I don’t know about any of you, but I am absolutely sick of the coverage of fashion in politics. I know that historically a candidate’s looks has been somewhat important, but it seems like this year women in politics are being subject to much scrutiny about their dress. Is this really all there is to write about these women? Who cares that Hillary Clinton rocked the pantsuits or that Sarah Palin is a fan of shiny shoes? Even the potential first lady’s are being analyzed for their dress. As Bass writes in the article Fashion in Politics Remains a Tricky Business, “If we can't judge the style of the man, we assume we can judge the man by the style of the woman he selected to be his wife.” Sadly, this is true in society, and since people have this preconceived notion, journalists are giving people what they want by writing about their dress. There's even a blog called Mrs. O that is dedicated to following the fashion of Michelle Obama. How ridiculous.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Fashion in Politics
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Fashion only became a major issue for Sarah Palin because she continually described herself as a hockey mom and used phrases such as Joe Six-Pack repeatedly, while we all found out that the Republican National Committee has spent $150,000 on clothing for her. Now, that fact is ridiculous and was definitely worth reporting on.
In general, though, sexism is a bad thing, as is racism and all of the other unfortunate issues that plague society. And there was definitely sexism thrown at Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. There has been racism against Obama -- and ageism against McCain.
But, this whole Palin wardrobe thing is completely legitimate, and the Republicans that spent that kind of money on clothing for her ought to be ashamed of themselves.
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