There was talk of me being wound down at the BBC because I ‘looked old’ – in my thirties

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. It’s certainly not the first time the BBC has found itself in the firing line over ageism – particularly when it comes to women. As presenter of the BBC’s primetime The Clothes Show from 1986 to 1998, with women coming up to me in the street to say how glad they were to have my industry insights and challenges to fashion’s oppressive body ideals, I was shocked to be told over the phone that I had been discussed in a meeting of senior execs and was going to be “wound down” – because I was looking old. I interrogated image pressures facing girls and women, and was a rare pregnant presenter visibly adorned in my own inspirational maternity styling, whilst discussing the lack of an industry offer for working pregnant women. No one is saying ageism doesn’t affect men, but clearly women are on the frontline; evaluated for the ways our bodies and faces look at all times.