The Anchoress

Ann Althouse wonders if it is unfair to show a female politician looking haggard on the road.

I don’t particularly think it is. The press has shown plenty of pictures of male pols looking weary, traumatized, humiliated or just plain foolish (somehow, members of the press never show themselves or their peers at unflattering moments, though). Some are wondering if showing such a picture helps Hillary by inspiring pity or hurts her. I think it’s a wash - some will be small and pathetic and laugh at her for daring to look like a 60 year old woman, some will admire her. I happen to think it’s a good picture, not “flattering” but so much more interesting and human than most of her photos.

Perhaps showing a woman wearing her miles on her face will help to erase the double standard that says men may be permitted to age gracefully while women must remain freakishly unlined, dewy and firm. Moreover, neither Bella Abzug nor Golda Meir nor Margaret Thatcher were plasticine, ageless beauties, and they were certainly taken seriously and respected. In fact, while I have elsewhere complimented Mrs. Clinton on her fabulous make-up in the debates - and whoever is doing her make-up for those things really is terrific - I have a bit more respect for the Hillary for seeing that she’s resisted going the-full-Pull-osi and drawing her face so tight she has to pee from her belly-button. I respect Annette Benning for the same reason.

If women don’t like the standards and beauty-expectations of American society, they should stop reinforcing those standards by catering to them. Good for Hillary.

Michael Totten makes my point for me with a round-up of American politicians looking pretty awful.

A further thought: I disagree that the photo effectively ends her presidential campaign. Hillary and crew are making enough mistakes that - should she fail - it won’t rest on the power of this picture. But I do agree that Mrs. Clinton is very lucky the writers are on strike right now. Between her illegal Immigration shuffle in debate and her constant tripping while trying to screw Obama - and now this painful likeability project - she is becoming nearly a parody of herself. A never-ending source of spoofery.

She didn’t show to her best advantage - on the likeability scale, anyway - when chatting up David Gregory.

UPDATE - Volokh likes the photo, too.
Dr. Helen Thinks it’s age-ism more than sexism. She also thinks it gives Hillary some much-needed authenticity. I agree.

Jimmie Bise:

I don’t care. I realize that anyone can take a bad photo. Campaigning is a long, hard slog and when you do it in bitterly-cold weather over long days and too-short nights, when you’ve put on and taken off more makeup for television appearances in a week than the average Vegas stripper does in a month, you’re bound to look beat down and dragged out once in a while. It means exactly nothing, as far as I’m concerned.

UPDATE II: Maureen Dowd, writing more happily than she has in a while (perhaps she had to get that long scream out) accurately reflects Rush Limbaugh’s faux-controversial remarks and deals the decisive blow:

Hillary doesn’t have to worry about her face. She has to worry about her mask. Back in the ’92 race, Clinton pollsters devised strategies to humanize her and make her seem more warm and maternal. Fifteen years later, her campaign is devising strategies to humanize her and make her seem more warm and maternal.

The public still has no idea of what part of her is stage-managed and focus-grouped, and what part is legit. It’s pretty pathetic, at this stage of her career, that she has to wage a major offensive, by helicopter and Web testimonials, to make herself appear warm-blooded.

Ed Morrissey has more thoughts and the Limbaugh quote.

Althouse linked! Thanks! Visitors, please take a look at this interesting round-up. We’re also discussing who Hillary is going to restore America’s image to and the Catholic and Protestant trends toward Orthodoxy.