Breasts: A double-D double standard?

Do America's "boob police" enforce an unfair stereotype favoring fake breasts over real ones?

Political daughter/cultural blogger Meghan McCain argues that when it comes to breasts, we have a "double standard for double Ds." In her Daily Beast column, McCain says that "America's boob police" celebrate women who show off their surgically enhanced breasts — Heidi Montag got the star treatment, and a People cover, for her second breast augmentation — but ridicule naturally endowed women, such as Jessica Simpson and herself, for showing off their cleavage. Does McCain have a point? Do Americans favor fake breasts over real ones?

It's all about capitalism: Meghan McCain's "correct, of course," says blogger "Saul Relative" in Associated Content. We do have "a true vs. false hypocrisy" when it comes to breasts. In our society, you're seen as a "braggart" if you show off your natural talents and endowments, but "if you paid for it (capitalism at work), you can show it," whether its a flashy new car or fake boobs.

"Heidi Montag breasts get star treatment: Why can't breasts be breasts for breasts sake?"

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Who are these people praising Montag? I'm not sure what "the impressively endowed Meghan McCain" is talking about in her "completely tone deaf" column, says Mary Elizabeth Williams at Salon. After her latest cosmetic surgery binge, Heidi Montag was "near universally vilified" as a "plastic zombie" and "talking corpse." And as much as I loathe Montag (who doesn't?), that's not fair, either — she's just following our ground rules for becoming famous.

"Heidi Montag: The monster we created"

McCain's right about one thing — society is sick: Given how viciously Meghan McCain was criticized last year for posting a cleavage-heavy photo on Twitter, says Rohin Guha in BlackBook, it makes sense that she is "so eerily captivated" by Montag's breasts. But, sadly, she's not the only one — Newsweek, USA Today, MSNBC, and even WebMD wrote about Heidi's boobs. Maybe Sarah Palin's right that "the liberal media elite" will do any stupid thing to draw in readers.

"Why is everyone obsessed with Heidi Montag’s boobs?"

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