It’s no secret that the entertainment industry can be sexist and ageist (often in concert), but voice acting seems like the one slice of the industry where age really shouldn’t matter, right?
Wrong, apparently.
Voice actor Yuko Nagashima took to Twitter the other day to vent her frustrations about the way voice actresses over a certain age are treated on and offline:
“Something I’ve been feeling recently: Lately on the net, people have been throwing around phrases like ‘degradation’ or ‘old hag.’ Especially aimed at women, even though getting older is something that happens to everyone. In Japan… especially in this industry.
In the past, a co-worker I used to date told me, ‘you’re past your prime as a voice actress.’ Not doing anime voice acting = past your prime? I don’t get it.”
最近感じるのが、
ネット上で 劣化 や BBAという言葉が乱用されてること。
年齢は皆重ねていくものなのに、特に女性に向けて。
日本…この業界は特に。昔 お付き合いしてた同業者に
「君は旬を過ぎた声優だ」と言われたことも。
アニメ声優やってない=旬すぎてること?
色々謎。— 永島由子 (@yuppi0703) September 3, 2016
Nagasima’s tweet has since been retweeted over 1,000 times.
Nagashima is probably best-known in the west for her roles as Caldina in Magic Knight Rayearth and Rina Takamiya in Saint Tail, but in Japan her voice is likely better recognized as that of Carrie Bradshaw in the Japanese dub of Sex and the City.
Source: Yaraon