Oh, Lord, Protect Us From.. Cleavage?

Well, it sure seems to be what both the Washington Post and Ann Althouse want to save us from. But I actually agree with her (sort of), which is kinda sad, as she doesn't want to be taken seriously, anyways.

In a copyrighted article on Friday, the WaPo makes noises about Sen Clinton's cleavage. I kid you not. The opening paragraph was:

There was cleavage on display Wednesday afternoon on C-SPAN2. It belonged to Sen. Hillary Clinton.

The WaPo writer seems to think that it's some sort of Major Story if a female politician reveals evidence of having boobies. I mean, really -- is this something that deserves column space in a Real Newspaper?

And Althouse is no better -- in the comments section of her own post:Ann Althouse said...

Breasts that are conspicuous in the political sphere warrant commentary. A woman speaking in front of the Senate or at a political lunch with an ex-President, unless she is utterly incompetent, has thought about how she wants her breasts to appear. Visible cleavage doesn't just happen. Nor does a clingy sweater. Every woman who is competent enough to play a significant political role knows how to change to a top with a higher neckline or put a jacket over a sweater. So how she has chosen to appear means something and it is a fair subject for political commentary. I will not be pushed back from this subject.

You know, for once I agree with Althouse.

Women in the public sphere (the workforce as well as politics) *do* need to be aware of how any implied sexuality is viewed.

However, where I differ from Althouse is that I don't see it as an issue that the *women* should be modifying their behavior for, but the men (and other observers) -- if someone is so fixated on tits or a rear end that they can't pay attention to "bidness," *they* need to address their own issues.

Thanks to Amanda at Pandagon, where I saw their coverage of this.

The picture at the left up top shows the image on C-SPAN that has the Washington Post and Althouse clutching their pearls over. The image on the right is one of Althouse I cadged from Google Images. *That* pic shows that Althouse is plainly wearing a top with a less-than Victorian neckline, so she is forcing all the menfolk to use their imagination about what might be revealed beyond the image cutoff, and that is worse than outright cleavage, eh? So obviously, Althouse doesn't want anybody to take her seriously on any issues.