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[Click painting to view larger version]
There have been some great female leaders. Some that come to mind are Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi, and earlier ones such as Queen Elizabeth I and to some extent Catherine the Great of Russia.
All of these female leaders will of course be contested by someone or other, but no-one can deny their lasting influence and legacy.
Hillary is aspiring to be one of these leaders. Some have even suggested that through the nomination process, she has acquired some of the gravitas required (earned) by leaders.
I will of course beg to differ.
I've put together photographs where these modern female heads of state have looked their most likable and serious - something we expect of leaders - and I've found plenty for Thatcher, Golda Meir and Indira Gandhi, but Hillary Clinton's were very difficult to find.
Even the ones I've picked, which compliment her more than others, are spoiled by a stubbornly, immaturely, pouting lower lip, and slightly frantic-looking eyes and too wide a smile.
Plus, in these photos below, Clinton is 58 and 60 years old. Thatcher in 1983 was 58 ; Golda Meir in 1956 was 58. Indira Gandhi in 1972 was 55 (she looks several years older int the undated photo). At 60, Clinton looks like their younger sister, especially in her 2008 photo where she looks like she's in her thirties.
Are these photos showing Hillary with gravitas, worthy of being a world leader? I don't think so.
Even in their youth Thatcher, Golda Meir and Indira Gandhi show glimpses of their later greatness. They were born to be leaders. Hillary, on the other hand, seems to have found this difficult to demonstrate.
Another disconcerting thing about the Hillary photos on the internet: I have never seen such a collection of "faces" made by one person's photographic documentation. I know that these days photographers have ample chance to shoot the most uncomplimentary pictures, and maybe Thatcher, Golda Meir and Indira Gandhi were spared this particularly modern fetish. But surely, the person also has to contribute to the picture? After all, photographers aren't shooting into the void.
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