Saturday, November 24, 2001
Aging Anchorwomen
A question often asked in Australia is why there are so few middle-aged and older female newsreaders on TV here. I believe the answer is simple, and it has little to do with the desire of middle-aged male TV execs to ogle a young bimbo reading the news. The ‘real’ solution is twofold:-
· The earliest experience that most men have with older women is either with their mothers, in whose mouth the most common word is ‘NO’, or with their kindergarten teachers, who commonly espouse the view that ‘boys are FILTH-y little creatures who won’t sit up straight like the girls, and touch themselves in inappropriate places’; and
· Most women who are middle-aged and older are EXTREMELY conservative, as witnessed by the recent refugee ‘crisis’... the most vociferous supporters of the Howard government’s policy, the loudest howlers on talkback radio on the subject of ‘evil Muslims flooding in and changing OUR country’ are women over forty. Such conservatism puts off young women (‘My god, she sounds just like MUM... will I be like that when I get old?) and men... both groups prefer their ‘compassionate conservatism’ from John Laws rather than from Oprah Winfrey, and feel more ‘relaxed and comfortable’ with John Howard at the reins than they would with Pauline Hanson.
In the US, where men are USED to being told how to think by older women, and where MOM is the foundation of all morality, middle-aged female newsreaders are highly approved. Maybe when the current crop of home-grown SNAGs, who follow the advice of American gurus to ‘get in touch with their feminine side’, push out the Aussie dinosaurs at the helms of PBL and News Ltd., WE too will have our crop of ageing anchorwomen.
· The earliest experience that most men have with older women is either with their mothers, in whose mouth the most common word is ‘NO’, or with their kindergarten teachers, who commonly espouse the view that ‘boys are FILTH-y little creatures who won’t sit up straight like the girls, and touch themselves in inappropriate places’; and
· Most women who are middle-aged and older are EXTREMELY conservative, as witnessed by the recent refugee ‘crisis’... the most vociferous supporters of the Howard government’s policy, the loudest howlers on talkback radio on the subject of ‘evil Muslims flooding in and changing OUR country’ are women over forty. Such conservatism puts off young women (‘My god, she sounds just like MUM... will I be like that when I get old?) and men... both groups prefer their ‘compassionate conservatism’ from John Laws rather than from Oprah Winfrey, and feel more ‘relaxed and comfortable’ with John Howard at the reins than they would with Pauline Hanson.
In the US, where men are USED to being told how to think by older women, and where MOM is the foundation of all morality, middle-aged female newsreaders are highly approved. Maybe when the current crop of home-grown SNAGs, who follow the advice of American gurus to ‘get in touch with their feminine side’, push out the Aussie dinosaurs at the helms of PBL and News Ltd., WE too will have our crop of ageing anchorwomen.
