{"id":7325,"date":"2023-06-22T07:55:47","date_gmt":"2023-06-22T11:55:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.silvercentury.org\/?p=7325"},"modified":"2023-06-22T07:55:47","modified_gmt":"2023-06-22T11:55:47","slug":"is-it-ageist-to-offer-actors-the-right-to-hide-their-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/2023\/06\/is-it-ageist-to-offer-actors-the-right-to-hide-their-age\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it Ageist to Offer Actors the Right to Hide Their Age?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) has been waging a years-long legal battle with the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) to stop the site from disclosing the ages of screen actors. Last June, GLAAD, an LGBTQ advocacy organization, signed on to support SAG-AFTRA in preventing IMDb from publishing performers\u2019 private information. <\/span><\/p>\n

Six months later, <\/span>IMDb caved<\/span><\/a>. On December 13, 2022, it initiated a new policy that allows industry professionals to self-submit and\/or verify their birth year, birth name, alternate names and other demographic information and choose whether to display the information.<\/span><\/p>\n

The decision was framed as a major victory for both SAG-AFTRA and  GLAAD. It is indeed an inspiring example of how marginalized groups can make change by joining forces.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s terrific that people are now in charge of their data<\/span>, <\/span><\/i>and that transgender people will no longer be called by a name they\u2019d prefer no one use, or \u201cdeadnamed.\u201d It\u2019s indisputable that being outed as a member of a marginalized group puts people at risk of discrimination, as both SAG-AFTRA and GLAAD argued.<\/span><\/p>\n

But not everything about this decision is progressive. In fact, it\u2019s largely performative<\/b>. Where\u2019s the outcry about the increase in violence against transgender people? Where\u2019s the call for older actors to be cast in proportion to the percentage of older people in society? What does this decision do to remediate transphobia and age bias in the culture at large? If publishing actors\u2019 ages fuels ageism, as SAG-AFTRA contended in its lawsuit, isn\u2019t supporting age denial the opposite of a remedy?<\/span><\/p>\n

I asked <\/span>Mariann Aalda<\/a>,<\/span> who\u2019s been acting since 1978, how the absence of age on IMDB might affect performers. \u201cThe same way being in the closet affected gay actors,\u201d she replied. \u201cIn the short-term, it was a boon. Long-term, it became a burden. Keeping secrets is stressful. It\u2019s making something \u2018wrong\u2019 about being your authentic self.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s wonderful that  trans people can now be represented on IMDB as their authentic selves. We need to do a lot more work to ensure they feel safe doing so. Also, a lot more work against age shame, so we can be our authentic selves at any age.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) has been waging a years-long legal battle with the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) to stop the site from disclosing the ages of screen actors. Last June, GLAAD, an LGBTQ advocacy organization, signed on to support…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Is it Ageist to Offer Actors the Right to Hide Their Age?<\/span> ›<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n

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