Slog - Comments on Get Those Boobs In Shape for the Workplace! http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla Today's episode of Good Morning America featured a story that Brad thoughtfully forwarded to me, on the (correct) presumption that it would make my head explode. The article--an anxiety-exploiting diatribe disguised as "news"--is titled "Cleavage: The Owners Manual," but it leaves in question to which gender the so-called "owner" belongs. Actual excerpt: The weather's getting warmer and necklines are dipping lower -- sometimes, too low. From the beach to the mall to the office, women seem to be showing off their cleavage more than ever before. Why? According to Elisabeth Squires, author of "Boobs: A Guide to Your Girls," American... Copyright 2008 Wed, 30 May 2007 12:25:36 -0800 Sun, 03 Jun 2007 00:02:58 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by genevieve The Sea Times did an article on this woman a few months ago, about how she calls herself "The Boob Lady" and speaks to young girls about accepting their bodies and loving their breasts. I lost any respect for the woman and stopped reading when I got to the part that said Squires hated her body until she got a breast lift. Kind of hypocritical for her to be telling others to love their bodies as is...

Plus, referring to breasts as "the girls" is idiotic.

BTW, I wonder why they didn't ask any other women what they thought about showing cleavage in the workplace in terms of "professional" appearance.

]]> genevieve http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c730984 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c730984 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 12:35:27 -0800 Comment by shelbis Breast Power yes yes yes

]]> shelbis http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c730987 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c730987 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 12:37:08 -0800 Comment by redrum The woman's hands are creepy and messed up looking in this photo. She looks like she just got done strangling someone and is adjusting her blouse.

]]> redrum http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c730988 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c730988 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 12:38:21 -0800 Comment by Judah Erica, are you actually being paid less than your male counterparts? Maybe? No?

I think your head exploded a long time ago, when it comes to gender issues. Now there's just this constant shrill whistling from the void where your brain used to be.

]]> Judah http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c730990 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c730990 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 12:39:25 -0800 Comment by Dougsf Cleavage was WAY bigger... errr... more popular, in the late 70's-80's than it is today.

]]> Dougsf http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c730997 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c730997 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 12:42:21 -0800 Comment by Gloria With breast power comes breast responsibility.

]]> Gloria http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731001 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731001 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 12:44:25 -0800 Comment by Jordyn I always figured you would skip the E cup and go right to F.

Ya know, like with grades.

Also, fuck, an E cup? God my back hurts just thinking about it.

]]> Jordyn http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731002 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731002 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 12:44:42 -0800 Comment by arduous Yeah, I'm pretty sure there is no E cup.

There's D, DD, DDD and DDDD which in Europe is called a G cup. And then I've heard of F cups. I don't know how that fits in.

]]> arduous http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731006 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731006 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 12:48:01 -0800 Comment by mason Men pay 20% more in taxes on average than a woman working the same job.

Breast power in action.

]]> mason http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731008 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731008 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 12:52:03 -0800 Comment by bonehead's girlfriend Erica, thanks for letting me know what Real feminists are interested in. I was almost thinking I was wasting my time reading the NONIE DARWISH op-ed in this morning's Post Intelligencer.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/317680_arabfems30.html

just a snippet from the article: "Islamists do not represent the hope and future of the Middle East, but the oppressive past."

lots of impressions, and I'll try to be around for a debate, but I can't help but be reminded of the William Burroughs quote,
'Let's forget the dead Empire, and build a new Republic.'

]]> bonehead's girlfriend http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731012 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731012 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 12:53:25 -0800 Comment by Mr. Poe @4

Ouch.

]]> Mr. Poe http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731013 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731013 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 12:56:35 -0800 Comment by flamingbanjo I met the "Boob Lady" (her name for herself, not mine) not too long ago. She's from Seattle. I shoulda known it was only a matter of time before her probing insights regarding boobs catapulted her to an appearance on "Good Morning America."

]]> flamingbanjo http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731015 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731015 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 12:59:32 -0800 Comment by me I wear an E! It's not made up, it's just that most stores don't ever carry them.

Oh...and "the girls" is pretty common in any suburban high school.

]]> me http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731020 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731020 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 13:03:52 -0800 Comment by Gloria Aren't cup letter sizes pretty inconsistent across the board anyway? Besides the most common ones, there's no saying what letters exist and don't.

]]> Gloria http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731021 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731021 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 13:05:57 -0800 Comment by elswinger Russ Meyer is spinning in his grave. Or maybe he is just jerking off.

]]> elswinger http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731035 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731035 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 13:28:24 -0800 Comment by Sarah me @ 13: are you some sort of European or something? Is E another term for F? I'm a DD so I think I would have seen Es if they'd ever been offered, but mabye I don't get out enough.

]]> Sarah http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731040 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731040 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 13:34:32 -0800 Comment by keenan elsie, the all-knowing wanker

wondering impossibilities aloud is better than no intelligent opinion

]]> keenan http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731043 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731043 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 13:37:03 -0800 Comment by infrequent i just scratch off the bottom line of the F to get an E! kind of like changing a 32 to a 31 on your levis.

]]> infrequent http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731044 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731044 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 13:39:59 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle Um, sorry, you were saying?

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731053 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731053 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 13:48:28 -0800 Comment by Fnarf I call bullshit on the whole concept of this "breast expert". She wrote a trashy book on boobs and is selling it on GMA with laughably false assertions like "E is the new C". This bears no relation to the real world.

But yes, extravagantly drawing attention to your girls in a work setting is unprofessional and inappropriate and not tolerated by actual grownups. Anyone wearing her blouse like the woman in the picture DESERVES to be paid 40% less.

But I don't understand Erica's outrage at all.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731073 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731073 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 14:10:29 -0800 Comment by boobs
Calling breasts "the girls" isn't idiotic, it's polite and harmless. Sure, you don't sound like a brain surgeon, but at least you don't sound like some uptight freak.

At least here in America, women with larger-than-a-B-cup chests need make efforts to hide them at work to be taken seriously. Small and medium-chested women have the luxury of looking presentable without a lot of effort. It sucks and is unfair, but it's just one of those things.

After work, though, go crazy.

]]> boobs http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731078 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731078 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 14:14:44 -0800 Comment by maxsolomon E is the new C because of the OBESITY EPIDEMIC.

]]> maxsolomon http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731113 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731113 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 14:54:57 -0800 Comment by Lloyd Clydesdale Is it not rather rediculous to suggest that boobs are somehow to be restricted to the evening soirre? I agree with the workplace thing, though the article assumes that there's a single type of workplace setting.

Boobs are great -- great and small, meek and manic. Cleavage: like the stick a parrot sits on in the cage - glad someone invented it. Fake boobs suck, as do padding and 'minimizing' -- these are dishonest boobs. Undoubting boobs are, of course, those of the most charming ladies. Real boobs don't lie.

]]> Lloyd Clydesdale http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731115 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731115 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 14:56:55 -0800 Comment by Soupytwist Calling your breasts "the girls" "the twins" or anything like that is just fucking stupid.

Calling someone else's breasts "the girls" or "the twins" is degrading and the worst kind of objectification, and it makes me want to punch you the neck.

]]> Soupytwist http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731150 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731150 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 15:22:47 -0800 Comment by Judah So Soupytwist, what do you call your twins?

]]> Judah http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731158 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731158 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 15:29:28 -0800 Comment by me @16 go get fitted @ Nordstrom and they have a few styles there and then you are relegated to the dreaded catalog.

@22 Obese? Not me, just tall as hell. My thoughts are that we're just taller. 15 years ago, they didn't even make long lengths in jeans for women over 5'8. Now, people may mention that I'm tall, but they don't fall over in shock.

I don't care what you call them, but punching someone in the neck over a linguistic choice seems a scosh extreme.

]]> me http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731161 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731161 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 15:32:08 -0800 Comment by small If E is the new C cup, is B the new -A?

]]> small http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731175 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731175 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 15:43:30 -0800 Comment by genevieve Another bone to pick with the boob lady - she clearly has no idea how hard it is to find shirts that don't show cleavage. I've read in many places that deep v-neckline are supposed to visually "minimize" large chests. I completely disagree, at least in regard to myself, but anytime I go shopping for work clothes, I have a hard time finding shirts. Almost all the shirts have plunging necklines that practically go to my navel.

]]> genevieve http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731505 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731505 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 20:00:59 -0800 Comment by anonymous Yes, the F cup does exist. I used to wear a 34-D. I thought that was the right fit. But I was fitted at Nordstrom lately, and apparently the best fit for me is a 30-F or a 32-E. Could have knocked me over with a feather. These sizes go to J or H I think.

Maybe the European sizes have changed what we think of as a D cup? Anyway, a E or F cup may not be as big as you think it is.

]]> anonymous http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731516 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731516 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 20:36:49 -0800 Comment by anonymous And I thought that article was idiotic.

Breast power? What - are we in 7th grade?

Or is this a new comic book character? Like the friend of Wonder Woman?

]]> anonymous http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731517 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731517 Hetero Wed, 30 May 2007 20:43:20 -0800 Comment by yup
V-necks do visually minimize chest size. Ever see a large-chested woman wear a crewneck t-shirt? All you see is BOOBS. A V-neck actually accommodates a large chest properly. A wide scoop-neck does the same thing.

]]> yup http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731739 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c731739 Hetero Thu, 31 May 2007 07:05:02 -0800 Comment by matt everybody chill.....they're just tits.

]]> matt http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c732306 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c732306 Hetero Thu, 31 May 2007 17:25:35 -0800 Comment by wjqfu bhpvgyznc aqzvfy ilxwkygho qmws uroyfhez ptrq hvaqdiup epolqk

]]> wjqfu bhpvgyznc http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c733260 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c733260 Hetero Sun, 03 Jun 2007 00:01:47 -0800 Comment by ihcbtaxz oufhqwp yvnobp rshwt umvdzgne kyibguasl ueltby blnitxg xryfzop http://www.lsmvzkbhi.atcrfpn.com

]]> ihcbtaxz oufhqwp http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c733262 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/05/get_those_boobs_in_shape_for_the_workpla#c733262 Hetero Sun, 03 Jun 2007 00:02:58 -0800