Lady Gaga just received an award honouring her entire career — but in her speech, she made it very clear that her career is far from over.
There is a long-standing myth in Hollywood that women have some kind of expiry date. We've all heard the misogynistic phrases about someone being “over the hill” or “past their prime”. Some time in their 30s or maybe their 40s, women are expected to fade out of the spotlight and disappear into the mysterious realm of pop culture has-beens.
Lots of women have had enough of the sexist ageism that is still rife in the industry and their pushing back. After all, it's the plot of multiple major films this year — we all saw The Substance and The Last Showgirl, right? Not to mention the frankly exhausting discourse surrounding how women are meant to age.
Pamela Anderson’s award season film sees her protagonist face stigma and shame for pursuing a non-conventional path.
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Lady Gaga is the latest star to reassure fans that although she may be approaching (gasp!) 40, she is not planning on slowing down of fading away. Instead, she wants to reframe the idea of aging.
“Winning an award honouring my entire career at 38 years old is a hard thing to get my head around,” she said as she accepted the Innovator Award at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards. “On the one hand, I feel like I’ve been doing this forever. On the other hand, I know I’m just getting started. Even though the world might consider a woman in her late 30s old for a pop star — which is insane — I promise that I’m just getting warmed up."
Preach, mother monster.
It's true that Gaga is still just as innovative and busy as ever. Gaga just released her latest studio album, Mayhem, which marked a return to high pop and instantly topped the charts.
