This is the Zeitigeist speaking

Rush Limbaugh’s now oft quoted remark about Hillary’s unflattering “old hag” photo, “Will Americans want to watch a woman get older before their eyes on a daily basis?” has gotten plenty of play in the comment arena. Many have taken offense, or at least feigned offense. Even Bill O’Reilly called it mean-spirited. If you read the entire transcript (at the link above), however, you will realize Limbaugh is merely stating an obvious POV of society, merely paraphrasing the zeitgeist when he notes that women are held to a different standard than men, especially in the aging department. Look (as Rush does) at the plight of aging actresses. Even young actresses are getting plastic surgery to keep those teenage looks. Maureen Dowd, in her Rush to judgement (by the way, the Rush of the title is Rush Limbaugh) opinion piece in the NY Times, admits as much. “Yet it’s true,” she writes, “that looks matter in politics…It is also true that perfecting the outer shell has become an obsession in this country. We’re a nation of Frankensteins and the monster is us. Jennifer Love Hewitt was on the cover of People last week and ended up defending her less svelte pictures with her new fiancé in Hawaii, writing on her Web site: ‘A size 2 is not fat!’ Women are still scrutinized more critically on their looks, which seem to fluctuate more on camera, depending on lighting, bloating and wardrobe…”