it is true. the analogy i like to use (which is quite belittling to men i guess, and very extreme) is being burned by fire.

if you put your hand in fire, you are the victim, but its still your fault when you get burned. the fire isn't going to go cold whatever your intent behind putting your hand in it.

in the same way men will look at exposed cleavage no matter why you are wearing the low cut top. that's just nature, and blaming men for their natural behaviour is no better than blaming the fire for being hot.

the best defence is to not even go there, don't put your hand in fires and don't show your cleavage... i shouldn't have to disregard such straightforward logic because the person i am talking to is a woman. imo that is demeaning to women...

its a dangerous position to take, but for all of the wrong reasons.

(and of course, men can train themselves to not look, and especially not to stare at boobs - the fire can not train itself to be cold)

I think if women want to be taken seriously as professionals, they have some obligation to take responsibility for their appearance. A woman whose boobs are falling out of her clothing at work is not dressed professionally. I don't think that's discrimination. We don't let men show up in "muscle shirts" either. We allow women to show a LOT more skin than men and still call it "professional." I think this one restriction on keeping the cleavage covered is a very reasonable standard.

http://micheleincalifornia.blogspot.com/2014/02/nothing-but-...

I'd agree, but i also think this applies to both genders, it doesn't make sense for women to show too much skin for a professional environment and men shouldn't be wearing beach clothing to a meeting etc. However that being said, women shouldn't feel like they're not being taken seriously just for wearing a dress/skirt (appropriate length) or anything that resembles their gender. That's when it falls in the line of sexism, I have heard some stories on how female developers got "brushed off" at conferences for wearing a dress.

It's a complicated topic. There isn't a simple, one-dimensional solution. It will take both sides working together to get it working better.

All I am saying is that a woman covering her cleavage isn't some crazy, ridiculous, sexist standard. Men also are expected to cover their chest at work.