It’s on.
This was the essence of President Biden’s State of the Union address; That was the message from the women of the Democratic caucus, who sat en masse in white in the chamber of the House of Representatives. That was even the message included on some Republicans’ Laken Riley pins and T-shirts. Even though Mr. Biden was the only one to speak officially, it was impossible not to see – and therefore hear – them all.
The state of the union has increasingly become a stage for fashion statements, but rarely have the causes embedded in clothing been so controversial. The fact that the upcoming elections will be fought using all possible means, including images, was also not so clear.
It began in 2017, when Democratic women adopted the white suits of suffragists during President Donald J. Trump’s first address to a joint session of Congress – a choice popularized by Hillary Clinton during her presidential campaign – as a sign of the importance of women’s rights .
The next year, white was replaced with black in support of the #MeToo movement, while members of the Congressional Black Caucus wore kente cloth around their necks to protest President Trump’s statements about Africa and Haiti. In 2019 and 2020, White returned even more emphatically. In 2022, many members, including First Lady Jill Biden, used her dress to signal solidarity with Ukraine.
Yet even in the context of what happened before – perhaps because of the context of what happened before – the women in white were striking. They stood in a block amid a sea of dark suits like a beacon of solidarity.
At this point, the symbolism of the white suit is practically a cliché in its broadest sense. It was adopted at major public events by numerous women who wanted to set an example for female strength and the fight for their future.
Representative Nancy Pelosi wore a white pantsuit as she announced that the House of Representatives would begin drafting articles of impeachment against Mr. Trump. Kamala Harris wore white in her first speech as vice president-elect. Not only did Liz Cheney wear white for her final speech during the televised House hearings on January 6, but Cassidy Hutchinson, President Trump’s former adviser, and Sarah Matthews, a former White House deputy press secretary, also wore white, when they testified in these hearings hearings.
This time the suits weren’t just about suffragists and women’s rights in general, but the message, as the lapel pins made clear, was “Fight for Reproductive Freedom.”
“Our message is clear: Women must have access to the health care they need to control their own lives and futures,” Rep. Lois Frankel, chairwoman of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, said in a news release about the pins.
Rep. Robin Kelly, Democrat of Illinois, posted a photo of caucus members posing on a House staircase and wrote, “We will never stop standing up for women, from reproductive rights to workplace equality.” Same thing applies to Representative Brittany Pettersen, Democrat from Colorado.
The sheer size of the group was a statement in itself. As did the fact that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who made a name for herself last year by heckling President Biden, deviated from her playbook by donning a bright red MAGA hat and matching red jacket to symbolically ally with Mr. Trump’s campaign. She paired it with a “Say Her Name” T-shirt featuring a picture of Laken Riley, the nursing student killed by a person authorities say was a Venezuelan migrant, in a nod to Trump’s immigration rhetoric . (The slogan is an appropriation of the Black Lives Matter chant.)
Ms. Taylor Greene also wore a button with Ms. Riley’s photo, an accessory she presented to President Biden. Representative Matt Gaetz also wore a Riley pin; That was also true of former Rep. George Santos, although Mr. Santos’s rhinestone-studded shirt collar gave the impression that his choice of clothing was more concerned with drawing attention to himself than to any particular policy. Representative Troy Nehls of Texas even wore a star-studded bow tie and a T-shirt with Mr. Trump’s mugshot and the words “Never give up.”
In the end, the pins, shirts, and hat didn’t quite have the impact of the white suits. They do not echo across the screens on which most viewers consume images.
But they were still a clue. The weapons of influence and the uniforms of loyalty can take many forms. What we see, whether we consciously perceive it or not, creeps into our brain and shapes our thinking. Mr. Trump has always been a candidate who knows better than anyone how to use costumes and visuals — even his own mugshot — to his own ends. This strategy now permeates politics on all sides. Get ready. This is just the beginning.
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2024-03-08 13:10:33
www.nytimes.com
