Ageism: Not for Women Only

Ann Althouse has a post about how a href=”http://althouse.blogspot.com/2007/12/that-picture-of-hillary-on-drudge-right.html”a picture of Hillary /ashowing her wrinkles is a sign of sexism against women for aging:br /br /blockquoteBut here’s my second reaction, on reflection: We make high demands on women. A picture like this of a male candidate would barely register. Fred Thompson always looks this bad, and people seem to think he’s handsome. We need to get used to older women and get over the feeling that when women look old they are properly marginalized as “old ladies.” If women are to exercise great power, they will come into that power in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. We must — if we care about the advancement of women — accommodate our vision and see a face like this as mature, experienced, serious — the way we naturally and normally see men’s faces./blockquotebr /br /Some of a href=”http://althouse.blogspot.com/2007/12/that-picture-of-hillary-on-drudge-right.html#4635433594010010589″Althouse’s commenters /amention that male candidates do not get held up to such scrutiny:br /br /blockquoteHowever, it is unfair and discriminatory to make a big deal out of her appearance as an older wrinkled saggy faced woman, when we don’t do the same over McCain, Guilliani or Thompson who are also old wrinkled and sagging. So, it’s ok to admire Hillary when she is botoxed, made up, hair perfectly coiffed, filmed through layers of gauze but when she accidentally appears as a normal woman she is held up for riducule./blockquotebr /br /Oh really, it’s only female candidates who get hit with sexism because they look old? Men get it too. As Dean Esmay at a href=”http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1197918753.shtml”Dean’s World /anotes:br /br /blockquoteThe only other comment I’ll add is that I’m baffled by people who think no one ever comments on how old Senator McCain looks, when it seems like I’ve rarely read an article about him this year which didn’t bring that up./blockquotebr /br /Yeah, Dean, I’m baffled too. Whenever you read about McCain, he is often referred to as a “grumpy old man.” In this video, a young man a href=”http://my.break.com/content/view.aspx?ContentID=361662″asks McCain if he is too old /ato be President and thinks he might die of a disease in office. Would people dare to ask a woman that question? They might think it but I bet they wouldn’t ask it.br /br /In fact, there is even an article entitled ema href=”http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/226444/is_john_mccain_too_old_to_be_president.html”Is McCain too Old to be President?/a/em that illustrates that ageism is alive and well for men too:br /br /blockquoteOne-fifth of New Hampshire residents surveyed in a recent University of New Hampshire poll said McCain’s age would make them less likely to vote for them./blockquotebr /br /So spare me the “no ageism” when it comes to men. Ageism seems to be prevalent for both men and women in US society. Why do you think so many men over 40 are frightened of losing their jobs to someone younger? Maybe we should learn to cut both genders some slack and look at what people have to offer instead of focusing so much on their age. I am no fan of Hillary but I thought the picture showed her to have some authenticity, nothing wrong with that.br /br /Update: The Anchoress also a href=”http://theanchoressonline.com/2007/12/17/hillary-looking-weary/”takes exception /ato the notion that only women are held up to scrutiny–both genders seem to be fair game when it comes to unflattering photos.