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Hillary Clinton in the July 18 campaign debate on education
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In Washington, where professional women's style statements are pointedly conservative, Hillary Clinton's cleavage has suddenly burst into one of the hottest topics of the Democratic presidential race.
The normally very 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-colored 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 newspaper's ombudsman later wrote.
The Clinton campaign on Friday chimed in, hoping to turn the controversy over Givhan's article to advantage.
"Would you believe that The Washington Post wrote a 746-word article on Hillary's cleavage?" Ann Lewis, a top campaign official, said in a fund-raising e-mail.
"Frankly, focusing on women's bodies instead of their ideas is insulting. It's insulting to every woman who has ever 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?" the ombudsman asked. "Not a thing. But do we want to read the column about her cleavage? Yes indeed.
"It was the most viewed story on the Web site all day. So was a recent story on (Democratic presidential hopeful) John Edwards's hairdresser."
Earlier this year Edwards was taken to task in newspapers and on the Internet for paying 400 dollars for a haircut.
(AFP)
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華盛頓的職業女性向來以保守的形象示人，近日希拉里的“乳溝事件”一時間成為民主黨總統競選中最熱門的話題之一。
在7月18日的一場與教育有關的競選辯論中，平日里穿著十分保守的希拉里一襲低領裝亮相。這在一開始并沒有引起注意，直到《華盛頓郵報》的時尚專欄作家羅賓·吉芙漢發現并譴責其為“性特征與女性特征的一個小小炫耀”。
普利策獎獲得者吉芙漢在文中寫道：“周三下午出現了乳溝。”
“那是參議員希拉里的！”
她寫道，希拉里“身穿黑色上衣和一件玫瑰紅色的外套。黑色上衣領口低至胸部，有個若隱若現的Ｖ字形。只要迅速瞄一眼就能看見乳溝。”
“乳溝露出的程度無傷大雅，但的確在那里。不可否認，……在國會這種審美上十分保守的地方輕度炫耀這一性特征和女性特征，十分令人驚訝。”
之后，據《華盛頓郵報》的公評人報道，對于希拉里胸部而不是其國家安全政策的關注引起了讀者--尤其是女性讀者的聲討，“幾千名讀者寫信或打電話來表示不滿”。
希拉里競選陣營于上周五開始發動攻勢，希望能將民眾對吉夫漢文章的爭議轉化為競選優勢。
競選陣營高官安·劉易斯在一封籌款電郵中說：“大家相信嗎？《華盛頓郵報》寫了篇746字的文章，專談希拉里的乳溝。”
“坦白的說，關注女性的身體而不是她們的思想是對她們的一種侮辱。這也是對每個曾經渴望能在公司會議上得到重視的女性的侮辱。”
《華盛頓郵報》的公評人則力挺吉芙漢的文章。
他反問道：“這與希拉里是否應當選總統有關嗎？根本沒關系。但我們想看有關她乳溝的專欄文章嗎？當然！毫無疑問。”
“這篇文章成為當天網站上閱讀次數最多的文章。最近一篇有關民主黨總統競選人約翰·愛德華茲理發的文章也是如此。”
今年早些時候，愛德華茲因理發花費400美元而在報紙和互聯網上遭到譴責。
（來源：英語點津 姍姍編輯）
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