Look at Her Hair, Her Makeup, Her Suits...

How many times have you heard political pundits, talk show hosts or even the person sitting next to you on the subway, make a comment about how Hillary Clinton looked last night on television? It is unfortunate that people today would rather focus on a person's superficial qualities, rather than their substantive policies. Even if the comments are positive, you can be assured that Senator Clinton is not running for President of the United States based on her looks or fashion sense.

These materialistic comments are a type of discrimination. When you make a decision about someone based on how they look, rather than on what they have to say or what they stand for, you are making an uninformed decision about that person. Often this ends up being the wrong decision, and it is you, or in this case the public, who will suffer in the end.

As a woman trying to focus on my career, I can relate to the Senator's struggle to get people to look beyond what they see. As a young woman out of college, my first job required me to travel around the country and give speeches to college students. After a year on the job and getting nothing but rave reviews, my supervisor was replaced. Within one week of the new supervisor taking control, I was fired because he felt "students would be too busy looking at me instead of listening to me." This was a ridiculous statement of course. Nevertheless, I lost my job because of his inability to look beyond the exterior, and it was to his detriment because I was exceptional at my job.

I do believe that the public can look beyond the superficial, but it is extremely hard to do when the media is constantly commenting on Senator Clinton's hair, makeup or clothing. Hillary Clinton is not a fashion icon nor does she proclaim to be. She is a political leader with ideas and policies (which are discussed more fully in other postings on this blog) that will move this country forward for the next 8 years.