Why I'm glad Susan Sarandon crushed the rule book at the SAG's.

At first I thought the internet went bananas over Susan Sarandon wearing a white pant suit with nothing but a black bra underneath to the SAG awards on Sunday because the outfit was #tacky.

I read tweets from people that said:

She looks rackdiculous!

You would think Susan Sarandon would win the SAG awards everytime

That’s what Susan Sarandon wore to do the in memoriam? It’s a lace bra… #classy

Susan Sarandon looks rack-diculous. #SAGAwards2016

— Doug Benson (@DougBenson) January 31, 2016

I read headlines that said:

The Internet Goes Wild Over Susan Sarandon’s Cleavage.

Susan Sarandon shamed online after bearing her cleavage.

Susan Sarandon cleavage-shamed for showing off breasts at SAG awards.

Then I looked at Sarandon. Her white Max Mara pant suit and black bra was not #tacky.

But a couple of dozen of tweeters in their cookies n’ cream stained tracksuit pants put down one of their five remote controls (it’s a bugger that the airconditioning one looks so much like the cable one that looks so much like the basement blinds one) to vent their feelings on Sarandon’s cleavage and the media went cray because boobies were involved.

Then the media went cray cray because a 69 -year-old woman’s boobies were involved. Only they didn’t say that. They let the twitterers talk about how inappropriate the outfit was and how icky it was to see a cleavage that saggy at the SAGS (get it, saggy at the SAGS?).

What everyone was really saying in this internet outrage universe was Sarandon was too old to show that much cleavage. It was okay for Emilia Clarke, 29; Rooney Mara, 30; Eva Longoria, 40 and even Kathryn Hahn, 42 to show off their cleavage at the SAGs, but not Sarandon.

Sarandon has hit the cleavage tipping point. Her age has done it, not how she actually looks. How she actually looked at the SAGs was radiant and glorious and happy – with spectacular breasts.

Was she meant to arrive wearing a mauve housecoat, masseuse sandals and give us tips about sponge cake baking?

Is a woman over a certain age meant to shut up the sexual attractiveness shop and keep her mind solely focused on when she’s next looking after her grandkids and how best to iron singlets?

Despite being assured again and again that the rule book has been thrown out the window when it comes to women and fashion, the chapter on women and ageing is a tough one to shake.

No long hair after 40.

Cover arms after 50.

No bikinis post 40.

No short dresses or mini skirts past 40.

Stilettos over 60 is a no no.

After a certain age should a woman never get dressed for herself again? Should she never want to feel something more than comfortable when she gets dressed? Should she just keep getting smaller and smaller until she is invisible?

And fabulous, milky, full breasts at 69 make it hard for a woman to be invisible.

Should Sarandon go quietly into the “dying of the light” with the “rule book” about what she is and isn’t allowed to do with her own body clasped firmly in her tastefully manicured hand (no deep, dark shades of nail colour please just nudes)?

Of course bloody not. No woman should.

The outspoken and politically active Sarandon would never do that. Sarandon has never made the mistake of believing that skin equals sexy every single time. She dresses in a multitude of ways – sometimes she plays it safe, sometimes she takes risks. Sounds like most women I know really.

Sarandon isn’t going anywhere quietly. She is actively campaigning for Democratic Presidential contender, Bernie Sanders and is one of Hollywood’s most philanthropic actors with her own eponymous charity that supports women’s rights, civil rights, anti-poverty and more.

After she goes to work, raises her children, actively campaigns for more money to be donated to housing shelters for women effected by domestic abuse, Sarandon is going to go out at night sometimes with friends and family, get really dressed up and show off some damn fine cleavage if she wants.

So should we all.

And look, a woman with two breasts can create a beautiful cleavage and try to make the world a better place too.