Women in the public eye just can't win these days. (Wait these days? I'm sorry. I meant EVER.) This week Newsnight's Emily Maitlis caused outrage by sitting on the corner of her desk, revealing that she was wearing a skirt that only went down to her knees; thus exposing said knees, her shins, her ankles, and the tops of her feet. Jesus, Emily! Why not just tear of your clothes and start pole dancing you filth!
One uptight viewer on the BBC message board said they found the sight of her legs "completely inappropriate" and that her actions were "thoroughly unprofessional and obviously meant to be titillating". Yes. Nothing gets men watching the BBC hotter than a nice pair of shins.
But perhaps the only positive outcome of Emily's scandalous behavior is that women in the media are all calling bullshit on people's reactions to the "inappropriately" dressed female politicians and news anchors. For example, The Guardian's Hadley Freeman (who I now think I'm in love with) mocked the BBC complainers by responding, "Well played, anonymous complainant! You wield that Raworth trump card! That'll shame that Maitlis harlot!"
She also points out that between Jacqui Smith and Hilary Clinton's "cleavage" and now Emily Maitlis' legs it appears that women in the public eye will never be able to dress appropriately: "Really, it's enough to make you think that, at bottom, some people just don't want to see women in the public eye at all."
[via The Guardian]