by Helen Wheatley

The “will she, won’t she” speculation of her possible presidential campaign has rumbled on since the former Secretary of State lost the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama in 2008. Within the next couple of months she will have to put this speculation to rest and decide whether or not she will run for office in 2016.

Hillary Clinton faces many obstacles, the most obvious of which is the customary sexist question: Can a woman be strong enough to serve as commander-in-chief of the strongest military power on Earth?

If Clinton had a predictable sexism to overcome in 2008, her campaign eight years later will warrant a second prejudice: Rush Limbaugh, anchor of what he describes as an “insult radio” show, remarked, “Will this country actually want to watch a woman get older before their eyes on a daily basis?” As Fox News contributor Erick Erickson put it,“She’s going to be old. I don’t know how far back they can pull her face.”

Clinton will be on the bitter receiving end of both sexism and ageism. She will be 69 by the time she is sworn into the presidency, still younger than Ronald Reagan, who was nearly 70 when taking the inaugural oath. While age surfaced briefly as an issue in Reagan’s re-election campaign at age 74, the problems concerned his health rather than the state of his face.

Our culture is teeming with contrasting principles. Signs of age in older men seem to confer wisdom. Were Hugh Hefner a woman, society would be shocked. Men who age are distinguished, whereas many consider signs of aging in women offensive; the phrase “old woman” is used as an insult.

Clinton served as Secretary of State and First Lady for many years, yet we deem her inadequate because of her age and gender. An old woman is considered helpless, pitiful and incapable of the things men are praised for doing as they age.

The nation looks to its president as a leader and protector; it will be a challenge for many American people to see Clinton in such a light.

This is what she has to overcome. However, it also means greater change is possible. If Clinton runs a stronger campaign and wins the election, she will not only shatter the obvious glass ceiling of gender. By winning the most powerful office in the world, she will rewrite a prejudice etched deeply in the human subconscious.

If Clinton wins, “old woman” will no longer be an insult; it will describe the most powerful person in the world.