My intention was to do a simple, wholesome post linking to this Betel Nut Girls gallery (PG-13 FW) on Asian-sirens, but while browsing through the comments I came across this relic — a funny article from 1992 about a hot dog stand called Bikini Weenie in Yonkers, New York.

Are the bikini-clad hot dog vendors who have appeared under pink umbrellas here (a) a disgrace, (b) summertime fun or (c) a safety hazard?

The answer depends greatly on who is talking. And this summer, it has often seemed, almost every one of this Westchester city’s 188,092 residents has had his or her own response.

Some people here say they are perplexed about why the appearance of young women dubbed “Bikini Weenie” sellers by their boss has drawn so much attention. But, whatever the reason, the Yonkers Bikini Weenie battle has become a New York City style imbroglio, complete with strident accusations, visiting television crews, petitions and politicians running for cover.

There’s something about this argument that seems outdated to me. Maybe I’ve been living in Asia too long. I’m guessing most people reading this have conscious memories of 1992, and might be a little surprised to think it’s actually some 16 years ago.

It’s strange to think that there are people out there who would view selling a hot dog in a bikini as degrading to women. Frankly, ahem, I think we’ve actually moved past this argument. A woman was nearly a nominee for president, and a kind of New Age (not in the John Tesh way), post-feminist, female figure  is running for Vice President. I don’t think a bikini clad woman selling hot dogs would cause much of a fuss in America nowadays, although I don’t think you’d be likely to see someone attempt to do it  either.

In short order, Mrs. Restiano’s declaration became Yonkers’s topic of the month. In favor: people like Ceil Di Domenico, a longtime Yonkers resident, who said Mr. Hayes’s “uniform” was degrading to the hot dog sellers. “What is she selling, hot dogs or sex?” Mrs. Di Domenico said of the vendors. “If she’s selling hot dogs, then sell hot dogs. If she’s selling sex, don’t do it on the streets.”

Clarice B. Pollock, a Yonkers resident who is a member of the national board of the National Organization for Women, also said she supported Mrs. Restiano. “It’s really a ‘women as meat’ kind of thing. It’s using women as bait again, and it’s a very unattractive way to attract business.”

It goes on to say The National Center for Men, which the article says supports concepts like a “consensual sex contract” to protect men from rape charges, countered with a petition lambasting the woman raising the issue. Yawn.

I think this caught my eye because I was reading about the U.S. Presidential race and getting angry at what a dirty, stupid, populist culture war its turning into. Elitists versus Rednecks. Again. Let’s make sure we have another 50/50 election that comes down to the electoral vote New Mexico to decide the future of the world’s most powerful nation. Lets ignore the patchwork foreign policy, the economic collapse and this magic money from nowhere that’s going to end it, and focus on class rivalries that in reality, less than 5% of the country fits into. Frustrating.

More Betel Nut gurls.