# Why all the focus on Kagan's looks? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 10, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913 "2010-05-10T14:33:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913/1 "2010-05-10T14:33:04Z")
In reading articles about Kagan’s nomination in many of the online “comment’s” sections below the article there is a steady stream of posters making snide comments on what a dog she is. This is kind of puzzling. She’s not a model, she’s a perfectly normal looking 50 year old woman. Maybe she’s a bit tubby, but she’s not some nether beast. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913/2 "2010-05-10T14:35:48Z")
They made the same comments about Albright and Reno. Cheap shots from the cheap seats. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913/3 "2010-05-10T14:38:37Z")
I think it just comes from being a woman. For Palin you had the opposite, people saying how good she looked, especially for someone her age. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913/4 "2010-05-10T14:42:25Z")
> [@astro](#): > > In reading articles about Kagan’s nomination in many of the online “comment’s” sections below the article there is a steady stream of posters making snide comments on what a dog she is. This is kind of puzzling. It’s not puzzling if you regularly read the comments people leave - what a bunch of morons. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913/5 "2010-05-10T14:46:02Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I think it just comes from being a woman. For Palin you had the opposite, people saying how good she looked, especially for someone her age. Well.. while I think what she says is often kind of stupid, Palin is (objectively) a damn good looking woman, but when she open her mouth all the sexy seems to fly away. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913/6 "2010-05-10T15:03:40Z")
Have you ever considered that our culture might have a misogyny problem? ---
**Author:** ![Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Long_Time_First_Time)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913/7 "2010-05-10T15:29:52Z")
IMHO, a lot of this is because mot people aren’t used to seeing famous folks in the public eye who aren’t professionally styled, made-up etc. To see a normal 50 year old woman - i.e. some grey, some pounds, etc. is so different (and because they’re pigs) that they can’t help but comment. In our culture, a 50+ woman on TV who is not there specifically for her good looks is still supposed to look like Barbara Walters. I was once at a break table with a group of women during one of my summer jobs while in Vet School. One of them had a Susan B. Anthony dollar. Her comment was that for the first female on U.S. currency they should have picked a better looking women. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913/8 "2010-05-10T15:36:59Z")
Meh. Black is slenderizing. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913/9 "2010-05-10T15:39:11Z")
It used to be very common for articles/interviews about a woman would mention what she was wearing and that was not done for men. That reinforced the idea that looks are more important for a woman. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913/10 "2010-05-10T15:44:28Z")
The nomination was announced over the weekend, so the talk radio hosts haven’t had a chance to distribute the official talking points yet. So these people don’t know how else to criticize her. By tonight, I expect they’ll all be talking about something on her record that sounds or seems extremist. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913/11 "2010-05-10T15:47:38Z")
> [@Electric\_Warrior](#): > > Have you ever considered that our culture might have a misogyny problem? I was focusing on the fact that I thought the aesthetic judgement of Kagan was off base re her being hideous or manlike. Re the hated & contempt for women in American culture I’d have to ask relative to what? American women have more opportunity, freedom and social equality than 99 percent of the women on the rest of the planet. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than most other places. Beyond this, is there a culture where women are not judged on their looks or desired for their bodies? The stricter Muslims control this with burqas. Unless you’re going to mandate that women travel around in bags you are going to be in a losing battle with male and female human nature. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913/12 "2010-05-10T15:47:58Z")
It’s all they’ve got. They’re also calling her a lesbian. This is a regular thing that right wingers do to any prominent woman who is left of center. Janet Reno, Hillary, Madeline Albright, Michelle Obama. Any comment section is filled with invective about how ugly they are, and how they’re all lesbians (actually, Michelle Obama gets called an “ape” all the time). It’s pure misogyny (and unconcealed racism in Michelle Obama’s case). ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913/13 "2010-05-10T15:48:51Z")
I think it’s just code for “lesbian”. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913/14 "2010-05-10T15:50:41Z")
I actually hope they do try to make her alleged orientation an issue. I think that would backfire on them big time. Nobody under 50 cares anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913/15 "2010-05-10T15:52:25Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I actually hope they do try to make her alleged orientation an issue. I think that would backfire on them big time. Nobody under 50 cares anymore. You clearly don’t go to church anywhere in the bible belt. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913/16 "2010-05-10T15:53:27Z")
I read a comment that noted she was “unmarried” which I took as code for lesbian (otherwise why mention it?). I assume the lesbian accusations are just speculation, since I haven’t seen any legitimate sources mention it and it would be newsworthy if she were openly gay. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913/17 "2010-05-10T16:02:37Z")
CBS news had a blogger said she was gay but later retracted the story. These days major media won’t report someone is gay unless the person admits it. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913/18 "2010-05-10T16:05:45Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I think it’s just code for “lesbian”. [Apparently it’s the hair.](http://www.newser.com/off-the-grid/post/445/is-elena-kagan-gay.html) > [@](#): > > To say the obvious about Elena Kagan: It’s the hair. Let the opprobrium begin, but who isn’t, in their own mind, putting it exactly so: She sure looks gay. > > Among professional right-wingers, with their own gay mafia, there is a kind of breathlessness and, even, obvious titillation, about the subject. Lesbianism seems, to them, not just an ultimate misogynistic target, but the zenith of the left wing. Your can’t get more left than a lesbian (even though the left seems down on Kagan because she’s too moderate). ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913/19 "2010-05-10T16:06:41Z")
Here’s a [rundown](http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/elena_kagan_lesbian_rumor_smear_neither_smear_nor_rumor/) of the whole CBS blogger flap. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913/20 "2010-05-10T16:14:10Z")
Well, obviously appearance is an important aspect of being a Supreme Court Justice. How else do you explain Antonin Scalia? Guy’s fucking hot. Okay, I just threw up in my mouth a little. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-all-the-focus-on-kagans-looks/538913.md?page=2)