Job that matters, not skirts

This letter is in response to a Nov. 20 letter to the editor concerning the length of U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's skirts. The writer's criticism seems to be two-fold. First he criticizes media coverage of her which, in his words, "depicts Ms. Albright in a rather unstately and ungainly posture". Second, and more strongly, he criticizes Ms. Albright's choice of clothing which, again in his words, "displays overripe knees and thighs". This display, he says, "is not only undignified but embarrassing in the extreme".

Calling Madeleine Albright undignified because some of her skirts are cut above the knee (and even more offensive, according to the writer, that her legs are not Princess Diana look-alikes) is as outrageous as deeming some of her male counterparts undignified because of balding heads or pockmarked complexions. I'm curious as to whether the writer would suggest they cover these up with hats and masks just as he would like to see Ms. Albright wearing long skirts?

I suggest that we concentrate on the job Ms. Albright is doing, just as we do when considering men in similar positions, and leave her legs out of the discussion.

S. CRASS

Jakarta