Skip to main content

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, shakes hands with India's opposition leader Sushma Swaraj before their meeting in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, May 8, 2012.Mustafa Quraishi / AP

For the record, Hillary Clinton couldn't care less if you see her without her makeup. So there.

Au naturel pictures of the increasingly popular U.S. Secretary of State have gone viral, prompting all sort of snipes about her no-makeup look, and her glasses.

In an interview, CNN Jill Dougherty asked Ms. Clinton about critics who derided her for a failure to primp properly at events in Bangladesh – beyond a bit of lipstick. In response, she barely batted a mascara-ed eyelash and answered the question with diffusing charm.

"I feel so relieved to be at the stage I'm at in my life right now, Jill," she said. "Because you know if I want to wear my glasses, I'm wearing my glasses. If I want to wear my hair back, I'm pulling my hair back. You know at some point it's just not something that deserves a lot of time and attention. And if others want to worry about it, I let them do the worrying for a change. It doesn't drive me crazy any more. It's just not something I think is important any more."

In fact, her answer has only made her more fans – and no doubt warmed the hearts of smart women everywhere who have more important things to do than blow dry their hair for 45 minutes every morning.

After all, Ms. Clinton knows better than most people how appearance, in this modern age, can outshine accomplishment: During her presidential bid in 2008, her pantsuits and short haircut was too often the topic of a mostly judging conversation, that often failed to point out the double standard with respect to male politicians who get away with looking dishevelled.

But the criticisms of Ms. Clinton don't end with her makeup choices. Let's not forget the " hair-clipgate", when she turned up at the United Nations General Assembly wearing the aforementioned item, prompting the Daily Mail to opine: "Oh Hillary, that hairstyle just doesn't cut it."

Despite the fact that Ms. Clinton travels constantly and works around the clock, the comments and critics will not doubt continue unabated, even if she pays them no heed.

But the fact is Ms. Clinton can (and should) leave the fashion poses to the likes of people like the Duchess of Cambridge.

Ms. Clinton's admirers would rather she focus on the business of running the world.

Do you think Hillary Clinton's attitude about appearance will break down the double standard that female politicians face?

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe