitude. Elsewhere the entire Women’s Prize shortlist was over 50, while last year’s big breakout fiction hit Lessons In Chemistry (about to be brought to our screens by Brie Larson) was written by debut novelist Bonnie Garmus, 66.

Now this is not me saying, “job done” and putting my feet up. Far from it. (God knows, we’ve made that mistake before…) And anyone can see how overpoweringly white this list is. How overpoweringly cis-gendered, able-bodied and slim. (I acknowledge some of this may be to do with my limited musical knowledge and for that I apologise.) But it’s a start. A small but important start. One that needs consolidating so it does become a movement that reaches beyond the confines of the media and creative worlds and into all the industries where women of all backgrounds are routinely sidelined, dismissed and ignored. So that it doesn’t end up being just this year’s box-ticking, back-slapping moment before all the blokes in the marketing department move on.

---

•••Public Service Announcement•••
On the subject of being sidelined and ignored, some of you have been in touch to say you’re growing increasingly concerned by your inability to get hold of supplies of Utrogestan (progesterone) in the UK. All reports are that there won’t be new supplies until the end of the year. (Is there any other medication where this would be OK?) One woman told me that she had to get supplies on holiday in Spain - €10 over the counter, so if you happen to be there on holiday… Anyway, I’ve done some digging and been advised that if you’re struggling to get supplies, your first stop should be Boots Prescription Tracker to see if there are supplies near you. It’s not infallible, but will help you avoid a wasted trip. Still no luck? Don’t panic. (And really don’t randomly swap with your friends!) There are alternatives which are not automatically prescribed (because cost) so go back to your GP and ask for a different description.

If you have any further advice or want to share your experience, please comment.