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# Project Description The Representation of Ageing Women on Screen Holly Smith Summary Final work I am a hard-working, conscientious, and creative individual who, having completed my BA in History and Sociology, is currently a master’s student at London College of Fashion studying MA Fashion Cultures and Histories. I am a hard-working, conscientious, and creative individual who, having completed my BA in ... College London College of Fashion Course MA Fashion Cultures and Histories Graduation year 2025 This research project examines the representation of ageing women on screen through the lens of the 2024 film The Substance . Grounded on posthuman and feminist theoretical frameworks, this study addresses how modern cinema engages with cultural expectations surrounding femininity and ageing. Driven by the growing visibility of cosmetic surgery, it interrogates how The Substance critiques societal pressures placed on women’s ageing bodies, and how its protagonist, Elisabeth Sparkle, functions as a metaphor personified for the cultural demonisation of older women in the media. By combining stills from the film with concepts of the abject, the monstrous feminine, and the male gaze, this project illustrates how The Substance uses body horror to convey the internal anguish midlife women can feel when ageing while misogynistic society renders female worth on their appearance. Complementing this film analysis, cultural reception theory is mobilised through the examination of Instagram, TikTok, and Reddit threads, encapsulating how film reflects reality and propels audience discussion over why women feel compelled to defy ageing. Through visual analysis of the film, and discourse analysis of the script, The Substance’s portrayal of Elisabeth’s bodily disintegration, where she grotesquely births her younger counterpart called Sue through her spine by injecting ‘the substance’, captures her desperation to reclaim her youth after being discarded from the entertainment industry on her 50th birthday. Elisabeth’s metamorphosis into Sue resonates with older women harnessing their agency to alter her appearance through plastic surgery to regain control over their identity. Yet, Elisabeth’s desire for eternal youth, and Sue’s disdain over Elisabeth’s aged body, reinforces the invisibility of ageing women in the media, highlighting the internalised misogyny within contemporary beauty culture which stigmatises midlife women from misaligning to society’s beauty standards. Accordingly, this research contributes to feminist film scholarship by offering a contemporary critique of patriarchal beauty narratives, layering film analysis with cultural reception to highlight how film both mirrors and resists ingrained societal expectations surrounding ageing and femininity. Final work Share this project This research project examines the representation of ageing women on screen through the lens of the 2024 film The Substance. Grounded on posthuman and feminist theoretical frameworks, this study addresses how modern cinema engages with cu... A link to this page has been added to your clipboard
# Links ## Official page - https://ualshowcase.arts.ac.uk/project/675464/cover ## External - https://www.linkedin.com/in/holly-smith-b52264330/ - https://www.instagram.com/_hmsmith - mailto:hmsmith5oak@yahoo.co.uk - https://portfolio-tools.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/19115613/24008025.pdf - https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fualshowcase.arts.ac.uk%2Fproject%2F675464%2Fcover&text=The+Representation+of+Ageing+Women+on+Screen - https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fualshowcase.arts.ac.uk%2Fproject%2F675464%2Fcover&media=https%3A%2F%2Fportfolio-tools.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F09%2F23090751%2FIMG_9413-1024x682-1.jpeg&description=The+Representation+of+Ageing+Women+on+Screen