If Hillary Clinton's femininity is up for discussion, "like it or not," then I want to see similar discussions about the male candidates' masculinity or the way the male candidates come across based on how they look. Can we not talk about men because "all men look the same?" I don't think so. Bush = school-boyish momma's boy (or is that just the ever-perplexed look on his face?). Obama = slightly metrosexual lawyerly. Edwards = down south everyman charmer. Kerry = Professor of New England.

I disagree that Clinton's apparel is anything worthy of discussion, unless it's to call out how absurd it it is to discuss it. To play into the ogling attitude simply because everyone else is doing it loses sight of how insidiously sexist it is to focus on her apparel, or, for the love of God, her possible cleavage. Women have breasts, get over it. It's not like she walked up to the podium wearing a teddy and high heels. She's a professional woman running for the highest office in our government. Whether you agree with her suitability for office or not, her suitability has nothing to do ... with her suits.

News media, late-night comics and now The XX Factor are objectifying Clinton not because of what she wears at all, but because she's a woman. It's a slimy tradition meant to take a powerful woman down a peg, and I want nothing to do with it. Objectification is rooted in the fear of a woman's power as a human being and as a female (which I believe is left over from unresolved Oedipal issues, but that's a little too complex to get into here); it's a way of controlling the power the woman has by holding her at an arm's length and sizing her up based on her body and what her body 'signifies.'

Now, I won't say I love Hillary Clinton or her politics. But I will step up to defend a powerful, intelligent, professional woman when people start thinking her outfits are newsworthy. Or, at the very least, if we're going to run around objectifying her, focusing on her breast size or cleavage revelations, suit colors and shoe designers, then I want to see close-ups of Obama's package while he's giving a speech. I want to see news media talking about Bush's hair style and choice of tie. All the time, in every review of a public address. If we can't get rid of objectification, then at let's turn the lens on all the men who slip by the eye effortlessly.