Two of my blogging compatriots, Hearne Christopher (kcconfidential.com) and Tony Botello (tonyskc.com) seem to be obsessed with what they refer to as “hotties.”
Their idea of hotties is young women with eye-catching qualities of one sort or another — sometimes beauty but more often physical endowments, such as curves or protuberances — that rivet the eye.
For example, on Tuesday, when The Star announced the hiring of Mi-Ai Parrish, a 40-year-old publisher in the McClatchy system, Hearne breathlessly gushed in the second paragraph of his story, “Blessed mother of god, they hired a hottie!”
Tony also weighed in with a “hottie” headline, and, on those two sites, at least, her appearance and youth took precedence over her credentials. (For a closer look at Parrish and her credentials, see my last post.)
Now, I’m completely in agreement with Hearne and Tony that beautiful young (and youngish) women are appealing to the eye, but my idea of a hottie is a bit more expansive than theirs. Probably, it’s because I’m 65 and look at women through a slightly different (more mature?) lens than those two “young” guys.
(For the record, Hearne will only admit to being “north of 50,” and I would guess that Tony is in his 30s.)
Anyway, as I have aged, I have come to appreciate the beauty of “older” women, which brings me to this…Christine Lagarde, the 55-year-old French finance minister and leading candidate for International Monetary Fund director, is one of the most striking women I have ever seen…At least from photos, that is, and I’ve seen a lot of photos of her.
As a teenager, Lagarde was a member of the French national synchronised swimming team. Wikipedia says that she is divorced and the mother of two adult sons. Since 2006, Wikipedia says, her partner has been an entrepreneur from Marseille named Xavier Giocanti.
She is a vegetarian and teetotaler, and her hobbies are yoga, scuba diving, swimming and gardening.
Take a look for yourself…
With Xavier
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Here is a picture of Kansas Citian Susan Stanton, who is referenced in the comments below
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 