This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at GA Tech chapter.

It’s no secret that the clothing a woman chooses to put on her body is hyper-analyzed in any setting but in a political environment, it’s taken to the extreme.

In 2018, Eddie Scarry, a nationally recognized journalist for the Washington Examiner, commented on Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s outfit, claiming that her “jacket and coat don’t look like a girl who struggles,” implying that her clothing doesn’t align with her platform of representing the working class. Although he later corrected himself to say he was actually “complimenting” her, it can almost be guaranteed that the same back-handed compliment wouldn’t be made in reference to a man’s attire.

Similarly, in 2011, Tim Gunn, a fashion consultant, criticized Hillary Clinton for wearing pantsuits, stating “I think she’s confused about her gender.” President Donald Trump echoed this sexist sentiment in 2016 by publicly claiming that Clinton doesn’t have “a presidential look.” On the other hand, even her husband, Bill Clinton has been met with little judgement when donning checkered shirts and sports jackets while campaigning alongside her.

With respect to how a woman in politics should dress, there has been a plethora of restrictions put into place. Until the 1990s, there was an unofficial rule that women could not wear pants on the Senate floor and another rule that female reporters couldn’t wear sleeveless dresses in the House chamber. To current day, female politicians must keep their shoulders covered and pair slacks with a suit and jacket to remain “modest.” Although studies have shown that male politicians do perform better when wearing professional attire as opposed to casual attire, women are criticized even when following all of the “rules” of professionalism.

They are condemned for looking too manly by wearing pantsuits or attacked for wearing kitten heels and appearing too unprofessional. Perhaps the most prominent difference is the fact that a man’s poor clothing choice might simply reflect on his fashion sense but a woman’s clothing choice is viewed as a display of her ability to do her job.

Many female politicians have reclaimed their fashion rights and even depicted powerful messages through their choices of attire. In January 2019, several women of the House and Senate wore white to the State of the Union Address expressing their solidarity with the women’s suffrage movement and to show their commitment to fight for women’s rights and voices.

In the year prior, at the 2018 State of the Union address, many of the same members dressed in all black in solidarity with victims of sexual harassment and the #MeToo movement. Even now during our current presidential election, Kamala Harrismight not be making a political statement but she is proudly and comfortably sporting converse on the campaign path and paying zero regard to any distasteful comments.

Sources:

What Do Skirts Have to Do with Politics?

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