The “dirty pillow” line of attack

So, wow. Who knew that simply having breasts in the presence of a former president could turn into such a disgusting spectacle of sexism, vapidity and downright meanness? Way too much time has been spent on this, so this will be the only post I write on it.
As Althouse and her ilk backpedal and try to claim that this whole thing started because they wanted to know why a feminist blogger would meet with Clinton given his history with women, I would just ask that people not forget what this was really about. It was a nasty personal attack – one that’s ridiculously indicative of the way that young women are treated, especially by conservative assholes.
While Althouse repeatedly says that this wasn’t about attacking my appearance and my behavior as assumed by one photo – I’d just like to remind folks of the following gems:

Then, when she goes to meet Clinton, she wears a tight knit top that draws attention to her breasts and stands right in front of him and positions herself to make her breasts as obvious as possible?
It’s obvious that you’re bending over backwards — figuratively and literally — to keep the attention on your breasts.
Jessica should have worn a beret. Blue dress would have been good too.
Jessica’s breasts are definitely a distraction!
Jessica looks like Paula Jones (check her profile photo: she does)!
Look closely at that picture and try to adopt the posture Jessica’s in. I did. It’s not natural.

(And these are all from Althouse herself, never mind the disgusting crap that came from some of her readers.) So, yes, clearly Althouse is all about reviving “real feminism,” as her latest post claims.
And this whole boobgate bullshit isn’t just about Althouse and her mean-spirited attack. It’s about how young women are routinely reminded that they’re only good for one thing – consumption.

Zuzu put it best:

Althouse wasn’t the only one trying to put Jessica in her place; as I also mentioned, there were any number of commenters across the progressive blogosphere that made comments about Jessica’s fuckability. They didn’t know who she was, or why she was there, but they sure as hell felt free to speculate that it had something to do with sex.
Even those defending Jessica have often focused on the appropriateness of her posture, her pose, her clothing and her smile, as if those were really the issues. They’re not. The issue is that Jessica was invited to that lunch because of her accomplishments and her intelligence, but people like the commenters discussing her fuckability and Althouse criticizing her for having breasts are reminding her that no matter how much she’s accomplished in her life, no matter how smart she is, she doesn’t really belong in that group.
In other words, they smacked her down for being so uppity as to think that she had the right to be there.

This kind of incident is a perfect example of how so many people see women – especially young women. We’re there to be ogled or ridiculed. We have nothing else to offer.
But I don’t want to end (cause damn do I hope this is the end) on such a depressing note. I’ve gotten a ton of supportive emails and comments since yesterday, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate them – they really meant a lot to me. And a big thanks to everyone who blogged about this and called it out for the bullshit it was.
Pandagon, Feministe, Echidne, Emboldened, Broadsheet, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Booman Tribune, Feminist Law Professors, Ilyka Damen, Eschaton, The Mahablog, TGW, Steve Gilliard, The Heretik, Talk Left, Majikthise, Mad Kane, and everyone else whose links I wasn’t smart enough to bookmark: you guys fucking rock and I thank you profusely.
P.S. Who thinks I should make a “These boobs are made for blogging” shirt?
UPDATE: Apparently Althouse is so “bored” by boobs that she’s made a podcast about the kerfuffle. Not that I should be surprised, but she lies about the content of Feministing, saying we feature pictures of women in bras and other such nonsense. Sigh.