Twitter's in the news again, this time because the tweeter in question is soon-to-be 25-year-old Meghan McCain, daughter of presidential candidate Senator John.
To recap: Wednesday (10/14), Meghan tweeted that she was spending the night in, alone with her "Andy Warhol biography and takeout." To prove her point, she took a photo of her self and tweeted it, too, with an app called Twitpic.
Oh. Yeah.
Ms. McCain writes for The Daily Beast and she's becoming a popular political commentator who's seen by many, including the Goddess, as a young Republican authentically open to earnest, non-partisan dialogue. (Actually, she reminds me of her dad before some adviser told him how to run for President.)
With more than 60,000 Twitter followers, Meghan's posts attracted attention right away, and not about the Warhol bio.
Within an hour of the photo's appearance, Meghan tweeted this message, clearly a response to something negative:
"So I took a fun picture not thinking anything about what I was wearing but apparently anything other than a pantsuit I am a slut."
And later:
"When I am alone in my apartment, I wear tank tops and sweat pants. I had no idea this makes me a "slut". I can't even ell you how hurt I am"
I can imagine.
I learned of this story while I was waiting for a plane at New York's Laguardia Airport. Headline News showed the photo and quoted several twitterverse comments about Meghan's...um, girls. The comment that made me gasp referred to her "twitties." People around me laughed.
CBS News said that for a brief moment the story was in the top spot on Google Trends. That's saying a lot, considering that Boy in Hot Air Balloon That Looks Like A Flying Saucer had legs, too.
The following night, Meghan made her most lengthy response in a blog post entitled Don't Call Me a Slut. She proved that she'd regained her sense of humor about the matter, referring to her curves and ending with "I just wanted to get that off my chest."
What have we learned here? What has she learned?
First of all, I don't believe that Meghan was deliberately trying to come off as the Kendra of Twitter. Of the week's 2 Twitter headlines, I think there's a deeper lesson in Meghan's story, and none in Miley Cyrus's cancelled Twitter account.
As for Meghan, my conclusion is that this exact same scenario has probably happened before to a less famous busty young woman, and it will probably happen again. Here's why:
1) Traditional PJs and nightgowns died a sad death quite a while ago among most teens and young adult women. The new standard involves colorful tank tops and baggy pants that are often made of fleece or flannel. Tops and bottoms are purchased separately to mix and match.
2) Tank tops are built to show a woman's cleavage. Got more boobies? Ya got more to show. It's what tank tops do best. That's why men love tank tops.
3.) Webcams are not a separate purchase only for the horny boys of American Pie and skeezy pedophiles. It's not rare for laptops or netbooks to come with a built-in webcam. Using them is becoming more mainstream.
4.) When you lean in to take your own picture, dimensions shift. Your nose and other protruding objet d'art can appear larger and slightly out of proportion.
5.) It's considered acceptable to be seen in your pajamas -- I mean, tank top and pants. I've heard that some colleges allow students to wear them to class. That's why I can imagine Meghan not even thinking about her attire when she took a photo of herself. She was trying to convey a nerdy bookworm and wound up portrayed as Pretty Woman.
Spread the word, ladies. Any anchor from Katie Couric to your local newsteam will tell you that it's what's above the navel that creates the perception. And as Meghan McCain can now attest: perception rules.
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