Martha Stewart & Agism
Unless you are living completely off the grid, you know that 81-year-old Martha Stewart was one of four cover models on the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. The photos have been parsed over and analyzed by just about everyone on social media, particularly with regards to what kind of photoshopping was involved and whether Stewart has had plastic surgery (for the record, per Sheila Callaham writing in Forbes, Stewart has not had any facial surgery, although she does admit to using filler and Botox). The SI cover is the latest in a string of high-profile placements for women over 70, from 106-year-old Apo Maria "Whang-Od" Oggay’s Vogue Philippines April 2023 cover to 91-year-old super model Carmen Dell’Orefice on the April 2023 cover of Vogue Czechoslovakia. So why has the Martha Stewart cover been so controversial?
For those of us who are not regular SI readers, the swimsuit issue feels like an artifact from another era; it doesn’t exactly call to mind female empowerment. That said, the editor-in-chief of SI is a woman, and I do give MJ Day credit for broadening the conversation around age by putting Stewart on the cover as a woman who continues to live life on her own terms.
For some people, the big issue is that the images were photoshopped. As someone who works closely with photographers, I know just how widely photoshop is used on models whether they are 18 or 80, so I think the point is arguable. Evidently, I made someone unhappy on LinkedIn by stating that – she felt that we should all be accepted for who we are. It’s a lovely idea if we lived in a perfect world, but the truth is an audience looks to magazines and celebrities to see something beyond reality.
In fact, I remember just last year an uproar on Instagram as people complained about 64-year-old Madonna’s veined and wrinkled hands because they looked “old”. The critique must have stung the singer enough, because for her next set of public appearances she either had her hands covered by clothing or wore gloves. That’s not acceptance of aging, but rather the public declaring loud and clear that old is unacceptable.
What makes Stewart’s cover and layout important for me is that it does communicate that taking care of oneself can mean having a vibrant, active life at the age of 80. I realize some people feel that a wealthy white woman glamorously shot on the cover of SI isn’t exactly the way to deliver this message nor is it inclusive, and that’s understandable. However, as a society we are only just starting to accept that women in their 50s can be attractive (Halle Berry, Michelle Yeoh, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren). Whether people like it or not, celebrities do help move the cultural needle.
And for the fashion industry, Stewart’s cover should telegram to some of its executives that women over the age of 40 do matter (check out this engaging Showstudio conversation about the Fall 2023 Ann Demeulemeester show and body types; at minute 15:09 global brand strategist Emily Zak mentions how a Kering executive explicitly states that older women are not their target consumer). The fact is people are living longer all over the world, and businesses need to consider how to embrace an aging population in their media and PR strategies, as well as think about what aging looks like now.
And that starts with older women being seen. Hopefully going forward, women over 65 will be featured in more magazine editorials and advertising campaigns – and the way to ensure that happens is for more women to be in the room and making these decisions. Whatever anyone may think of Day’s choices for this year’s swimsuit issue, at least the ultimate decision to feature Stewart on the cover was made by a woman executive. For those who say they want to see the full range of female diversity – race, body shape, wrinkles, etc. – across advertising and editorial, the only way to test that theory is for brands to take the initiative and start casting a variety of older models and stop waiting for someone else to take the lead.
