CULTURE
Op-ed:
Women Global Leaders: Scrutinized in the Press
By: Nola Roberts
Fashion is an extremely powerful form of expression, especially in the global world of politics. From politicians in the United States like Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, to global leaders like Angela Merkel and Tsai Ing-wen, women and their wardrobes are constantly under the public microscope. Is this solely because they are women in powerful roles? If powerful women have the ability to make statements with their fashion choices, what do these statements look like?
My aunt works for a multinational bank in Manhattan. In 1992, as a 22-year-old intern for the company, she faced wardrobe scrutiny. At the time, her manager said to her, “You need to dress for the position you want, not the position you have,” implying that my aunt should not be wearing pantsuits to work. Her manager wanted her to dress in a more “lady-like" manner, in dresses and skirts. Meanwhile, all the men at the firm were wearing suits. Eventually, my aunt took this manager’s position and ran the department. She never stopped wearing pantsuits and proved a point that what you are comfortable wearing does not depict what you are capable of achieving.
In today’s current climate, women in power are constantly under scrutiny like this. After traveling to Texas to meet with local leaders, Kamala Harris experienced major backlash in the media for wearing a Tiffany necklace priced at $62,000. Many were averse to Harris’s apparent luxury, but it is obvious that Harris’s counterpart, Donald Trump, is not under the scope for his wardrobe or the price of his wardrobes at all. Similarly, in 2016, the press was constantly discussing Clinton’s pantsuits and not, again, Donald Trump’s clothing choices.
Another commonly scrutinized female in U.S. politics is congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. AOC has broken the 4th wall, working with Vogue to discuss her signature red lip makeup routine and skin-care. She says, “‘The reason why I think it’s so important to share these things is that, first of all, femininity has power, and in politics there is so much criticism and nitpicking about how women and femme people present themselves.’” She frequently wears a bold red lip to express her confidence and was proud to be a female politician who worked with Vogue to share her routines with the public. However, like Clinton and Harris, AOC has experienced great backlash from the public. After lots of hate for attending the Met Gala with “tax the rich” scrawled on her dress, critics were judging her message and outfit as she was attending an event focused around wealth and money. AOC has also been criticized for her $300 haircut and “for posing on the cover of Vanity Fair wearing expensive-looking clothes,” similar to Kamala Harris being scrutinized for the price of her wardrobe pieces. Other examples of women in politics who have faced fashion scrutiny include Marjorie Taylor Greene and the fur coat she wore to the 2023 State of the Union which was heavily mocked in the media, and Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s State of the Union yellow dress which critics claimed was her being “desperate for attention.”
Scrutinization of women is certainly not confined to the United States; it is an issue across the world. German chancellor Angela Merkel is another example of someone who faced much of this fashion criticism. In 2008, her dress at an opera event faced heavy controversy in the press over her cleavage. During an interview with Die Zeit, Merkel, unhappy with the ongoing extreme judgment, explains that “‘It’s no problem at all for a man to wear a dark blue suit for a hundred days in a row, but if I wear the same blazer four times in two weeks, that leads to letter-writing from citizens.’” In 2013, one of fashion’s biggest names, Karl Lagerfeld, heavily criticized Merkel in the press. He said her proportions were “bad” and her pants were “too long” when referring to an outfit she wore when greeting President Obama. Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan's first female president, received similar criticisms in the press. Critics claim for her inauguration outfit that her hair and lip gloss were failures, her lip gloss was too pale and her hair looked as if she “just woke up.” Jacinda Ardern, former prime minister of New Zealand, like Harris and AOC, was also criticized in the media for wearing a $2595 Emilia Wickstead dress due to its price.
Women in power are constantly under the microscope for the wrong reasons. However, in contrast there have been positive outlooks to female politicians and fashion in the media. Claudia Sheinbaum is the perfect example. Sheinbaum, the first female president of Mexico, uses fashion to make her own mark and wears clothing from people in the region. For inauguration day, Sheinbaum wore embroidery from a project “called ‘Lari Guie’, which means embroidered fabric in Zapotec.” The embroiderer Vásquez notes to the news outlet Aristegui Noticias, “‘I am very excited that this piece of textile, woven by my hands, my heart and my mind, will be worn by the president. It is a very strong commitment, so we ask her to also defend our textiles. She is the voice of the people.’” Sheinbaum used fashion as a form of expression to show the importance of representing her constituents.
As a young female who plans to work in a male-dominated field one day, I find it important to acknowledge that women are much more than what they wear. The lists of accomplishments made by women mentioned in this article are endless. AOC has fought for climate and social change reforms for New York, Angela Merkel served a 16-year term and aided in many critical situations such as a 2008 financial crash. Tsai Ing-wen has focused on reform for social services for children and the elderly. Kamala Harris has supported legislation regarding social change, climate change, and gun violence. Just as my aunt worked her way up at the bank and took her manager’s position regardless of the way she dressed, all these powerful women in politics make changes to our world and are more than just the clothes and accessories they choose to put on everyday.