Underrepresented: Older Women and Media

A new study finds that even in magazines with significant proportions of older readers, youth rules. University of Georgia gerontologist Denise Lewis and colleagues analyzed the December 2007 issues of eight popular fashion magazines, advertisements, articles, fashion spreads and all. (December was chosen because pre-holiday issues tend to be the thickest.)

The researchers found that across the board, magazines failed to represent the age demographics of their readers. Images of men were more common than images of older women.

[Read the full story: Magazines' Youthful Ideal Threatens Real Women's Sexuality]

Here's how the data broke down by magazine, from most age-friendly to least:

Essence

Proportion of readers over 50: 22 percent

Proportion of women over 40 portrayed: 9.02 percent

Harper's Bazaar

Proportion of readers over 50: 23 percent

Proportion of women over 40 portrayed: 8.75 percent

Glamour

Proportion of readers over 50: 16 percent

Proportion of women over 40 portrayed: 8.65 percent

Instyle

Proportion of readers over 50: 11 percent

Proportion of women over 40 portrayed: 7.93 percent

Vogue

Proportion of readers over 50: 20 percent

Proportion of women over 40 portrayed: 7.33

W

Proportion of readers over 50: 14 percent

Proportion of women over 40 portrayed: 5.09 percent

Cosmopolitan

Proportion of readers over 50: 9 percent

Proportion of women over 40 portrayed: 4.38 percent

Elle

Proportion of readers over 50: 19 percent

Proportion of women over 40 portrayed: 2.68 percent

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