Rice Pronounced Sexy and Powerful, Not Evil Monster

Editorial comments are in bold and italicized.

Those who were watching would have seen, in the past several years, conditioning by the propaganda networks to make the alien, evil looking Condoleezza Rice acceptable to the eyes. It began several years ago in women's fashion magazines, controlled by the Corporate Media, in the way that emaciated but otherwise physically attractive runway models were wearing their make-up. Check it out and you'll see what I mean. The official style is to have very dark shadows around the eyes, to make them look beady and greedy, and simulate a low brow and angry demeanor, similar to Rice's natural look. In other words, these images are projected as sexy and powerful by the media barons to condition the public to accept the kind of ugly-to-the-bone, hell-bent, greedy, war-mongering, totalitarian, facist, rabid, lying, murdering face that expresses Rice's inner persona so vividly, as something contrary to the public's natural instinctive first impression of horror, as produced by millions of years of fine tuning. So the result is public confusion and ambivalence.

Put a baby in her arms and it would be kicking, screaming bloody murder and terrified, scared shitless, and emotionally damaged for the rest of its life. Ask the powers that control the Washington Post and public opinion, and they say it's sexy and powerful.

The following article really appeared in the Washington Post today, unfortunately without my comments:

Condoleezza Rice's Commanding Clothes
By Robin GivhanWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, 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." (More like the aliens in "Mars Attacks" if you ask me. I reject the "Matrix" comparison because those actors were very flexible and had powerful, muscular curves to their bodies. Rice, if she tried to bend or flex, would snap like a dead twig, which incidentally, her physical shape resembles as well)
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. (imagine Darth Vader inspecting the storm troopers on the Death Star) 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.

Rice's black high-heel boots: As a fashion statement, absolutely powerful. (Michael Probst -- AP)
(This was a link to another story in the AP, demonstrating a coordinated media blitz)

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, (no photographer or PhotoShop editor could ever make her look anything close to photogenic) 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. (or more likely, pull out a ray gun and start blasting white doves and then everything else in sight. Ack ack ack!!!!!!!) Who wouldn't give her ensemble a double take (the brain saying to the nervous system in the most primordial terms, "DANGER! LIFE THREATENING! KILL IT OR FLEE IMMEDIATELY!!") -- 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. (nothing new here, just not the kind of scandal they're alluding to. We're talking FINANCIAL SCANDAL, baby - now where did those $9 billion dollars in cash sent to Iraq get off to?) When looking at the image of Rice in Wiesbaden, the mind searches for ways to put it all into context. (Supernatural, defies explanation) It turns to fiction, to caricature. (It's a goddamn evil alien, for Christ's sake!) 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. (to whom? A frog or snake? Gila monster?)
Rice challenges expectations and assumptions. (She wants the entire globe's resources NOW, or she'll blow you to fucking miserable hell, and she doesn't give a FUCK what anyone thinks. She's had the part of her brain removed that used to contain the conscience, that's why her head looks that way) There is undeniable authority in her long black jacket with its severe details and menacing silhouette. (Darth Vader!) The darkness lends an air of mystery and foreboding. Black is the color of intellectualism, of abstinence, of penitence. (and of Death) 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. (God help us, if she hasn't killed Him already)
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. (Conditioning, conditioning, conditioning. See, it works!)
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 (Darth Vader cape) 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 (fascism) 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. (at least she's not trying to hide it, that would be impossible and she and her handlers know it) Rice brought her full self to the world stage -- and that included her (lack of) sexuality. (that needed massive media involvement to correct) It was not overt or inappropriate. If it was distracting, it is only because it is so rare. (Reminds me of the expression, "That face could stop a clock!")