Britain's Got Talent has finished for another year. It was another good, be it predictable, series and Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden were dressed impeccably throughout. However, it seemed that Amanda was at the centre of a hate campaign by the Daily Mail against women that, God forbid, show some leg or even worse, cleavage on national TV.
An article published by the Daily Mail called Holden 'the most shameless attention-seeker on telly' for wearing dresses that showed a bit of skin. It all seemed too much for the Mail due to Amanda being 44 and way too old to be showing that she's proud of her body. Can a woman aged over 40 not show off her body without being criticised? No - the media tells women of a certain age that they shouldn't wear some outfits as they're not 'age appropriate'. Madonna has been at the forefront of this type of criticism for as long as I can remember with newspapers, magazines and TV channels telling her she's too old to be dressing the way she is. Not all women have to dress in head to toe Marks and Spencer's as soon as they celebrate their 40th birthday and not all women should be expected to either.
A recent Amy Schumer sketch ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPpsI8mWKmg ) featuring actresses Tina Fey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Patricia Arquette highlighted the ageism that women in the spotlight face when it comes to sexuality and their age which is frankly wrong. However, this doesn't seem to be the same for men. George Clooney and Brad Pitt are both over 50 and deemed sexy but can a woman be over 40 and sexy too?
The answer to that is definitely a yes. Jennifer Lopez, Heidi Klum and Nigella Lawson are all women showing that age is no barrier when it comes to their clothing choices and rightfully so. No adult woman should have to worry about an outfit being 'age appropriate'. The media has to stop berating women of any age when it comes to what they wear and how they look. How are we supposed to instil confidence in the millions of self- conscious women when newspapers like the Daily Mail criticise women for revealing their bodies? Rita Ora was at the receiving end of over 400 complaints when she wore a blazer which showed off her cleavage on BBC's 'The One Show'as it was deemed inappropriate. Cleavage is skin. What's the big deal?
- Don't listen to the Daily Mail and those 59 people who complained to OFCOM about your 'revealing' dresses. I and many others thought you looked hot. You were showing other women your age that it's fine to show some cleavage and that age should never be a barrier when it comes to fashion or anything else for that matter.