WHO SAID LOOKS SHOULD BE EVERYTHING?

Sep 14 16:18 UTC 1998

   COMMENTARY HOME

                    WHO SAID LOOKS SHOULD BE EVERYTHING?

                    By Caryl Rivers. Caryl Rivers is a professor of
journalism at Boston
                    University and the author of "Camelot," to be... 

                    September 10, 1998

                    Is there a double standard in the way the major players
in the presidential
                    scandal are dealt with by the press and the public?

                    The answer is yes. The faces and bodies of the women
involved in
                    "zippergate" are regarded as fair game for public
comment, while the
                    physical attributes of the men remain largely out of
bounds for public
                    discussion.

                    Monica Lewinsky, Linda Tripp, Paula Jones and Hillary
Clinton are the
                    targets of a barrage of printed and broadcast jokes
about their
                    appearance. On the night the president made his mea
culpa
                    speech, Arsenio Hall said in a TV interview that Monica
was fat and
                    Paula was ugly, sentiments often repeated. Paula Jones
got so tired of
                    remarks about her less-than-classic nose that she had
plastic surgery to
                    have it fixed.

                    Jay Leno, no sylph himself, refers to Linda Tripp as an
elephant.

                    Tripp has said she feels savaged by the constant
attacks on her
                    appearance. And when Hillary Clinton was photographed
in a bathing suit,
                    public comments about her thighs abounded.

                    In contrast, few comments are made in public about the
imperfections of
                    the bodies of the men involved. If Bill Clinton's nose
were on a woman, it
                    would be mentioned in a less than flattering way. And
while there have
                    been occasional mentions in the past about the
president's thighs, usually
                    the commander in chief is referred to as a handsome
man. No comments
                    are made about Ken Starr's abs, or lack of them.
Curiously, though
                    Webster Hubbell is far more overweight than Linda
Tripp, his size
                    is rarely remarked upon, but hers is constantly
mentioned.

                    This whole sordid story reveals that there remains a
double standard for
                    men and women, allowing men much more latitude in
appearance and
                    natural aging, while women are judged by much harsher
standards.

                    What philosopher Susan Sontag refers to the "double
standard of
                    aging" is certainly clear in regard to Tripp. While
most women regard her
                    as a weasel ratting out a friend, they still recoil at
the constant attacks on
                    her looks. In fact, she's an average-looking
middle-aged woman,
                    not much different than many other mid-level government
workers. In
                    that regard she's similar to Kenneth Starr. Neither
would turn heads as
                    they walked down Pennsylvania Avenue. But she's a joke
and he's
                    not.

                    Hillary Clinton is, in fact a very good-looking woman
at 50, who is fit
                    and dresses with style. If she's hasn't got the thighs
of a supermodel, 
                who does after 25?

                    Monica Lewinsky, as the Vanity Fair pictures show, is a
beautiful young
                    woman built along the lines of 50s sex goddess Jane
Russell. But today,
                    "Jane," and her co-star Marilyn Monroe, would be
marched off to a
                    fat farm. Like most women endowed with ample chests,
they also had
                    hips. The ideal beauty today is an artificial creature;
a woman with the
                    legs, hips and stomach of an 11-year-old boy, but with
outsized
                    breasts created by surgery. The average model in l950
was a size 12;
                    today she's a size four. Monica Lewinsky may have been
a pudgy
                    teenager, but today she's fat only by a standard that
renders real female
                    bodies unacceptable.

                    In fact, the modern media appear in a crusade to make
real women
                    invisible, and to imply that for women, aging is the
worst sin. As
                    Sontag points out, there are two standards of beauty
for males--the
                    boy and the man. The boy has a slim waist, smooth skin
and abundant
                    hair. But the man can be considered handsome with a
thick waist, wrinkles
                    and a receding hairline. Sean Connery, looking every
one his 60
                    years, was declared to be the "sexiest man alive."

                    There is only one standard of beauty for women
however--the girl.

                    This double standard has the effect of silencing women.
How many men
                    would put themselves forward in the public arena if
they knew their body
                    parts were going to be under constant discussion?
Massachusetts
                    gubernatorial candidate Evelyn Murphy had to suffer
comments
                    about her body after an unflattering picture of her was
taken. Few males
                    suffer this indignity. And while Janet Reno's
appearance is made sport of,
                    the same did not happen with Ed Meese, Ronald Reagan's
attorney
                    general.

                    The unreachable perfection for young women, combined
with the double
                    standard of aging, has the effect of making women less
powerful.

                    Young women have the sexual power of youth, but if the
media sets up an
                    impossible-to-achieve standard of beauty, even Marilyn
Monroe can't
                    reach it. Columnist Linda Chavez reports going into a
video store that
                    featured the famous picture of Monroe with a subway
blast blowing
                    her dress up. Two pre-teen boys recoiled. "Isn't she
fat! " one
                    remarked. Already they had been programmed to see a
normal female
                    body as obscene.

                    With aging comes wisdom, and often, power. But if
middle-aged
                    women are mocked in the media unless they've had face
lifts and
                    liposuction, they are de-legitimized, at the age when
they in fact have the
                    most to offer in the public arena.

                    Either way, young or old, women lose.



        Send the text of this story to someone's email address

        Browse the Tribune archive for other articles

response 2 of 69:

Sep 14 19:13 UTC 1998

But it still does have an effect on the person-in-the-street. I mean,
sure Janet Reno might not care, personally, but what about Jane Smith
who looks about the same and who has to deal with perspectives that
have been shaped by Leno's jokes?

response 4 of 69:

Sep 15 00:54 UTC 1998

Having been in all-male settings dominated by the "less than polite" set any
number of times, I tend to view this sort of stuff as a simple reflection
on the source.  However regrettable or unpleasant, it's just natural for
the outhouse to stink.  Untiring diligence & zeal with the lime can do 
quite a bit to improve things, but the outhouse can't be cured.  

In a somewhat-higher-class all-male setting, my feeling is that this
sort of raw sexist criticism of women is - for the most part - basically 
confined to women who's sexual identity is seen as a large part of their
identity.  Monica, Madonna, various British Royals - all fair targets.
Janet Reno, Maggie Thatcher, Barbara Bush - you'd think that they were
guys from the contexts in conversations.  

Judging from the covers & headlines I've seen on grocery-checkout-lane
magazines that appear to be aimed at all-female readerships, women are
perhaps even more inclined that men to judge women by Madison-Avenue-
supermodel physical criteria.  How much of a problem is this?  

response 6 of 69:

Sep 15 21:42 UTC 1998

I asked you to enter it because i thought other people would be interested.
I don't particularly care what I look like or what other people think of my
looks, I must be some sort of exception.  Nor do I recall what other people
are wearing, including glasses.  People are more interested in the appearance
of women than of men because it is women who have to be healthy and strong
enough to have babies, men only need to have access to resources to support
them.

response 8 of 69:

Sep 15 23:40 UTC 1998

101?  Gosh, mary, looks like you have your Chrystal Ball tuned up tonight.
;)

response 10 of 69:

Sep 16 01:00 UTC 1998

(re resp:4, I imagine.)

response 14 of 69:

Sep 22 22:40 UTC 1998

I've read of studies with computer-generated faces - average 20 so-so-looking
people's facial features in the computer, give the average near-perfect
symmetry, and the resulting face gets a definite beautiful/handsome rating.

response 16 of 69:

Sep 24 14:31 UTC 1998

Wide eyes and a high forehead have often been considered attractive on women,
along with a small pouting mouth and puffy cheeks, which is the same set of
features found in babies.  It makes the women look young and helpless.  There
have been times when women plucked off hair from their forehead (Mona Lisa),
or shaved their eyebrows, to look babyish.  Larger pupils, as achieved by
belladona (also used in eye exams for the same purpose), are found during
sexual arousal and make women look sexier.  Belladonna probably interfered
with vision, but since when was health more important than beauty.  When most
people worked outside, pale skins were attractive (take arsenic regularly to
make sure you have less red blood), when most people worked inside tans were
attractive.  Same for fat when most people were thin, and vice versa.

response 18 of 69:

Jun 19 11:38 UTC 1999

I think my husband is one of those that escaped this damaging stereotype,
which btw gay men also suffer from.  However, he is (and admits it)
notoriously hard on himself.  Whenever I suggest that I am fat he is
immendiately militant in telling me that I am beautiful and sexy and that I
don't need to lose annny weight.  When his mother suggested to me that I ought
to lose some weight, he got so upset I had a real difficult time stopping him
from going to tell his mother off.  He, on the other hand, accepts her
criticism of his weight with a pain that is very visible.  Every time she and
her parents (much worse than her) mention his weight, I just want to strangle
them.  They have him considering diuretics and other harmful things.  It's
a wonder that he hasn't gotten some kind of eating disorder or something.

response 20 of 69:

Jun 19 21:33 UTC 1999

I've noticed that more and more myself.  I constantly refer to Jon as my
teddybear and "cuddly".  Chubby people are more fun because there's more to
hug.

Never thought I'd be a fat activist, but thinking about all the folks that
get down on other people because of weight problems just makes me burn!

response 22 of 69:

Jun 20 17:09 UTC 1999

Sounds about right.

response 24 of 69:

Jun 24 02:24 UTC 1999

But you could be "fat" without really being "overweight".  Or could you?  How
is "overweight" defined?  I tend to look to the viewpoint about where the
amount of body fat becomes a health risk.  That is definitely overweight.

I dunno.  I sometimes wonder how people with, say, 40% (a guess) or greater
body fat can stand to haul all that stuff around.  But then I've learned (my
first bonafide "wisdom") that the worst/dumbest assumption you can make about
other people is that they share the same tastes as yourself.  So maybe my own
strange (possibly hereditary) compulsion to exercise often would be worse than
just being fat?