I came across breaking news this past weekend: "Self-declared socialist AOC splurges on high-dollar hairdo." I was disappointed, but not surprised to find the media covering a $300 haircut rather the poor humanitarian conditions that people are facing at the border and in the US more generally.
Despite, my personal opinion, I think the article examines the double standards female politicians face regarding physical appearance. As a woman in the office, you are expected to look your best for the public eye, yet these actions do not save you from public criticism. People do not go out of their way to investigate how much money male politicians spend on their physical appearance because it does not matter, nor should it matter.
I liked AOC's response to the backlash of her haircut by bringing the conversation back to important political issues. She did not feed into this poor political tactic. A tactic that is my opinion is overrated. Articles like these me wonder if/when double standards will come to an end? What actions will it take to stop people from using a woman's physical appearance to discredit their intelligence or actions?
https://nypost.com/2019/10/11/did-aoc-spend-too-much-on-a-haircut-nyc-women-reveal-what-they-pay-at-the-salon/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2019/10/11/backlash-over-ocasio-cortezs-haircut-shows-women-cant-win-when-it-comes-their-appearance-experts-say/
I followed this last weekend as well, and came across what I thought was a good article in the NYTimes that covers the issue of women's appearance and hair in general:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/11/style/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-hair-cost.html?searchResultPosition=1
This weekend's coverage is reminiscent of when AOC was accused of wearing an expensive designer dress earlier in her tenure when she bought it on clearance. Either way, the target she has on her back for certain media outlets to "expose" her false identity as someone who grew up facing adversity in the Bronx is one that she faces in the media but is one that I think many women face in less-high profile contexts. The question of double standards that Crystal raises is one I've thought about for a while, and now I've begun to consider if it's good to make stories like this the center of certain news stories because it does raise the profile of important issues and double standards - or does it feed into the double standards themselves as writers of these types of articles get more attention and reach broader audiences with this type of "reporting"?