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, with chunks of patent material missing from the heel.”. The same article maintained the idea that Chelsea needs to find a new pair of go-to shoes as they have photographed her wearing those heels for almost two years. Glamour defended her by including a quote from Chelsea herself that read “...there was an article that came out today about the fact that I wear the same shoes a lot, which I’m actually wearing again this evening. How dare I wear scuffed shoes? They’re really comfortable. I think this is probably something working women — particularly working women New Yorkers — can empathize with. When you find a good pair of shoes, you just stay with them.”. Many on social media empathized with Chelsea’s statement and felt that the Daily Mail article was unfair and unnecessary. Personally, I think everyone has a go-to pair of shoes and would feel their privacy was invaded if an article was written trashing their favorite pair of shoes. Even when operating in a practical way people still find a way to critique women in the political sphere.
Citations:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/chelsea-clinton-damaged-heels_n_593fee21e4b0e84514ee4e40
https://www.glamour.com/story/do-you-see-the-problem-with-this-critique-of-chelsea-clintons-shoes
It seems as if women cannot win, first criticism for wearing new expensive shoes and then criticism for re-wearing a comfortable reliable pair. I think what should really be taken from all the commotion from her shoe choice is that she is choosing to actually utilize something she purchased. She has more than enough money to buy a new pair of shoes but why would she if she has a perfectly comfortable pair already? If anything those who are wealthy should follow her example by using what you buy until you cannot anymore. It is wasteful to purchase new shoes for every new occasion.
ReplyDeleteHaleya, I was coming here to say the exact same thing. So many times, we see things in the news, on social media, and even in our everyday lives where women are criticized no matter what they are doing or wearing. I for one love when I can find a pair of comfortable shoes and will often wear them until they are worn out or no longer comfortable. I like to look presentable, but in my opinion those shoes she is wearing are nice and if she feels comfortable in them who are we to judge.
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