How women in politics are treated by the media

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Kamala Harris and the Casual Vogue Outfit

When the Vogue cover of Vice President Kamala Harris was released people were not impressed by the photograph. For the cover shoot Kamala wore what was described in The New York Times as “a dark jacket by Donald Deal, skinny pants, Converse and her trademark pearls.”. Social media was not impressed and many expressed how they felt the outfit didn’t convey her position of power. One author wrote in a Washington Post article “...in a world where strong Black women are often maligned as intimidating and unfeminine, the image Vogue chose reduced Harris just as she is taking her rightful place at the heights of American power.”. Due to the backlash an alternate cover was released where Kamala Harris posed in a blue Michael Kors pantsuit with an American Flag pin. The alternate cover was better received by the public, but the other cover was still widely talked about in the media. People also cited this as evidence that Vogue editor in chief, Anna Wintour, continues to not be inclusive towar...

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Met Gala Statement Dress

For the 2021 Met Gala, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wore a white gown that had “Tax the Rich” painted on the back. A bold statement such as this created a lot of controversy on social media and throughout new outlets. Different headlines the next day read “Why A.O.C. 's Met Gala Dress Made People Mad”, “The Controversy Over AOC’s ‘Tax the Rich’ dress”, and “AOC ripped for attending Met Gala in ‘Tax the Rich’ dress”. On social media people were divided as some supported her bold message while others felt it was obnoxious and not the proper setting. Later two Conservative groups filed ethical complaints against Ocasio-Cortez citing that “she flouted House rules…”, according to the New York Post. They also cited that the gown was an “impermissible gift” because she didn’t pay for it. After the complaint was filed though Ocasio-Cortez did pay for the gown and additional service but news outlets still circulated the story. Ocasio-Cortez defended her choice to wear the gown by stating “Ulti...

Chelsea Clinton and Her Go-To Shoes

Chelsea Clinton has never held a political office, but she is very much still involved in the political world. Her parents are former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Cinton, who was both a first lady and a presidential candidate. A previous blog post about Michelle Obama detailed how she was critiqued by the media for wearing a pair of shoes that many felt were too expensive. A similar issue happened to Chelsea Clinton in 2017 when she was critiqued for wearing shoes that were described as “frayed” and “shredded” to a business meeting. Her outfit as a whole was described as “a red, above-the-knee fit-and-flare dress, her go-to nude pumps, and a black leather tote.”. Daily Mail was the only news company to write an article heavily critiquing Chelsea’s shoe choice and several other news sources, Glamour and HuffPost, wrote articles defending her. In the Daily Mail article, they included zoomed-in pictures of the shoes and described them as “... they looked more beat up and scratched, ...

Sarah Palin and the $150K Fashion Budget

In 2008, when Sarah Palin was a vice-presidential nominee she came under fire for her expensive style choices.That year a campaign finance complaint was filed against her due to her high clothing budget. The watchdog group that filed the complaint revealed to the public that the Republican National Committee had spent $150,000 to clothe Sarah Palin and her family. Many news outlets criticized the Republican National Committee for spending such an absorbent amount of money on fashion alone for her campaign and public appearances. American citizens spoke out on social media criticizing Palin and the campaign’s choice to spend this much on clothing when there are everyday people who could use financial help. However, Palin defended herself by calling the criticism sexist as she stated “ Say, superficial things that they don't talk about with men, her wardrobe and her hairstyles, all of that? That's a bit of that double standard.”. Palin directly addressed the exact topic of my blo...

Kate Middleton and the Red Nail Polish

Women in American politics aren’t the only ones facing scrutiny for their fashion choices, the women of the British royal family have their fashion heavily critiqued as well. Kate Middleton, in particular, has been styled to fit all of the royal rules and regulations that the royal family is expected to adhere to, but even that isn’t enough to keep her fashion choices out of the headlines. Recently many articles have come out that have called Middleton’s fashion “too conservative”. Different news outlets have called her too boring and too bland, but recently, possibly due to the backlash, she decided to take a bold step in a new direction. In April, for the first time ever Kate was photographed with her nails painted red. When reporting on the matter many headlines went something like “Kate Middleton breaks royal protocol”, like the Page Six headline. Some praised her for doing a more daring look than her usual nude, clear, or light pink nail polish. Many on Twitter shared their excite...

Michel Obama and the Lanvin Sneakers

Similar to Nancy Regan, Michelle Obama faced criticism as well for her fashion choices while serving as First Lady. In 2009, while visiting a Food Bank Michelle Obama wore a business casual outfit paired with sneakers. These sneakers cause a frenzy in the media because they were “...$540 Lanvin sneakers…”, according to Vanity Fair. The public was already aware due to previous articles that Michelle Obama enjoyed wearing sneakers, but in the past she only wore Chuck Taylors or Converse in public. When reporters questioned her about her shoe choice that day she simply stated “They’re shoes.”. Her answer was blunt, but resonated with the public because she was unapologetic about her choice in footwear. Many on social media came to her defense that day, pointing out that everything she wears is going to be unfairly critiqued. Whether she wears affordable or expensive sneakers the media will always have something to say, and sometimes all you can really say at that point is “They're sho...