Monday Morning Mirth
…from the 2007 Esquire 100, not quite #1 but
“No. 11: Tight Sweaters, the New Cleavage
Forget plunging necklines, the female news anchors of America are wearing clingy sweaters. And they look good. The tight sweater has always allowed a woman to appear totally demure and irrepressibly sexy. With the recent emergence of the female news anchor as one of the most important female archetypes in pop culture today (that and the cop-show heroine), the sweater’s double duty is being employed more than ever. Take the women of Headline News, for instance. Or almost every female news anchor at Fox or MSNBC. They have to look sexy, but cleavage would be wrong. Shrunken cashmere, however, suggests that they want to attract us and coyly repel us at the same time. They want us to listen, and someone has determined that if we are slightly turned on, we’ll listen better. So: SWEATERS.”
discuss…
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Yeah, that’s JUST the way for news anchors to be taken seriously. You’ll remember, of course, that tight sweaters did wonders for Edward R. Murrow. Oh sure, people were enthralled listening to him take down Joseph McCarthy, but it was most important that they were slightly TURNED ON while he did it. Bollocks!
Not so mirthful, Bonne Marie. And Esquire can bite me real hard.
This is exactly why I like to get my news from the radio…I get to *imagine* what Carl Kassel is wearing.
I love Esquire. It’s my favorite magazine. I’m not kidding. It’s the only one I subscribe to. The writers never fail to hit my funny bone and massage my brain.
The irony in that piece is palpable, and illustrates the reason I love Esquire — the writing is just brilliant. “…someone has determined that if we’re slightly turned on, we’ll listen better.” I love it.
Hmm, let’s see now..when was the last time a female news anchor (or reporter for that matter – except for Nina Totenberg, who is my hero) was taken seriously? (arrgh…sound of creaking as I reach waaaay back into my memory to the “Today” program from somewhere in the deep recesses of the 1960s…) Ah, I got it. Joan Vadeboncoeur – she used to do the art/architecture stuff for “Today” in the 60s. Blond but every hair in place – looked like it was lacquered on. Middle-aged. No-nonsense. Wore a two-piece skirted suit (hey, who didn’t?)and Knew. Her. Stuff. Hugh Downs and Joe Garagiola used to sit there with their teeth hanging out while she talked about Ero Saarinen.
Did not depend on being cutesy, chipper, or having…mmm…pneumatic mammaries (with or without a snug sweater).
My apologies – it was NOT Joan Vadeboncoeur(she was a reporter for one of the Syracuse papers). It was Aline Saarinen(hey, I knew there was a Saarinen in there someplace).
Personally, I notice what they wear. I can never make it past their really big heads on the stick bodies.
If I’ve gotta hear the freakin’ news, it might as well be Laurie Dhue (or Julie Banderas) at Fox tellin’ it. If she’s wearing a tight sweater, I’ll even come over to the tube and *watch* for a while. So tight sweaters are good for the network, ’cause if I’m staring enthralled at Miss Dhue, I might actually *see* part of a commercial before the spell is broken and I hit the mute button. Won’t let my behavior be fully controlled by a tight sweater, though. There isn’t a sweater tight enough on the prettiest girl alive that’ll make me listen to a liberal slanted show. A man’s (contraction of “man” and “has” in case the reader is a lib) gotta have some spine.
Interesting commentary, as I am sitting at the day job, the only female in my department, wearing a fitted turtleneck with a good bra. (OK, that is not the ONLY thing I am wearing…) Good fit, and nothing overt is always a classic look.
Girl you crazy.
But I believe you have something there.
Equire? Oy vey.
I agree with Jeanne. Esquire can bite me, too.
I think these days the “news” is a joke delivered by plastic Barbie-planet news readers.
None of these women are meant to be taken seriously. This little thing from Esquire is proof.
They’re not meant to be taken seriously, because they’re not actually reporting the News. (Especially Faux…I mean Fox.)
Their job and sole purpose is to keep the eyeballs of 18-49 yr old males (the golden demographic) glued to the TV screen for the commercials.
Yeah, I listen to NPR because Daniel Shorr sounds like he’s wearing a tank top and some nice form-fitting pants.
Yeah, baby. Oh yeah.