Fashion and Politics

The United States is proud to be a country of progressiveness and equality. Then why is it that it's ranked 91st worldwide for female representation in government? With only 16.9% of politicians being women, we stand below the international average of 19.3% [1]. There are many theories as to why this is true, but for some explanation, we can look to the importance of women's fashion in politics.

 One particular example, is how Sarah Palin's appearance may have affected John McCain's presidential candidacy in 2008. Her outfit choices had adhered to the traditional rules of professional women's wear of

knee length skirts, and short heels, but her attractiveness and style gave rise to excessive media coverage based solely on her appearance. The picture shown left is actually from a New York Times article about the labels Palin had been wearing during the campaign [2]. This article is just the tip of the iceberg, with her fashion choices being the main focus of the majority of the media coverage. Many people said that she was too "sexy" to be taken seriously [3]. Since she was seen as attractive, her competency as a politician was questioned. If Palin had worn dowdy, unflattering clothing would she have been taken seriously as a candidate? Or would the fact that she was unattractive and unfashionable hurt the campaign in the same way?

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Sarah Palin is not the first female politician to be judged by her appearance and fashion choices. Every women in United States politics is constantly critiqued by her wardrobe ranging from Hillary Clinton to Michelle Obama to Elizabeth Warren. The media seems to be almost obsessed with fashion that women in politics are wearing. Countless articles examine their style choices, designers, sexiness, dowdiness, accessories, etc. The media's emphasis on women's style in politics takes away from their intelligence and power as a candidate.  A study was conducted that showed whenever a women's appearance, whether it was negative, positive, or neutral, was mentioned along with her political agenda, she lost a considerable amount of support [4]. When the american public sees the media only caring about the fashion choices of candidates not only does it discourage the population from voting for them but it also discourages younger women from pursuing politics in the future. If a girl's worth is placed on her appearance, even in a position of power, then why would they want to run in the first place?

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This societies obsessiveness with women's appearance, and fashion choices could quite possibly be an explanation to our severe lack of female representation in government. Political value should be measured by intelligence, ideals, experience, etc. Our representatives fashion choices show no reflection of their ability to be in office, so why do we put so much emphasis on it? Hillary Clinton is officially running for the presidential candidacy in 2016 and it can only be expected that the media provides full coverage of her infamous pantsuits and hairstyles.

Some may say that the emphasis on style in our society is positive since it provides easy classification for groups and is a form of individual expression. But with so much importance put on a women's outside appearance, it is apparent that intelligence and ability are insignificant in comparison. Women will only be able to be taken seriously when it is realized that fashion has no place in politics and a females worth should be measured by far more than just the length of her skirt or the designer of her shoe. The poor female representation of women in the United States government can only be changed when the media and the public can see past physical appearance and fashion choices.

1. http://www.american.edu/spa/wpi/upload/2012-Men-Rule-Report-web.pdf
2. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/us/politics/23style.html
3. http://www.care2.com/causes/research-shows-women-cant-be-pretty-and-smart-at-the-same-time.html
4. http://wmc.3cdn.net/0d817481d880a7de0a_60m6b9yah.pdf
5. http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jul/16/daily-mail-downing-street-catwalk-female-ministers-outrage
6. http://i.imgur.com/dlGtWst.png