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06/17/2004: "Reporters, Sexism, Ageism, and Stupid Questions --- Duh of the Day"

Teresa Heinz Kerry


I was watching a news show yesterday and CBS News Correspondent Byron Pitts was interviewing Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of the Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Now Ms. Heinz Kerry is 65-years-old. The reporter asked her to describe herself and one of the words she used was "sexy".

John Kerry describes his wife as "saucy, sexy and brilliant."

"I mean, I'm cheeky, I'm sexy, whatever," she says. "You know, I've got a lot of life inside."

When Pitts asked how many 65-year-olds call themselves sexy, she smiles slyly and quips: "How many of that age have you asked?"

Now Ms. Heinz-Kerry is a good looking woman. She is indeed what I would call sexy. Why the hell can a man think he's sexy until he's on his death bed but a woman somehow is seen as totally losing all appeal at some particular number like forty or fifty?

People make too much of age. But they also make way too much of a woman's age. Older women are as smart and fun, as good looking and sexy as younger women. Indeed, they are often much more so. I hope when I'm 65 I look as good and have as much fire as Ms. Heinz-Kerry and I wish the same for my younger sisters.

And you stupid reporters looking for a sound bit --- find a topic that has "real" value and makes some sense. The president elected in 2008 is apt to be a women and she is apt to be sixty or over. So get over it!