The Cleavage Conundrum by Jodi Lipper and Cerina Vincent

In light of the recent Ines Sainz controversy and Katy Perry's Sesame Street scandal, we thought we'd add our two cents on how much is too much cleavage in the workplace.

Somewhere between 1950's housewives, the power bitches of the '80's and today's post-femininity, cleavage has become a sort of taboo in the workplace and we don't think that's fair. We are women and we have breasts, and it can be extremely difficult and disheartening to spend all day covering them up, squishing them down and generally trying to pretend that they don't exist. Of course, there are certain necklines that are simply inappropriate for work (like anything that J-Lo might wear to the Grammys) so we want to make sure you know the difference between professional cleavage and slutty cleavage.

Professional cleavage is a wrap dress that lies just an inch or less under your natural boob line or a button down with the top button undone. Slutty cleavage includes anything that is both tight and low cut, shows any amount whatsoever of side boob or simply reveals more than one inch of definite cleavage. What can be confusing is the fact that slutty cleavage also includes instances when there isn't any actual cleavage visible, but the fit of the top is so poor that there is a double boob effect going on or you can see the outline of the push-up gel pad in your Victoria's Secret water bra underneath your shirt.

On the other hand, some people say that any amount of cleavage is inappropriate at work, that it detracts from others seeing you as a professional and causes them to view you strictly as a sex object. Well, we disagree with these people. Men are allowed to be men at work. They are encouraged to be tough and use their height and muscles to get what they want, and we want to be allowed to be women at work, too. No, you shouldn't manipulatively use your bust line to flirt or sleep your way to the top, but why shouldn't you be allowed to go to work every day looking and feeling like a woman without having to hide the fact that you are, in fact, a woman with a sexy, powerful, beautiful body? We want you to wear whatever makes you feel your absolute best, whether that's a turtleneck up to your ears or a dress that shows off your killer décolletage. We want you to look at the sexy, strong women in other countries who are running major portions of the world and go to work with the very same liberated sensuality, passion and professionalism as them.

 

Follow Jodi Lipper and Cerina Vincent on Twitter: www.twitter.com/HotChickBooks

Comments

[tipper18]

02:09 PM on 09/29/2010

So what if men came into the workplace attired to emphasize their penises? Unless we're talking about male strippers, men would not do this. They, in fact, enjoy women being sex objects. Men are too smart to play that role in the workplace. If a woman is trying to attract a man, she needs to haul her wares to a bar at night.

[DinkSinger]

09:28 AM on 09/29/2010

Men may be allowed to be men at work, but for many, many years I worked in offices where men were required to wear ties that prevented the exposure of anything much below the adam's apple. The only acceptable exception was the turtle neck that covered everything below the chin. Even today men in many "business casual" offices are expected to wear collared shirts and only unbutton the collar button. The same thing is true for legs. I have never worked in an office where men were not expected to keep their legs totally covered at all times. As recently as 2005 I witnessed an office manager send a worker home because he was wearing shorts that ended just above the knee on a "dress down" day when the outside temperature was close to 100 degrees. I even recall a man getting an email in the late '90s pointing out that he had violated the dress code by wearing deck shoes without socks and exposing his ankles. There is a double standard about the exposure of flesh in the office but it favors female exposure not male exposure.

[maab76]

09:00 AM on 09/29/2010

I never access this debate without sharing a story my mother told about teaching in rural schools and their monthly county meetings. At one such meeting a fellow teacher related a story told by one of the mothers. It seems a little boy came home all agitated and nearly screaming to tell the story. "Mother, Mother, Mother, the worst thing happened in school today: Miss XXXX bent over and her lung fell out!" What I see in todays TV talking heads in both local and national media makes one wonder if they would dare to bend over!

My suggestion for a standard: Be sure that your choice of attire flatters you without distracting others. Seems to me that works in both the classroom and the office.

[scholasticus]

08:16 AM on 09/29/2010

Feminists and Islamists have an identical horror of female display. They seek to conceal women.

Leave women alone and allow them to make up their own minds about what to wear and how to display their bo.obs!