Sexy Politics: Do Miniskirts Have a Place in the White House?
For women in politics, how hot is too hot? In terms of political attire, women politicians must walk the line between sexpot and dowdy, with most settling on the latter option. It’s been proved numerous times that attractiveness in male politicians is usually viewed as a positive attribute and often even seen as a factor that could benefit their campaigns. However, the fact still stands that attractive women politicians are often viewed as less serious, or face sexual commentary and jokes about their appearances (cough, Sarah Palin, cough). Sure, many women politicians tend to be of an older age, and thus dressing conservatively makes sense, but that shouldn’t mean that being a serious, powerful woman requires dressing like a nun. (See: Hillary Clinton’s “cleavage” scandal).
This weekend I found myself thinking a lot about this topic, as I attended a debate conference in Boston where I witnessed many female participants confuse “Western Business Attire” with “Western Clubbing Attire.” Although the conference had a strict dress code outlined in the information packet given to participants at the beginning of the weekend, no one seemed to pay much attention to it, and thus a parade of ultra-high-heeled, short-skirted teenage girls descended on the tournament.
As one of the few more modestly dressed participants, I found myself looking critically at these girls and feeling as though they must not be serious participants. I also found myself feeling a little Amish in comparison, but that’s beside the point.
After standing with the rest of my debate team for a while and watching as girl after girl teetered by in 8-inch heels, I came to a realization. Who was I to laugh at or judge these girls for what they were wearing? Sure, they could use a lesson in not wearing sequined pumps before 8 pm or white mini-dresses after Labor Day, but that didn’t mean they weren’t serious debaters. In fact, many of them ended up being serious competition.
While I was in Boston, Silvio Berlusconi, Italian prime minister and weirdo-philanderer extraordinaire, stepped down from office in light of recent economic struggles within Italy, but not before leaving a legacy of Bunga Bunga parties, and more importantly, “pumpkins turned parliamentarians,” to quote Berlusconi, himself. I’m talking, of course, about the mistresses Berlusconi appointed to positions within the Italian parliament during his terms as Prime Minister. These women, in addition to being examples of Berlusconi’s general ridiculousness, stick out like sore thumbs in the parliament because they tend to be, and dress, well, hot.
As long as men continue to dominate politics within this country and abroad, women will forever be forced to censor their attire. With powerful men exploiting attractive women every day, women in politics cannot afford to flaunt their figures, for fear of seeming to exploit them, themselves or appear to be a Berlusconi-esque Parliamentarian. Society sends the contradictory messages that young women should both dress sexy as a way of gaining attention and drop that sexy if they want to be taken seriously.
And so, hundreds of teenage girls debate in mini-skirts, yet women in politics are severely under-represented. Where do these tight clothed debaters go? My guess is that they are, however shallow it may be, in part dissuaded from certain fields by the “dowdy” role models they see within those careers. Don’t me wrong, I’m not telling Hillary to put on a tube-top, I’m just hoping the next, young batch of female politicians won’t be afraid to show a little skin.
Fiona Lowenstein is a high school senior, weekly guest blogger and Girls Leadership Institute alumna. Read more of her work here.
I think I addressed some of these issues in this blog as well, stating within the first few sentences that women are forced to straddle an almost impossible to attain medium between too sexy and too dowdy. Attractive young women in power are objectified sexually while older women are often critiqued on their appearances. I certainly was not arguing that women in power need to sex up their act, but rather that it’s a shame that I feel many of them are not allowed to wear anything even slightly revealing, while some male politicians utilize their sex appeal to gain votes. Congressman Scott Brown even posed nude for Cosmo in 1982.
Finally, you don’t have to convince me that girls should not be turned away by a lack of sexiness in positions of leadership, but I do believe this may be a small factor in why there are few women in politics. After all, the way many male politicians use their attractiveness and masculinity promotes politics for young men and boys and makes it seem like a very appealing field. You’re right that when you’re trying to make peace in the Middle East or find a cure for cancer, you’re probably too busy to worry about dressing sexily. I would argue you’re probably also too busy to worry about accidentally showing some cleavage and being criticized for it for months, but many powerful women have to take the time to make sure they straddle this line. I hope that someday social norms will be such that women in politics won’t have to think about what they wear any more than men in politics. I also hope that they will feel the freedom to express themselves in terms of their attire if they so see fit.
I agree with many of the points you make here, and thank you for your comment. I’ve written quite a few blogs in the past about the unnecessary attention women receive for the way they look as well as the double standard between the ways women and men dress. You may be interested to check out one of my blogs on the subject: http://www.girlsleadershipinstitute.org/blog/2009/09/09/nail-polish-club
Generally I love Fiona’s blogs but her conclusions here trouble me as a feminist who grew up in the 60s and 70s. I hope the answer is not that young female politicians will be showing more skin but that young female politicians will be comfortable enough in their own skins to dress in a way that is comfortable, professional, stylish and that people will judge them on the basis of their policies rather than their hairdos, skirt lengths, heel heights and “hotness,” (Personally I think Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Kirsten Gillibrand and Gabby Giffords look great and are great role models for young women going into politics.) I’m also troubled by the idea that young women are dissuaded from going into certain fields because of the dowdiness of the women in those fields. Sorry girls but when you are busy trying to make peace in the Middle East or find a cure for cancer, wearing 5-inch heels is not the first thing on your mind in the morning. What is also missing here is any sense of the totally warped double standard for young women and young men. Were any of the high school boys at this tournament dressed in a way to flaunt their vaunted six pack abs? I suspect not. Why do we as a culture put so much pressure on young women to dress sexy and appear “hot” even in situations where young men don’t have that pressure (like walking down the hallways in most middle and high schools across the country). But maybe, as a woman of Hillary’s generation, I need to be schooled on this by the younger generation.