I found this article in the New York Times theatre section.
It has little to do with theatre and more on the control men have over how women are depicted in the media.
“What has largely disappeared from the media are distorted portrayals of women as frigid or uninterested in sex. What has replaced them, however, are shows like “Cougar Town,” “Private Practice,” “Desperate Housewives” and “Grey’s Anatomy” — all on ABC — that frequently portray women as rapacious sexual predators, always in the mood for sex and without qualms about bedding down as many men as possible.”
——-
“Normal signs of the passing years are erased, so that anyone over 35 still has a whipped-cream complexion and an ice-cream-stick figure. Because viewers are so unaccustomed to seeing faithful renditions of older women, when they do appear, people assume that the characters are older than they really are. The rampant use of Botox, facial fillers or cosmetic surgery among female celebrities has caused the eyes to readjust.”
