Over at Fox News, Lis Wiehl has written an important and thought-provoking piece on “appearance discrimination” and the double standard that still operates when it comes to men and women of a certain age.

Lis points out that men don’t worry about aging or sporting a few grey hairs and some extra pounds, even in the television industry. Women in a high-profile job, such as news anchor, are judged on everything including appearance. But studies (such as that done by New York University researchers Dalton Conley and Rebecca Glauber regarding the effects of body weight on economic outcomes) seem to indicate that, for women, appearance is linked to income in all sorts of careers.

Following the recent installation of Katie Couric as anchor of the nightly news at CBS, much of the furor involved publicity photos that were altered to make her appear thinner.

And her detractors are still deciding if this cheery blond is tough enough (read: man enough) to take the helm of a serious news program. Sharks have been snapping at everything from the color of her hair to the length of her skirt.

Wiehl points out that critics have been kinder to Meredith Viera, whom NBC has chosen to replace Couric on the “Today” show, but possibly because she is replacing another woman and not a man.

Our current laws must go a step further and protect women from discrimination as most of us eventually gain a few pounds and add a few gray hairs — and all of us age. As for Katie, I think she’ll do just fine — not because she got a new hairdo or “lost” twenty pounds, but because she’s a newswoman with character and content. And ask yourself, would we even be having this discussion if Meredith were “Murray” and Katie were “Ken?”

A Big Fat Double Standard – Lis Wiehl