Women in entertainment have long complained that they are expected to look unnaturally young, act young, and stay young throughout their careers. There seems to be a different and more rigid unwritten standard applied to females as opposed to men. Older women's appearance and behavior can be the targets of ageist critics who eagerly decry what they deem as "inappropriate." In fact, two renowned women came under fire from such naysayers recently. They are Madonna and Jasmine Guy. However, both can count as vociferous defenders the co-hosts of The View.
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'The View' Co-Hosts Slammed Those Who Take Women To Task for Their Age
The "Like a Virgin" singer has reportedly not appeared at the MTV VMAs in 23 years, per Entertainment Weekly. She ended that long stretch by gracing the stage at the event on Sunday, September 27. Madonna is 68 years old. Jasmine Guy, the former A Different World star, "recently spoke out against people's expectations for women of a certain age in Hollywood and beyond," per the outlet. She is 64.
They both found staunch allies in the women of The View, however. In fact, Whoopi Goldberg bluntly said on air on Monday, September 28, "These women are gorgeous."
Alyssa Farah Griffin chimed in with this thought. "It shows how there's just no win for women. Madonna's being criticized for being too overtly sexual and trying to look too young, and Jasmine is being criticized for trying to age gracefully. You can't win no matter which direction you take."
Another View co-host, Sara Haines, jumped in as well. She shared that "the types of people that are going to go on there and rage post are not the ones in a good mental state." Ana Navarro apparently agreed with her colleagues. "Then I see all this stuff on Madonna, I'm like, okay, leave women alone. It's hard. We are in menopause."
Sunny Hostin Offered This Eloquent Opinion
Hostin spoke out with clarity, urgency, and kindness on this subject. She phrased it well. "What's so sad about all of this that's going on with women and aging is, what is the alternative? I can't begin to tell you how many emails I get, almost on a monthly basis, about someone being widowed in my age group, someone having a stroke, someone having a heart attack."
She went on like this. "How dare you shame someone for trying to age well and beautifully and just live. We need to realize what a blessing it is to be able to get to be that age."
