conservative bloggers are astonishing

So, there's a picture out in cyberspace of a bunch of liberal bloggers and Bill Clinton. He had some meeting with them and they snapped a casual group photo.Among them were a young feminist blogger named Jessica Valenti. A conservative blogger named Ann Althouse was, apparently, outraged that Jessica's breasts were apparent.You can read a couple of accounts, which include links to the photo, Ann's attack, and Jessica's response here, and hereBe sure to see the picture of Ann at the second link to fully appreciate the hypocrisy.

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"Science is like a blabbermouth who ruins a movie by telling you how it ends! Well I say there are some things we don't want to know! Important things!"
- Ned Flanders"Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear." - Thomas Jefferson

The pic of the right wing blogger wasn't ann, but a 'Hellen Smith', who also took up the cause.

Ah, thanks for the correction!

I think Shraff's point still stands though. You're going to find a big boobed blogger on their side too, somewhere down the line. It's still a silly objection, so I think Shraff's point is still valid.

These people live in a fantasy world.This is ridiculous, even for them, though. Aren't they the ones who are always talking about how hot Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter are? I wasn't aware that one was required to be ugly to be liberal, or wear a sack when going to lunch with a former president. Or maybe a burkha?I guess it wouldn't be conservatism without hypocrisy.

Well, apparently you aren't allowed to be an attractive woman and also a feminist according to the conservatives who commented.My husband showed me the group picture and asked me to pick out what a conservative blogger would object to, and I honestly couldn't figure it out.It's what I've thought for a long time; it's the conservatives who have sex on their minds at all times.

Yes it is.I saw the original pic, and it certainly didn't look like it was an intentional 'showing of the boobs'. Some people just need something to fume against (probably boob jealousy)

I don't get it. What picture of Ann?

I think that's a valid point. If part of your "feminist" agenda is for a woman to be considered on the basis of what she does and who she is rather than how she looks, then it seems to follow you should be very careful about how you present yourself and should probably avoid appearing attractive. Otherwise it would seem you're just begging for trouble--you know the social norms, you're fighting against them after all. Sure. Different people look at the same photo different ways. The objection isn't that liberals will judge and pick her out based on her appearance. It's that conservatives and the people she's fighting against would. So .. it doesn't really matter that you couldn't pick her out. She's not trying to fight and change you and your viewpoint. That's unfair. Conservatives have an ideal about sex, and the ideal is broken by others. If their ideal was met, I think they wouldn't think about sex nearly as much. I think a conservative would say, they think about sex all the time because they feel it is "thrown in their face."With all that said, I'm not here to support the conservative position. I just think it's more peaceful... and useful... to try and take an opponent's viewpoint. Which I didn't feel you did in this post or the original.

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If part of your "feminist" agenda is for a woman to be considered on the basis of what she does and who she is rather than how she looks, then it seems to follow you should be very careful about how you present yourself and should probably avoid appearing attractive. Otherwise it would seem you're just begging for trouble--you know the social norms, you're fighting against them after all.

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The fact that you state this as an either-or issue just makes my point.Indeed, attractive men don't often need to cover up their good looks to also be appreciated for what they do and who they are. In many cases, being "extra attractive" or obviously masculine is a definite plus for a man in his chosen profession even if it is not a prerequisite for the job. A man can be sexy and attractive and nobody holds it against him in his career, nor do people tend to take him less seriously.It is certainly part of the feminist agenda for women to be able to enjoy the same freedom as men in this regard.

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Conservatives have an ideal about sex, and the ideal is broken by others.

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Actually, the "conservative sexual ideal" is broken by everybody, including and most importantly, them, much of the time.Ann Coulter wears micro-miniskirts on national television and they don't say a word about it.But anyway, what on earth was so incredibly sexual about that snapshot?

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If their ideal was met, I think they wouldn't think about sex nearly as much. I think a conservative would say, they think about sex all the time because they feel it is "thrown in their face."

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No, I don't think so.I think that many of them really believe that sex is dirty and shameful due to their religious upbringing. At the same time, they have all the same urges as everybody else but no outlet.They are repressed and uptight about sex, so they see it everywhere.Believe me. I was raised Catholic.

Yeah. What a slut, to be wearing that slinky evening dress and heels!Oh, wait. That's not at all what she was wearing. What more, exactly, should she have done to appear "less attractive"? Rub her face with pepper soap to incur blotches? Not washed her hair for a week? Roll around in feces? Don sackcloth? Cut off both breasts like St. Agnes?Wear a bhurka? So, it's the responsibility of women to avoid appearing attractive to men, lest they be raped, or not taken seriously, or something.Are you sure "Ben" isn't short for something? "Ben Laden", perhaps? (That's a joke.) Nothing about this picture was "thrown in their face." It isn't sexy. It isn't alluring. The woman isn't even that attractive, and she's certainly not dressed inappropriately.She has breasts, and she's standing in the front row where women are usually made to stand (because they're shorter than the men). Heavens forfend that a conservative be reminded that women have breasts!

Women have breasts?On a serious note, even though someone like myself would notice that girl before anything else (and I must admit that I sometime am ashamed of that part of me), I would also like to remind all you people (crashfrog not included) that if you take a walk along the streets of Chicago you'd be seeing a few thousand more times the number of breasts and many of them are just as impressive at least.

oh my god.this changes everything. why didn't they teach us this in sex-ed?oh, right.

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The fact that Clinton wasn't shown fondling one of the breasts?

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Oops! Wrong Planet

yes, well liberals have to dress, er, conservatively.

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