Rant #1,674: Let Me A-Dress the Situation

Men who are anchors and reporters on our local and national news have worn suits and ties for ages.

It is standard dress, and has been since TV became part of our lives in the late 1940s.

At times, that dress standard has been waived, such as when reporters were telling us what was happening in war zones, but generally, the standard dress for men is suits and ties, and probably will be forever.

For women, it is a different story.

Due to changing styles, women have been able to wear just about any style of dress that is "in" at the particular moment, and that is how it has been forever.

So, women went from flowing dresses to pant suits to, well, whatever you want to call what they wear today.

But sometimes, some women go a little too far in what they are wearing, not realizing that they are broadcasting the news, not going out on the town in the evening.

This is what happened to Liberte Chan, the weatherman on KTLA Channel 5, a channel that we get in these parts if you have Dish Network, which we have in our home (along with Verizon, which doesn't include KTLA in its program lineup).

Anyway, I am familiar with Chan because I have watched their news, particularly on the weekend.

Chan is young and pretty, and also, very good at what she does, and the other day, evidently, she went a little too far in what she wore to tell viewers the weather, making herself into the attraction rather than the sun.

She wore an extremely skimpy black dress, a cocktail dress with tassles more in line with going out than broadcasting the weather, an outfit which highlighted her angular figure, leaving little to the imagination of viewers.

Little skin was shown, but the dress was as tight as a drum on her, and that is where the story began.

She started to broadcast the weather, and immediately, viewer emails came in, asking management to make her cover herself up a bit.

In the middle of the weathercast, an arm appeared on the screen, holding a sweater.

She seemed surprised, but to her credit, she got it immediately, took the sweater, put it on, and went through the weathercast as if nothing much had happened.

She did reportedly say, "It was only a black dress," and "Is it cold? I look like a librarian now," but that was about it.

Evidently, the emails were a little bit enraged at seeing her do her thing in such a tight and somewhat revealing and inappropriate outfit, and viewers let management know that they were not happy.

And they have every right to have made these comments.

Whether the PC Police like it or not, women are different than men, they are built differently than men, and thus, the standards are different for what they should wear on the air and what they shouldn't.

I personally don't think that what Chan wore was that revealing, based on other women newscasters that I have seen, many of whom evidently don't look in the mirror when they prepare for work.

They are hanging out all over the place, showing way too much of their figures.

Look, no one says that a woman should hide her femininity, but there is a time and a place for everything, and the boundaries have been pretty much snapped in recent times, with women wearing all different types of outfits on the air.

And if you talk about double standards, what about the double standards for men, pretty much forcing them to wear suits and ties on the air, opposed to what women can wear, which means anything short of a bikini seems to be fine nowadays?

Look, I like to look at pretty women as much as the next guy, and boy, it is refreshing to see a pretty woman doing the news, in particular in the morning, when I get up and have the TV on right after I write this column.

Weathercasters are at a disadvantage, because unlike newscasters, they don't sit behind desks, and thus, more of their form is show, whether male or female.

New York in particular, has some really good looking female newscasters, and yes, they have pushed the limit, too, in what they wear on the air.

In these times, where similar problems have happened at the workplace--my place of work, years ago, circulated a memo about what can and cannot be worn in our place of work--it is not that hard to believe that women would also push the limit on the air.

Has a male broadcaster ever had a similar situation, where viewers asked him to cover up?

I doubt it, and again, men and women are built differently, and we are just going to have to understand that when it comes to how to dress, and how not to dress, while on the air, or, for that matter, in the workplace.

Tough tomatoes, PC Police, men and women are different, and the standards must be different, too.