I don't see the unflattering aspect here, to we want her perfectly done up with makeup and hair? that too would insinuate a disconnect from common people. in the picture I saw my take away was she was trying to explain a situation and nicely at that.

is this all a male perception of a problem they fully do not understand and therefor think they know how its perceived by the opposite sex?

To be clear, I have no opinion about this photo (see my other comments on this thread). * Original commenter highlights their observation that the degree to which a photo is 'flattering' is correlated with the author's desired characterization of the story subject. * Child commenter responds that it is reasonable to attempt to sway the reader's opinion by including an unflattering photo. * I respond that I don't think this is fair.

The question related to gender seems to be somewhat out-of-left-field

The exact same argument applies to any photo: If the news is based on facts, then the facts can speak for themselves. A photo does not support the article if the article is not related to how well the subject takes photos.

My claim may have been somewhat unclear. More precisely... a photo that is intended to portray the subject's physical characteristics in a negative light has no place supporting an article about the subject's non-physical characteristics. Photos are great for adding informational content to new stories (e.g. http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/content/wabc/images/cms/1408319_1...).