<p>It was not until I read the title of this thread that I noticed that Michelle Bachmann’s eyes were unusual.</p>
<p>and what’s your sex V.P.?</p>
<p>How about Gloria Steinem who is almost 80. Who has seen her on Colbert this week looking closer to 50?</p>
<p>I think it is the white showing above the irises that makes Michelle’s eye look strange. Imagine how this photo would look if the eyelids were pulled a bit higher and the subject was not looking into the camera:</p>
<p>[Sharbat</a> Gula](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sharbat_Gula.jpg]Sharbat”>File:Sharbat Gula.jpg - Wikipedia)</p>
![http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sharbat_Gula.jpg]Sharbat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sharbat_Gula.jpg%5DSharbat){kind=link}
<p>To answer the original question: me thinks it is the botched plastic surgery and an undisclosed eye condition combo (doesn’t she also have debilitating migranes?).</p>
<p>I agree with greenwitch – some of the intensity comes from the lightness of her irises, so the pupils really pop. But in the other photos, she does have an unusually “intense” way of looking at people. Even her body language is a bit over the top. However, some of the non-candid photos are much more flattering than the one Newsweek picked. I’m no fan (of Newsweek, or MB), but I can’t help but think there was some glee in picking that one – she really does look a little crazy there.</p>
<p>While I hate to rain on the parade of anyone who is determined to feel victimized by anything that’s less than roses strewn in the path of their champions, there’s definitely something odd about Bachman’s eyes. It’s reminiscent of the “thousand yard stare” they talk about. I thought she had exotropia (I had to look that up) but I don’t think so now - it’s more consistent and less extreme than most cases of that condition that I’ve seen before.</p>
<p>When she gave the Tea Party rebuttal to the State of the Union address earlier in the year, she stared off camera instead of looking straight on. I assume that was on advice of some expert, but it just looked even weirder.</p>
<p>I don’t have any explanation for it, but anyone who can’t see that there’s something unsettling about the way her eyes look - normally - lacks a normal psychological response. I’m not saying it’s a logical response, just a natural one. I have a similar reaction to people with what’s commonly called a “lazy eye.” I know it’s not rationally significant, but it’s unsettling nonetheless. People expect other people to look them “right in the eyes” - not off to the side, not through you.</p>
<p>I think there’s nothing “strange” about Bachmann’s eyes. In fact, they are very arresting eyes in the same mode as Paul Newman or that latest Bond actor. </p>
<p>I think the Left is trying desperately to marginalize her and having more trouble than with Palin because Bachmann is better educated and more articulate. So they are basically taking the high school “mean girls” approach and trying to stop her candidacy by turning her into a physical freak.</p>
<p>And to try to suggest that this thread originated in anything other than crude politics is preposterous.</p>
<p>What is surprising and heartening is that this tactic doesn’t seem to be working anymore. Gives me some faith in America.</p>
<p>This thread has nothing to do with politics or race. In fact, if look is the only thing, even in the most unflattering pose, I’d say Bachmann and Palin look much better than Michelle Obama. Haha!</p>
<p>Every female candidate (left or right) as well as the wives of male politicians gets evaluated and often criticized about their looks. It’s unfortunate, but women in this country are judged by their looks first and foremost and most women are very conscious of this. Why else would they be willing to submit themselves to painful cosmetic surgeries, injecting themselves full of toxins and foreign substances in an effort to look younger, better. It’s a no win situation, age naturally and get criticized for looking old, try to look younger and get criticized for having plastic surgery and Botox.</p>
<p>Any woman in the public eye is going to be scruntized for how they look…Hillary Clinton, Kate Middleton, Michele Obama, Laura Bush, Sarah Palin, Nancy Pelosi, Condi Rice, the list is endless…it’s never only one side attacking the other.</p>
<p>I don’t see what’s so “strange” about her eyes. I don’t get the fuss. And I think her looks are irrelevant to the topics that should be at hand, which are her intelligence, experience and policy views.</p>
<p>The correlation between physical attractiveness and political ambition and the willingness to do what it takes to look electable isn’t just an American phenomenon. Look at the before and after photos of President Cristina Fern</p>
<p>^^^ That’s dramatic, though it might be mostly a makeup/lighting thing. One shot is candid; the other is obviously not.</p>
<p>At what point are a candidate’s medical records made public? If she has had plastic surgery, wouldn’t that be disclosed in her medical records? I’m thinking the media will jump all over that~</p>
<p>I wouldn’t care if she had a facelift. More and more guys are getting it done, too, so I imagine we’ll hear about a candidate’s plastic surgery sooner rather than later … remember the fuss John Edwards’ expensive haircuts caused.</p>
<p>Couldn’t care less about whether a candidate had plastic surgery.</p>
<p>Denial is a fascinating phenomenon. Paul Newman? Daniel Craig? Seriously? While I agree that physical appearance is irrelevant to a person’s competence in politics (or otherwise) the only partisanship I see here is the insistence that there’s nothing odd about Bachmann’s visage, and that anyone who says there is is motivated by evil political bias. She’s not unattractive, she just has an odd, unsettling stare when viewed straight on. When viewed at an angle it’s far less noticeable. The only way you could miss it was if you didn’t want to see it. “There are none so blind…”</p>
<p>^^^ In total agreement, but I was willing to let the interesting comparison to Paul Newman slide.</p>
<p>Often times plastic surgery, particularly facelifts will give people a slightly “off” look. It’s almost like you can’t quite put your finger on what looks off but it can distort a person’s natural face shape just a bit. Which is why I think she’s had one. Though I agree it’s not germane to her campaign.</p>
<p>PG, I think she is quite attractive, too. I wish I looked that good. But I still find her eyes unsettling front on.</p>
<p>I’m coming way late to the topic as Mrs. Bachman’s looks didn’t cross my mind one way or the other until the Newsweek cover brouhaha. I just googled images of her and found a number of full-face images that didn’t have the same wide-eyed look. In fact most were quite attractive photos. By contrast, today’s issue of Investor’s Business Daily (dated Monday, Aug 15) has a particularly unattractive photo of her on the front page. IBD isn’t known to have much sympathy for those wide-eyed radical/socialist/liberal types, so presumably they’d take some care in the images they’re projecting. </p>
<p>Maybe it’s all in the eye of the beholder?</p>