If it isn’t clear by now that this election is unusual, then you’ve definitely been living under a rock. Amidst all of the ridiculous name-calling, mounting scandals and hours of fact checking, we have to remember that this election needs to be taken very seriously. The winner of this election will have a Supreme Court Justice to nominate and appoint. That appointed justice will have a key say in many issues, including highly debated issues of women’s rights. Therefore, while this pre-election drama may seem equivalent to an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, people with vested interest in women’s rights aren’t joking around.
It should be no surprise that Vogue, a women’s fashion magazine, has publically taken a side in this election. The magazine, which has been around for decades, has never officially endorsed a candidate for a presidential election — even though editors in chief have expressed their personal opinions before. After years of remaining silent on president elections, Vogue broke their routine, saying, “Vogue endorses Hillary Clinton for president of the United States.” The statement then went on to explain and outline, briefly but thoughtfully, the reasons why Clinton has their support. They even went as far to say that she is not a perfect candidate and cannot single handedly fix all of the issues in this country.
Nothing surprised me about the article. It kept to Vogue’s sophisticated cool voice and refrained from bashing the other candidate while simply stating what other feminists have already said loud and clear. However, the reactions were perplexing. Dozens of people on Instagram denounced the magazine, declaring the cancellation of their subscriptions. Some of the rage came from Trump supporters, which was not unexpected. Many Trump supporters believe the media has been unfairly attacking Trump because of alleged payoffs from the Clintons. However, the comments denouncing Vogue for bringing up politics are ridiculous.
One comment on Vogue’s post by the user “CONNIE05” summarized the comments that really got me heated. The user stated, “ Stick to fashion! For the love of all things sacred, stick to fashion. I buy your magazine for fashion and stylist and current trends in the beauty business not to endorse candidates. This endorsement of political candidates is out of your league.” CONNIE05 would have a fair point, if the only thing Vogue had previously covered were fashion. But Vogue doesn’t strictly cover fashion and it never did. For decades, it has covered fashion, beauty, culture and other realms of interest that smart, independent women care about. In the fashion world, art world or even in the world of existing as a woman, politics cannot be escaped. If you want to live in a fantasy world where politics, beauty and fashion can be neatly separated from one another, please let me know how that goes. Every publication should be able to state its opinions without being pigeonholed into one subject or realm of interest.
In my opinion, the choice of who should be our next president is clearer for strong, independent Vogue women than which boots are hot this fall. (But actually, if you have any boot suggestions, let me know — I’m lost.) So why can’t Vogue simply give their opinion on whom they want to see in the White House? We need to stop remaining silent or, as one user said, “anonymous”, in fear of speaking on things “out of your league.”
See the endorsement statement along with the plethora of comments here.
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