"Are we ready to see Hillary Clinton age?"

Women who are striving for a goal in a traditionally male area are facing incomprehensible criticism. In this year´s American Presidential Election we could observe the way women are treated once they exceed the age of 50. Hillary Clinton is about to celebrate her 61st birthday on October 26th, 2008.

Rush Limbaugh, a conservative commentator and the US's leading radio shock jock, claims the question about Hillary Clinton as president is:

"Will this country - America - want to actually watch a woman get older before their eyes on a daily basis?"

"I want you to understand that I'm talking about the evolution of American culture here, and not so much Mrs Clinton," Limbaugh told his audience. "It could be anybody, and it's really not very complicated. Americans are addicted to physical perfection, thanks to Hollywood and thanks to television. America is a country obsessed with looks." "Does Our Looks-Obsessed Culture Want to Stare at an Aging Woman?"

"...We had plenty of fat-guy presidents. Do you think one could get elected today? There's not a prayer! Remember when people said, "The way to tell if Gore's really going to run is if he starts losing weight?"

This picture of the 60-years-old Hillary Clinton has sparked a national conversation about aging, especially aging women. When men age they look more authoritative, accomplished and distinguished. Older men are still good looking and sexy; women in general face the sentence: "You used to be so good looking."

John McCain turned 72 on August 29th, 2008. There is a lively discussion about whether he is still able to lead America, but not one word about wrinkles or looks.

The world, as we know it today, is a world made mainly by men, the ones who made their careers in the past centuries. Many things are the way they are because men made and wanted them that way. But concerning looks women vitally contributed to the present situation. They paint their faces, we can see this created beauty in every newspaper and every magazine. We hardly find a woman who doesn´t wear make-up in a newspaper or magazine. We keep looking at female faces, covered with make-up, and think this is how women should look like, especially when appearing in public. Photoshop intensifies this problem because every picture of a face gets retouched before being published. Big cosmetic companies make millions with this attitude, selling all sorts of equipment women are supposed to need in order to feel well and look stunning. Is this what we really want? Be barbies on the pavement? The media tells us this is exactly what we want. It suggests that if a woman is beautiful, she will be successful. Sadly this is partly true, particularly in the USA, THE TV-nation.

There is a strong need in making a step towards accepting age and aging. This essay shows that our society strongly neglects and discriminates older people. However, aging seems to be harder for women, since women are displayed as made-up-beauties everywhere we look. We should start seeing women as people... We are not Barbies!

Sources:

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_121707/content/01125114.guest.html

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22946872-2,00.html

http://constitutionalmatters.com/oped/hillary-clinton-looks-count