Cleavage And Crossed Legs
by digby
I heard about the ridiculous knock on Elena Kagan for failing to act like a "proper lady" and cross her legs and decided not to even comment it was so stupid. But I missed the second act of this absurd play for some reason and it's a doozy. Here's Amanda Marcotte:
Going in front of the cameras while in Washington, D.C., while having lady parts is seeming incredibly fraught these days. As has been thoroughly discussed here, whether a woman crosses her legs when she sits down seems to have become a major issue overnight. Now you have Matt Drudge and Glenn Beck getting the vapors because Michelle Obama had a modest amount of cleavage showing in an evening dress. If the trend continues in this direction, within a few years, there will be a national scandal when one of the first daughters dares to show a bit of ankle.
Beck said the dress was inappropriate, among other things, including this:
" Did you see the picture of his wife yesterday, all dolled up? 'Sex in the City' is what it said on the Drudge Report. She looks positively like she's trying to be some Greek statue. I don't think I've ever seen the first lady with her -- excuse the expression -- but with her breasts all smooshed up, sort of. I mean, what is that?"
If Michelle Obama's cleavage made Glenn feel all funny down there, wait until he gets a load of Dolley Madison:
And here's the slutty Mary Todd Lincoln:
While we're at it, how about the very inappropriate Virgin Queen:
The gasbags often get riled up about the bubbies. (Recall John Harwood insisting that the 60 year old Hillary Clinton was showing a quarter inch of cleavage in the middle of August in DC as part of her presidential campaign strategy.)
In case you missed the offending garment, here's what got Drudge and Beck all worked up:
I know. It's a shocking display of raw sexuality which has no place in our politics.
Amanda has written more about the underlying sexual politics here, if you are confused about why this stuff happens.
Update: Speaking of cleavage controversies, here's a truly bizarre story about Amy Klobuchar being told to "pull up her shirt" while she was presiding over the Senate. WTH? Are these people 12?
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