My, how times have changed. Today’s Wall Street Journal offers a story about the growing popularity of women’s “shapewear.” Here are the first three paragraphs:

Before Jessica Kraus put on a tight-fitting frock one recent evening, she wriggled into a $76 piece of flesh-toned underwear that extended from the bottom of her bra to mid-thigh. She felt confident and svelte as she left her apartment to meet friends for cocktails.

Then a few hours later, the 25-year-old Boston event planner was faced with what she says was a “horrific situation.” As she was embracing a man she had met that night, Ms. Kraus got to thinking about what lurked beneath her sleek exterior.

“There’s no graceful way of taking the thing off,” she says.

I wonder whether Jessica would find it equally “horrific” to discover that her prelude to a one-night-stand has been published internationally. Her parents must be so proud.

And what about the Wall Street Journal’s decision to run such a lurid lead for an otherwise solid trend story? Of that, no one should be proud.