Why is it that when women fill out their brassieres, pencil skirts, turtlenecks - even skinny jeans - it gives people pause?
It's as if there's one standard for the skinny girls and another - a more boxy and conservative one - for the rest of us.
By now you may have seen the "controversial" commercial for bras sold at Charming Shoppes' Lane Bryant that aired in May during episodes of American Idol. It features a voluptuous woman - with a perfectly flat stomach - getting dressed for a lunch date. She confidently slips a trenchcoat (instead of a dress) over a lacy red bra and panty set and struts out.
Both Fox and ABC initially refused to air the advertisements, first stating there was too much cleavage. Then Fox said it would run a version with the breast shots edited out.
I'm sorry. How do you sell a bra without showing cleavage? That's like showing a skirt without legs, a belt without a waist, glasses without eyes. How else might we see how a bra fits?
We've certainly sanctioned models entering our home showing far more skin in Victoria's Secret TV spots. So the question remains: Is cleavage on a size 2 model with (probably fake) double D's more acceptable than a fleshier woman sporting her own boobs?
"What's frustrating is that we try to teach our kids that it's OK to be curvier, vs. Victoria's Secret-thin, and society tells them something else," said Erica Atwood, a 35-year-old 36DD who works for Mayor Nutter. "Not to mention, I don't know any woman who looks like that, and if I did, I'd want to feed them."
Amen to that.
