I'm amazing and very surprised that Anna Wintour seems to truly believe that the upper echelons of business and politics is not dominated by men. As a business school student in my final year, even my limited exposure to boardrooms and the corporate workplace has revealed that often enough, so many business relationships are characterized by the Old Boys Club attitude. The higher up you climb in management, the more exaggerated this effect. Certainly, this is not the case with every set of business leaders, but it is sufficiently dominant that I noticed it and heard from it from my colleagues within the first few weeks of my summer internship at a Big Four accounting firm.

Rather than chastising Hillary Clinton right out of the gate, perhaps Ms. Wintour should consider her own set of assumptions and experiences that have developed as a result of her privileged and dominant view from the top. If she were to ask herself why an intelligent, strong-willed political woman such as Hillary would make such a statement, the answer could be as simple as: it is the truth.

Whew! That sure lit a fire somewhere in me.

Posted by: Lulu J. | January 18, 2008 2:18 PM

I agree 100% with Mrs. Wintour,
I understand that the power game is usually a men's world; but that will never change unless we as women change it ourselves. The idea that a woman like Hillary Clinton is afraid to look too feminine in a political campaign shows how retarded and misogynistic our world truly is.
BUT...it is our right and up to a certain point duty to stand up for ourselves and be who we are (feminine, girly..), if not, it will never be fully accepted.
A figure such as Hillary Clinton, who is admired by many women and making history by being the first woman with a real chance to get into the white house should know better than to compromise herself to fit into the boy's club.

Posted by: Daphne | January 18, 2008 3:04 PM

If the "Fash Pack" gets all their political information from Vogue, let's hope they can't find their own polling places. Voters need to stop choosing candidates based on superficial reasons and start paying attention to the issues. Also, I wouldn't give too much credence to the explanation proffered by a miffed Vogue spokesoid.

That being said, I do agree that it is a shameful fact of life in 2008 that women still feel they must imitate men to be taken seriously. However, Hillary's refusal to speak to Vogue worries me less than her hawkish votes on Iraq and Iran, and a lukewarm committment to bringing our troops home. That is the kind of posturing voters need to worry about, not hurting Ana Bloody Wintour's feelings.

Posted by: kevie | January 18, 2008 7:38 PM

Hilary's been wanting to connect to younger voters. A fashion magazine could have been a good move.

While I know that the "old boys club" is still around, it saddens me that a woman would feel the need to make herself appear more masculine all the time.

Posted by: Jael | January 19, 2008 12:30 AM