Thursday, July 12, 2007

Skin is not in

A friend notes the following in a recent Philadelphia Inquirer article where a reporter quizzed men about their opinions on women's fashions:

Anything too tight (cut down on the cleavage, girls) and lots of makeup made the list, too. But we think the guys who said that were trying to be politically correct. After all, we've all seen the heads turn when a girl in clinging britches walks by.
Note the fundamental disconnect between the reporter's expectations and the men's answers. The reporter assumes that because men look at women who show cleavage and wear tight clothes, men find those women more attractive than women who dress modestly. Her assumption is that men only want what (never mind who) makes them stare.

It doesn't seem to even cross the reporter's mind that a man might be momentarily distracted by a skimpily dressed woman and yet not want to have anything to do with her. Men, in her mind, are merely cavemen, ruled by their hormones. Yet, I'm certain she wouldn't take it kindly if anyone applied a similarly offfensive stereotype to her. If a man waved a fat wallet in front of her and she couldn't help looking, would that mean she sought rich men, even if she claimed the contrary?