Grace Fodor
"Let's change the face of ageing once and for all to never allow anyone to consider us invisible again."
Welcome to our PRO AGE movement
When I hit my mid-40s, I found myself labelled ‘middle-aged’. I was surrounded by outdated stereotypes that didn’t reflect how I felt or the way I lived my life. This is what it boils down to: the negative rhetoric used by mainstream media and anti-ageing ads with poor representation of older women, send a clear message – in order for women to stay socially relevant, we must look young.
A recent study of 2,000 women revealed that by the time they reached the age of 51, many believed they had become invisible. Only 15% of these women felt they had high or very high confidence in any area of their life, and 46% thought no one understood or addressed women and ageing.
That’s why we want you to join our PRO AGE movement. We need to challenge society’s outdated stereotypes – perhaps even our own. They only serve to diminish our worth, value and confidence. It’s time to reframe the misguided narrative in our society that only youth can be relevant, of value and beautiful. Ageism MUST be stamped out.
True beauty is ageless – our achievements and experiences have real value. We must bang the drum for how much we count, step forward confidently. Celebrate and own our age - wear it proudly so that no matter what we never allow anyone to consider us invisible.
"It's about time we started owning our years. Let's unite to create a voice that will change how we talk, think and feel about ageing."
Become part of our Beauty That Comes With Age exhibition and help to spread the message. All you need to do is take a picture of yourself bearing your age with a positive description of how you feel. Bold, beautiful, strong, courageous, proud of it, loving my age - the choices are endless!
Then post it across your social media TAGGING three friends. Here’s some copy and hashtags to use with your photo:
Let’s change the face of ageing, reframe the misguided notion that only youth can be beautiful and stamp out ageism once and for all. It's our time to be seen and our time to be heard - so help me celebrate our age and wear it proudly so that no matter what, we never allow anyone to consider us invisible again.
#beautythatcomeswithage #ageismisoldnews #PROAGE
I can’t wait to see your photos! We will be exhibiting as many as we can across all our social media and gallery below. Don't forget to use the hashtags so we can see them! Together, united, we can change the face of ageing one be-YOU-tiful face at a time.
"It's time to be seen and time to be heard."
Andrea McLean
@andreamclean1
Michelle Collins
@michelledcollins
Tonia Buxton
@toniabuxton
Suzanne Baum
@suzanne_baum
Katie Isles
@katieisles
Therese
@theresegoesgrey
Meg Mathews
@megmathewsofficial_
Ruby Hammer
@rubyhammer