Is it ever OK to write about Michelle Obama's butt?

Now this seems like bad idea: On Tuesday, a story appeared on New Yorkmagazine'swebsite about Michelle Obama's "booty," specifically outlining how President Obama admires his wife's backside.

The post, titled "Now That's Something To Salute," was illustrated with a photo of the president saluting a marine as the first lady entered a helicopter ahead of him. The text of the story read:

"This morning President Obama departed for the G20 summit in London ... As he boarded Marine One, Obama returned the salute of the marine standing guard ... we think. It also looks like Obama might just be blocking the sun's glare as he checks out Michelle's booty."

Soon after going up, the post was deleted. According to the Huffington Post, New York's publicist responded to the controversy by stating: "As you know, bloggers work in a hurry, and occasionally items go up that are not in the best taste. In this instance we decided the best solution was to take the post down."

OK. So, his particular news item was offensive (and perhaps even worse, stupid and not funny). But was it really any more disrespectful than the countless other articles that have been written about Michelle Obama's body? Since Mrs. Obama entered the spotlight dozens of publications have expounded upon her "real body," "curves," and her "question mark" shape. I even recall an essay titled, "First lady got back." And I understand that these stories are all about context and that the first African American first lady is going to stir up important (along with really awful and dumb) conversations about black beauty and power. These stories exist for a reason.

I suppose the question is: Is it ever acceptable for a mainstream magazine to write about the sexualized anatomy of our president's wife? Because, even if it's irritating and impolite (not to mention probably sexist), we do live in a free country with a free press. And that free press has the right to publish its opinions, however vulgar they may be. Was New York magazine wrong to suppress and censor a blogger's opinion of Mrs. O's "booty"? Or were they simply righting a publishing wrong?

Source: HuffPo