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 blog and how women’s fashion is more heavily criticized by the media. Her spokeswoman also went on to release a statement that read “With all of the important issues facing the country right now, it’s remarkable that we’re spending time talking about pantsuits and blouses. It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign.”. This statement is similar to how Nancy Reagan responded to the controversy that surrounded her spending on designer fashion while she was first lady. Both Reagan and Palin are female political figures that are expected to look a certain way, but the costs to achieve these looks are often critiqued. Throughout this scandal, Palin remained defensive of her high clothing budget and continued to call the media out for what she felt were sexist critiques.

Citations:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/oct/24/sarah-palin-clothes

https://www.politico.com/story/2008/10/rnc-shells-out-150k-for-palin-fashion-014805

Comments

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How women in politics are treated by the media

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