By Evelynn Schoenthal
“Everybody loves an ingénue,” Phoebe Bridgers sang in her verse of “Nothing New,” a collaboration with Taylor Swift off of her latest album: Red (Taylor’s Version). The song is a representation of how women approaching their mid-twenties feel ostracized for their age as they lose their novelty. The notion that women are no longer “attractive” or invigorating as they reach 25 is as old as entertainment itself. It was Daisy Buchanen in The Great Gatsby that said, “I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”
A woman’s beauty and youth are their best capital as proven by Hollywood norms.
Twenty-one-year-old Jennifer Lawrence scored her breakout role of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games that followed her role in X-Men: First Class. The simultaneous promotion of these films caused her to hold the “America’s Sweetheart” title appearing in other films such as Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustler. In just five years, Lawrence appeared in 14 films. However, Lawrence’s career has faltered after reaching 26. Lawrence’s most recent film Don’t Look Up features her and Leonardo DiCaprio as costars. Although she is the lead actress, DiCaprio is 16 years older, still experiencing the same attention and praise as he did when he was a young actor.
Lawrence’s story is not unique for women in Hollywood. A woman is catapulted into the spotlight, appears in shows and movies that span many genres earning nationwide admiration, but then reaches a plateau that declines from there. Leading female roles are typically young, bright-eyed and naive whereas their male counterparts are often much older than them. As women age, there are fewer opportunities for their career in entertainment to continue. However, it’s not just Hollywood writers and casting directors to blame for this phenomenon, but also the result of societal expectations which are simply reinforced by Hollywood’s portrayal of men and women.
The double standard moves past the production of movies, but into the personal lives of celebrities themselves. Leonardo DiCaprio is a notorious culprit of dating women substantially younger than him. Since the year 1999, DiCaprio has never dated a woman older than 25. A chart made by a Reddit user in 2019 depicts the trend and shows that once a girlfriend reaches 25, they break up, and he goes on to date a younger woman. The normalization of erasing women as they age in Hollywood causes insecurity in women as they repeatedly watch men who are described as “aging like fine wine” date women who are new to adulthood.
According to a TIME analysis in 2015, men in Hollywood reach their peak around 46, whereas women reach theirs around 30. After this age, opportunities for roles consistently decline. However, this trend is also apparent in most other industries. On average, a woman’s salary will increase between 22-33, will slow at around 34, then peak at age 41. On the other hand, a man’s salary will experience the same growth as a woman’s until he reaches 53 when it peaks.
In a society that values and borderline fetishizes young women, or rather ingenues, women are forced to face their own mortality at a much younger age than men are. It’s no wonder that women will go to great lengths to maintain their appearance with serums or even plastic surgery. Looking towards the future, Hollywood needs to change their narrative surrounding women’s age and not diminish talent to be cast as mothers, wives, or grandmothers. Once Hollywood changes its narrative, the effects will spill over into other professional industries.
