In the frame: Older women against Photoshopping

Views on airbrushing — as with the ubiquitous self-editing apps used widely on social media — illustrate how rife ageist attitudes are, says Margaret Jennings.

THERE’S a funny scene with a biting edge in the third season of Frankie and Grace, the Netflix drama featuring two 70-something women, which highlights the realities of growing older.

The two would-be entrepreneurs Frankie (Lily Tomlin) and Grace (Jane Fonda) ask a PR firm to help them promote their vibrators for seniors. All is good until the PR people present them with a very large poster of themselves as the “faces” behind the product — very young faces.