Yahoo News The ageism against Love Island's Laura needs to stop
It's been three weeks since Love Island began, and people still can't get over the fact that Laura Anderson is 29.
In fact, judging by the way some viewers are talking about her on social media, you'd think she'd accidentally stumbled into the villa after getting lost on a Saga holiday.
She's called 'grandma', there are jokes about her 'putting a hip out' while exercising and the nine-year age gap between her and partner Wes Nelson is a constant debate. Then there are the comments about how her friends at home are all 'married with three kids', implying that she's some kind of weird anomaly for being single in her late 20s.
Let's get one thing straight – she's not. People are single at all ages, for all kinds of reasons. Perhaps settling down isn't the only goal she's had in life? While she's stated that she's now looking for love – she is on Love Island, after all – Laura's carved out an impressive career as a flight attendant. She's travelled the world, probably seeing and learning a whole lot more than some of these Twitter trolls have.
Even if having a husband and children has always been her ultimate aim (because there's nothing wrong with that, either), not everyone easily stumbles upon 'The One'. Especially when there are so many tools like Adam Collard around.
Whatever the case, Laura obviously thinks the villa is the right place for her. So nobody else has the right to tell her that it's not.
Oh, and side note. She's actually still VERY YOUNG. Shockingly, people don't have a chip put in their brains on their 25th birthday that makes them avid gardeners and fans of The Antiques Roadshow. Plenty of 29-year-olds – even people in their 30s and 40s – still go clubbing and to festivals, and can easily find common ground with 20 year olds like Wes.
Behind the trolling, of course, is our old friend the MASSIVE SEXIST DOUBLE STANDARD. Marcel Somerville was 31 when he appeared on last year's series. It's hard to remember such cruel age-centric tweets aimed at him, or there being such a thing made of the age gap between him and Gabby Allen.
As one Twitter user pointed out, the jokes are a worrying sign of how society views so-called 'older' women. There's a well-known phenomenon of women feeling 'invisible' as they age, while men are often praised for maturing 'like fine wines'.
It's almost as though we're not supposed to enjoy the wisdom and confidence we gain throughout our lives, and are only attractive if we're still the giggly, naïve girls we may have been at 18.
Even more distressing are the claims that Laura is lying about her age and is actually in her 30s. There's no evidence of this at all – the rumours seem to have come from some shabby Instagram detective work – but if she were, it would kind of be understandable. She probably knows that the reactions would be even worse. Of course she'd want to protect herself from more bullying – and it's really sad if she felt she had to go to those lengths.
Anyway, who cares if there's a 32-year-old in the villa? It's Love Island, not bloody Freshers' Week.
Maybe next year producers should stick some 50+ divorcees in. Because yes, they're also capable of a flirt or two.
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