Take into consideration - What if there was no "FREEDOM"? Then you see this Blog and are reminded that you would be missing out on so many important things...Enjoy your stay and recommend to your friends to come and taste the "FREEDOM" Geminimay
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 25, 2005; Page C01
Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice arrived at the Wiesbaden Army Airfield on Wednesday
dressed all in black. She was wearing a black skirt that hit just above
the knee, and it was topped with a black coat that fell to mid-calf.
The coat, with its seven gold buttons running down the front and its
band collar, called to mind a Marine's dress uniform or the "save
humanity" ensemble worn by Keanu Reeves in "The Matrix."
As Rice walked out to greet the troops, the coat
blew open in a rather swashbuckling way to reveal the top of a pair of
knee-high boots. The boots had a high, slender heel that is not
particularly practical. But it is a popular silhouette because it tends
to elongate and flatter the leg. In short, the boots are sexy.
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Rice's black high-heel boots: As a fashion statement, absolutely powerful.
(Michael Probst -- AP)
Rice boldly
eschewed the typical fare chosen by powerful American women on the
world stage. She was not wearing a bland suit with a loose-fitting
skirt and short boxy jacket with a pair of sensible pumps. She did not
cloak her power in photogenic hues, a feminine brooch and a
non-threatening aesthetic. Rice looked as though she was prepared to
talk tough, knock heads and do a freeze-frame "Matrix" jump kick if
necessary. Who wouldn't give her ensemble a double take -- all the
while hoping not to rub her the wrong way?
Rice's coat and boots speak of sex and power -- such
a volatile combination, and one that in political circles rarely leads
to anything but scandal. When looking at the image of Rice in
Wiesbaden, the mind searches for ways to put it all into context. It
turns to fiction, to caricature. To shadowy daydreams. Dominatrix! It
is as though sex and power can only co-exist in a fantasy. When a woman
combines them in the real world, stubborn stereotypes have her power
devolving into a form that is purely sexual.
Rice challenges expectations and assumptions. There
is undeniable authority in her long black jacket with its severe
details and menacing silhouette. The darkness lends an air of mystery
and foreboding. Black is the color of intellectualism, of abstinence,
of penitence. If there is any symbolism to be gleaned from Rice's stark
garments, it is that she is tough and focused enough for whatever task
is at hand.
Countless essays and books have been written about
the erotic nature of high heels. There is no need to reiterate in
detail the reasons why so many women swear by uncomfortable three-inch
heels and why so many men are happy that they do. Heels change the way
a woman walks, forcing her hips to sway. They alter her posture in
myriad enticing ways, all of which are politically incorrect to discuss.
But the sexual frisson in Rice's look also
comes from the tension of a woman dressed in vaguely masculine attire
-- that is, the long, military-inspired jacket. When the designer Yves
Saint Laurent first encouraged women to wear trousers more than 30
years ago, his reasons were not simply because pants are comfortable or
practical. He knew that the sight of a woman draped in the
accouterments of a man is sexually provocative. A woman was embracing
something forbidden.
Rice's appearance at Wiesbaden -- a
military base with all of its attendant images of machismo, strength
and power -- was striking because she walked out draped in a banner of
authority, power and toughness. She was not hiding behind matronliness,
androgyny or the stereotype of the steel magnolia. Rice brought her
full self to the world stage -- and that included her sexuality. It was
not overt or inappropriate. If it was distracting, it is only because
it is so rare.
