Clinton’s ‘V for victory’ slammed

Journalistic ‘review’ of her cleavage has become a campaign controversy

WASHINGTON: In Washington, where women’s style statements are pointedly conservative, Hillary Clinton’s cleavage has burst into one of the hottest topics of the Democratic presidential race.

The conservative dresser’s slightly low neckline during a July 18 campaign debate on education mostly went unremarked at first, until Washington Post fashion writer Robin Givhan took notice and branded it a “small acknowledgment of sexuality and femininity”.

“There was cleavage on display Wednesday afternoon,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning Givhan wrote. “It belonged to Senator Hillary Clinton”. Clinton wore “a rose-coloured blazer over a black top. The neckline sat low on her chest and had a subtle V-shape. The cleavage registered after only a quick glance,” she wrote.

“There wasn’t an unseemly amount of cleavage showing, but there it was. Undeniable ... It was startling to see that small acknowledgment of sexuality and femininity peeking out of the conservative — aesthetically speaking — environment of Congress.”

The focus on Clinton’s bosom rather than her national security policy drew an explosion of “thousands of angry letters and calls” from readers, mostly women, the paper’s ombudsman later wrote. Many took issue with the idea the Post devoted so much room to a non-political aspect of the battle for the White House.

The Clinton campaign chimed in, hoping to turn the controversy over Givhan’s article to advantage. “Would you believe The Washington Post wrote a 746-word article on Hillary’s cleavage?” Ann Lewis, a campaign official, said in an e-mail. “Frankly, focusing on women’s bodies instead of their ideas is insulting. It’s insulting to every woman who has tried to be taken seriously in a business meeting,” Lewis wrote.

The Post ombudsman defended Givhan’s article. “Does this have anything to do with whether Clinton should be president?. Not a thing. But do we want to read the column about her cleavage? Yes indeed.

“It was the most viewed story on the site all day. So was a recent story on John Edwards’s hairdresser.”