Shall I Compare Thee to a Revolution?

The March 5th issue of The Economist has lingered on my one of my desks. That's not a particularly long time, for that "newspaper" (as it likes to call itself), but this one is special because it's attractice to look at. Rarely does The Economist fall into the trap of using the common wisdom that pictures of attractive women can sell anything, but the democratic marches in Beirut let the staid periodical break through the wall and put a babe on its cover. Not that there's anything new in that. The French tradition of Marianne, the proto-lady liberty, has been inclined towards buxomness and much skin since the time of David and Gericault. And when, in 1999, time came to vote on an embodiment of Marianne, they didn't track down some French Yelena Bonner or Aung San Suu Kyi or even a Norma Rae. No no, they elected Laetitia Casta, whose political assets speak for themselves.

I must confess it strikes me as a strange metaphor, the alluring woman standing in for liberty. Perhaps it's meant to portend what comes after.