Hillary is not the only female pol to have made more news with what she wore than what she said…Yes, men in politics are also subject to fashionbabbling about masculinity. Al Gore was famously mocked for wearing earth tones. Barack Obama was dubbed the pinup in the 2008 swimsuit competition. John Edwards was YouTubed for styling his hair. Even John McCain's V-neck sweater was labeled, at least, "metrosexual." But this is nothing like what happens to women…

In the end, the question is not whether a candidate can show a hint of breast but whether you can have breasts and be president. It's not a matter of cleavage in fashion but cleavage in the voting population. Fashionbabblers of the world, let me remind you of the quote attributed to Sigmund Freud: Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Sometimes a V-neck is just a V-neck.

–Excerpted from Ellen Goodman's piece in Friday's Boston Globe (in response to Robin Givhan's article on Hillary Clinton's "cleavage.")