Rosie signed the contract. If she didn't like the terms, she wouldn't have. I don't see why this should be a big deal for me, if it isn't for her.

Even on her own talk show, Rosie never sported "butch" until she left. That should say something.

We can get our undies in a twist over what matters - this isn't it.

Not only are the mandating Rosie's hairstyle, they seem to have forced Elisabeth Hasselbeck to change her name to Debbie.

While I get the argument, I gotta disagree because when she cut her hair off in 2002, it was badddddd...like 1986 bad. It had freakin' bilevels. I hate The View but wholeheartedly support their movement to block bad 80s hair from re-entering the mainstream. Viva La View!

Maybe next they can work on censuring Star Jones. That'd be nice.

that an out lesbian who promotes gay adoptions, hates guns, and is an otherwise in-your-face-liberal gets to host one of these safe, coroporate morning shows. Could it be that even the people running these networks have been pissed off enough by the FCC that they're fighting back with Rosie? Let's see if she gets to really shine though.

I've never had a job that didn't dictate what I could wear, facial hair, etc. Tough shit for Rosie. She had her own business and could wear what she liked. She's chosen to work for someone else now so she should get used to being treated just like anyone else in the workforce. And anyway, she's in the business of selling image more so than someone toiling 8 hours a day in a cubicle who has been told to put bandaids over their earrings (men only but of course I don't hear much outrage here over that) and to make sure they're not just wearing a tie but that they're also wearing a blazer or suit jacket any time they come in and out of the office.

And please stop Rebecca Traister from acting offended on behalf of us gay folks. Be offended over this oh-so-important issue on your own. It cheapens the fight for equal rights when dimwits like Traister think this sort of thing actually matters.

Johnny Damon had to *cut* his hair when he moved to the Yankees, after his long locks were one of the defining features of the Red Sox World Series win. In fact, I think *all* of the Yankees have to cute their hair *and* shave. It's in their contracts too.

So it's not just women and gays who being told how to look in appearance-based and high-profile jobs.

I guess that's the thought which occurred to network executives. [Tempting as it must be, it'll be hard to blame men for this since approximately zero hetero men watch The View and gay men, presumably, wouldn't object to Rosie's "homosexual" haircut.

Of course, if women who watch The View are uncomfortable with lesbians, why did The View hire, arguably, America's most famously out-and-proud lesbian?

Perhaps the answer is that women who watch The View are just fine with lesbians as long as those lesbians are not, you know, too lesbian. Or, at least, that appears to be the suspicion of network execs.

any way I can get her, in an '80s spiral perm if I have to. I have faith in the women watching The View that they couldn't care less how she wears her hair.

Some members of the media started the hoopla over the "lesbian hairdo" anyway.

It's the same corporate media that belabored other fake news like the Swift Boat Veterans, the Dean Scream, Clinton's personal indescretion and the "outrage" of gay marriage.

I was surprised they hired her. It made my day, even though I only watch the show when I have the flu.

I mean, come on.

If Rosie had managed to get a shorter hairdo that was actually flattering -- see Ellen DeGeneres, K.D. Lang -- and not some sort of freakish asymmetrical chopjob that made her look like a cartoon version of her pal Boy George, there wouldn't be a clause in her contract.

They're trying to prevent her from "experimenting" with another REALLY BAD HAIRCUT. And why not? Do YOU want to have to look at that haircut again -- on ANYONE? Especially day after day on tv??

Of COURSE not! The producers are quite sensible, really.

Now, if the View folks would come up with a few more clauses, I'd be happy. For example:

• a clause against smug conservativism to keep Elizabeth "aka Debby" Hasselback's yap shut
• a clause against bad Borscht Belt comedy to shut up Joy Behar
• a clause against total self-delusional megalomania to keep Starr Jones from shining forth

But, on another note, good for The View for picking Rosie -- good old obnoxious, overweight, outspoken, NY accented, out of the closet and sometimes pretty darn funny Rosie.

I figured the job would go to a Vieira clone, and we'd soon be treated to the site of Campbell Brown, or (INSERT NAME OF YOUR FAVORITE SIZE 4, ATTRACTIVE BUT NOT UBER SEXY, PSEUDO-BRAINY FORMER NEWSWOMAN HERE)

I may have to start watching this, just to see Starr Jones and Hasselback squirm!!

Where I live (Western Pennsylvania), many women have short hair, especially those of middle age. They can't all be lesbians! I think it's more of an "I'm tired of dealing with my hair and it's gone gray anyhow" kind of thing.

However, where my sister lives (Indiana), short-haired women are few and far between; the short hair = lesbian idea is pretty prevalent. My sister could not get her stylist to give her a short haircut -- the stylist claimed she didn't know her well enough!

So maybe Rosie's contractually mandated "do" is an attempt to get her to play well in Peoria. If she looks more traditionally feminine, she won't intimidate the longer-coiffed viewers of her target demographic in the heartland.

I don't think this is about her looking butch - it's about that wacko mullet/mohawk that she got on the Mizrahi show. That was truly, truly hideous and bizarre. It didn't make her look more or less gay, it just made her look freakish. So I don't blame the network for that clause in her contract. They knew when they hired her that she's gay, she's outspoken, she can be controversial and wacky. Heck - the whole country knows she's gay. IMO they're not trying to make her "pass" via a hairstyle, they're just protecting their investment. And I don't think there's a thing wrong with that.