The XX Factor: Slate women blog about politics, etc...

Terrible Photo Thoughts

Terrible photos are just irresistable, aren't they? This one of Hillary reminds me of the scary one of Mark Warner that ran on the front of the New York Times Magazine back when he looked like a viable presidential candidate. Remember it? His teeth looked like chicklets, and the general effect was Scary Used Car Salesman. If I recall, the color turned out to have been doctored.

The Warner photo shows that both men and women are vulnerable. Hillary's haggard look evokes the noun that must be the root of that adjective, a gendered term if ever there was one. But if someone posts a photo of John McCain looking old, worn, and sick, won't that conjure a parallel image of male weakness? In both cases, unlike the Warner photo, I don't think these pictures can do much damage. The candidates are too often on camera for one picture to do real harm. So, Rachael maybe you're right that the sympathy element matters more. I imagine a lot of women would share your reaction. No one wants to look at a picture of herself like that!