The #1 reason it's a bad idea is that it cedes all the color to the GOP women. Year after year, we've seen the female members of Congress choose bright colors for this occasion, where they are seated in a big crowd along with a lot of men, who always, to a man, wear very dark colored suits. We get images like this:
The women's power is in the freedom not to wear black (or dark gray). If the Democratic women all go with black, they'll blend in with the men, and the Republican women — perhaps all in red — will pop even more than the women usually pop.
It's a TV event, and color works on color TV. Why would you sacrifice your biggest power to stand out at this event where you're stuck sitting in a big group while somebody else talks?
The best answer is: Because any color looks festive, and we want to look as though we're not really there, or we're attending only under duress, and we're really grim and sad and in mourning for this country. How will that work on TV? Trump will be commanding the stage and completely controlling the narrative. All you have is the ability to sit there resisting. You could give some Alito face:
But that was spontaneous and in response to a direct attack. You can't be doing that for an hour or in a preplanned way that's not responsive to what the President is saying, which will probably be optimistic words in an exuberant tone.
Now, I'm actually tired of the really bright colors worn by female politicians. I think I'm on record saying that Hillary Clinton would have done better if she hadn't had an endless array of turquoise and mango and other bright-colored pantsuits but had simply worn a black suit with a white blouse all the time. So in that sense, I support black. But I don't want black — in the context of serious work — to become a symbolic color that means I resist! I want black to be the sublime neutral that it is, that says, I come to work to work, and I'm not fussing over clothing, just here to do the same work men do.
That said, I'd love to see one man show up at the State of the Union in a bright color. Something like this:
I don't believe it can be done. This man would be considered a lunatic. But that only underscores that women have a great privilege here — a color privilege in fashion.
ADDED: Maybe this would work:
Posts
113 comments:
They should go all Bella Abzug - big hat an all.
Too bad David Bowie isn't a Congressman. (Plus, of course, he's gone.)
They are SOOOO brave!!! NOT!! They are nothing but a bunch of lunatics that we are all laughing at.
African American male members of Congress could get away wearing brightly colored suits: chartreuse, pink, etc., like they do in real life. It's a black thing. ("I'm the suit man from suit land," said Jelly Roll Morton.)
The guys at the bottom besides being dressed in colors that don't cut it for men, look like they were just released from a death camp. Or else anorexic?
Trump could send it in writing over to Congress. Then no one would have to show up. Or, he could invoke the spirit of Harrison and Garfied and just not do it.
That said, I'd love to see one man show up at the State of the Union in a bright color.
Lindsey Graham, your absolutely fabulous moment has arrived.
"Why would you sacrifice your biggest power to stand out at this event where you're stuck sitting in a big group while somebody else talks?" Please, no return to faux questions. This blog is better without them.
Anyway, Dems care about signaling ideological conformity and sucking up to lefty women. TV aesthetics are the least of their concerns. As any good prog knows, women's "color privilege" actually represents an insidious form of male supremacy, imposing the expectation that women's looks suit the male gaze.
What Earnest Prole said.
The women could all go in blackface and make a strong, threatening statement. Or they could wear black bonnets or even hijabs.
That man would be considered a lunatic.
Trump should so do this. What has he got to lose?
Or he could show up dressed for the Miss America swimsuit competition. Make Miss America Great Again!
Or else anorexic?
It's now fashionable to wear suits that fit you at 13, so you have to be slim. I've yet to see a middle-aged man in one and don't want to.
The worst part is seeing the shirt below the coat button.
"Trump could send it in writing over to Congress. Then no one would have to show up. Or, he could invoke the spirit of Harrison and Garfied and just not do it."
If Trump did that, everyone would interpret that, and I can tell you want the interpretation would be: He can't do it, he's afraid, he's narcissistic, he has tremors, he can't stick to the script, he's got Alzheimer's, etc. etc.
The lunatics of the Alt-left will thing President Trump has packed the SCOTUS at seeing all that black. The same folks that think removing Trump would make Hillary President.
Gee I don't see why the men can't wear bright colors to the SOTU show. I mean, why should women get color privilege? I watched a video the other day where Dr. Jordan Peterson squared off with a professor of gender studies at Ottawa U. who said that they had "Proved two years ago that biological sex does not exist..." (Who knew?)
So why can they all be equal? Better yet, they should all be forced to wear a suit of medium grey since we are all about equality these days. Or if you are more fashion oriented, we could allow stripes. I would prefer black and white stripes for the vast majority of them, both sides of the isle.
It'd be more appropriate for Dem female congresswomen to wear Pussy hats. I mean, that's what they really think, right?
I thought the number of Republican women in Congress was declining?
Does anyone still watch the SOTU?
The constant applause breaks make it unbearable to me.
Gore's 2000 acceptance speech was the best one I've heard--no breaks, no intentional sound bites, not his usual moronic pace.
have democrat women considered a burka?
Tom Cotton in a Yellow Zoot Suit. McConnell in Flamingo.
You made me see something here I'd never thought about, Althouse. Must be the limitations of male privilege...
A bit early for the white seersucker suit.
I see the Designer's Inspiration for the two men at the bottom of the post.
Men's Suits in the colors of children's breakfast cereals.
Fruit Loops Colors: red, orange, yellow, green, purple, and blue.
Trix Colors: red, orange, yellow, green, purple and blue.
For the Designer who wants a softer look, there are the Lucky Charms marshmallows: red, orange, yellow, green, purple, blue, pink and rainbow.
The colors are more pastel, and you also get pink and rainbow: a Designer's Delight.
The colors (by their shapes) have special powers (from Wiki):
Hearts - power to bring things to life
Shooting Stars - power to fly
Horseshoes - power to speed things up
Clovers - luck, but you will never know what kind of luck you will get
Blue Moons - power of invisibility
Rainbows - instantaneous travel from place to place
Balloons - power to make things float
Hourglass - power to control time
So there can be added significance in color choice. Especially pink and rainbow.
- james james
It doesn't matter what you wear just so long as you are there...
Dressing as Chinese acrobats would garner attention to every imaginable cause du jour, though it might be considered pretentious because very few of the congress critters are talented enough to spin a plate on a stick or get 12 people on one bicycle. IOW, incompetent cultural appropriation.
So here's a better idea - the critters dress as pro-wrestling fans, and Trump could shave the heads of the Supreme Court weenies for being such crummy referees.
“Why would you sacrifice your biggest power to stand out at this event where you're stuck sitting in a big group while somebody else talks?”
They aren’t sacrificing their power at all. Wearing black at the Golden Globes was a pushback regarding sexual assault and harassment, it’s being done in a similar vein at the SOTU. Trump has at least 20 women who have made allegations of sexual assault and groping against him.
I mean.....they are in Congress. They are part of the lawmaking body of the greatest nation on earth. Surely they need not resort to making empty gestures. They could make real gestures!
They aren’t sacrificing their power at all. Wearing black at the Golden Globes was a pushback regarding sexual assault and harassment,
How in the world does wearing black "push back" against sexual assault?
Inga: "They aren’t sacrificing their power at all. Wearing black at the Golden Globes was a pushback regarding sexual assault and harassment, it’s being done in a similar vein at the SOTU."
LOL
Inga: "Trump has at least 20 women who have made allegations of sexual assault and groping against him."
There will be even more accusers if Soro's checks keep clearing........
"Gee I don't see why the men can't wear bright colors to the SOTU show. I mean, why should women get color privilege?
I think that the color privilege is, at the root, a result of our species being mostly monogamous. In many, if not most, mammal and avian species, the males are the showy sex. But that is to maximize the number of females that they can reed with. In our species, and in our culture esp, the males compete on the ability to provide for or protect a single female, and the females compete primarily through visual aids to attract a single male, female attractiveness being a proxy for health, genetics, and breeding potential.
Why the striking difference in black communities, where the men are often the peacocks, dressing in bright colors, etc? My theory is that it is because monogamy has broken down there to a much greater extent than in the rest of our culture.
Why is it necessary to grandstand at all? Does anyone really benefit? The preening for attention just looks childish from here; yet another empty gesture.
The women need to wear black and the pink pussy hat. Nothing would scream PUSH BACK like that clothing selection.
FYI- your post with Trump in a meeting contrasted to the author of that book has disappeared.
There are a lot of men and women in that room who ought to be wearing black and white stripes.
What happened to the "Stable Genius" post?
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-stable-genius-stomps-all-over-trump.html
I went to read the comments and it was gone..
Maybee: "How in the world does wearing black "push back" against sexual assault?"
Naturally it doesn't. But it does allow the lefties like Inga to pretend that they are all about sexual assault pushback now!
Just like the lefties that are all running around "courageously", though gently, criticizing Bill Clinton....who headlined a party with Andrew Cuomo recently!
And Menendez is still in the Senate!
The entire fake anti-sexual assault posturing by the left, just like their fake paid-for hoax dossier, is simply another attempt to gin up something for nothing to get Trump.
Just like "Binders full of women" and #WarOnWomen.
Like night follows day...
I'm glad lefties are left with only the power of the palette at the moment.
Ralph L
The reason for the short jackets and skinny pants is to advertise your ass and junk. Yes, these suits make a guy look like he's wearing a suit prior to his growth spurt, wearing a junior high suit to the senior prom.
I went to Macy's Monday to use my Christmas gift cards. They were already putting out their spring merchandise in the Polo RL section. On a rack next to each other were Polo Baracuda type golf wind breakers and navy blazers, the blazers were only two and a half inches longer than the golf jackets. WTF!
They could all hold their breath and stamp their tiny feet.
They could make real gestures!
Empty gestures do less damage than real gestures, so there's something to be said for clothing-based virtue-signalling.
“Surely they need not resort to making empty gestures. They could make real gestures!”
“How in the world does wearing black "push back" against sexual assault?”
You don’t understand the power of rallying for a common purpose? One day the real gesture will be made.
They're not interested in solving the problem, because they're not interested in the women - many among them - who aided and abetted the men.
It's therefore just another political power play that we should all avoid falling for - particularly those of us who want to do something about the problem.
It's all ribbons, pussy hats, and coordinated outfits with these people. If they weren't outraged about this, they'd be wearing pro-DACA pins or green ribbons as a protest against building the wall.
Actual effort? Taking a costly stand in support of your principles? Not this crowd.
What's wrong with bermuda shorts and a tee shirt. That's what I wear for everything.
One day the real gesture will be made.
Some day my prince will come....
Inga: "You don’t understand the power of rallying for a common purpose? One day the real gesture will be made."
LOL
Oh yes, like Michelle Obama's "important" "Bring Back Our Girls" gesture....which resulted in....the continued sexual enslavement of young Christian girls in Africa by Inga's beloved islamists.
And, by the way, WE MUST ALLOW those types to come here! Preferably in numbers large enough to change the American electorate in the dems advantage.
'One day the real gesture will be made'.
It was, the rapist enabler Hillary was rejected.
@ Unknown
What happened to the "Stable Genius" post?
Same thing happened to me - maybe Google didn't like the content.
Black Philly councilwoman blames Asian shopkeepers for black crime.
Will the Democrat Party Men wear black shirts and black ties?
Just no one wear blackface.
I don't care what the women (or men) wear to SOTU. But one area where women have always ceded power inadvertently is their desire to stand out in a crowd, in business or at a cocktail party, by the color, cut, or flamboyance of their clothes.
Men have known for centuries what military dress taught them: one stands out by one's visage, or one's actions, or one's words in a battle or at a cocktail party (or at a SOTU). The brave and the mighty have usually been willing to start with the same dark uniform (or dark suit or simple black tuxedo, as the case may be), and "win" the room or the war by one's actions, not by distinguishing oneself by the color or cut of one's clothes. Naval officers know it. David Boies with his closet of nothing but dark blue suits, knows it.
Some variety has always been permitted of course. The addition of medals or shoulder boards to connote rank or experience, for example. But in the end, the dark gray suit and the simple black tuxedo, like the military uniform that preceded them, is a more powerful statement of power and confidence than garish or colorful suits or dresses.
I want all the GOP gals to wear Harvey-Clinton-Weiner 2020 T-shirts.
If a man were to show up in one of those getups, we all know it would be Lindsey Graham.
"You don’t understand the power of rallying for a common purpose? One day the real gesture will be made."
Like campaigning to fix the inner-cities for seventy years.
Speaking of Alito, what if the people who always wear black went bright?
Perfect photo at the link.
"But that only underscores that women have a great privilege here — a color privilege in fashion."
But aren't you missing the corresponding great male privilege -- to be able to dress in a dark suit without it being perceived as a deliberate choice and without it meaning anything. A woman can dress in a dark suit, too, of course, but it will be seen as a statement and in contrast to the bright colors she might have worn. Perhaps she will be perceived as dowdy rather than serious. Or maybe her sober attire will be taken as an implicit criticism of other women who are more 'frivolously' dressed. And if the woman is prominent enough, then there are more issues -- which designer dressed her? And what does THAT mean? And was it outrageously expensive? How much of the commentary will be about all that rather than what she said and did?
Does that really all add up to a form of freedom and privilege? As a male, to me it feels more like the opposite.
Trump should just tweet storm the state of the union.
It would be neat for Trump to put Juanita Broderick in the visitors' gallery in a Jezebel red outfit. The visual contrast would tell a story. Perhaps he could also invite Rose McGowan. Trump could publicly praise those Democratic members who returned contributions from Harvey. Maybe he could even praise Hillary for renouncing her long term friendship with Harvey. Rose could wear a black bathrobe to the event to symbolize her solidarity with the women of Washington.
"Inga said...
You don’t understand the power of rallying for a common purpose? One day the real gesture will be made."
Right! I mean it's been twenty years and counting with Bill CLinton. What's a few more days, right #IngaKnew?
Like campaigning to fix the inner-cities for seventy years.
With Democrats Summer of Recovery is always next summer.
Will Nancy and her First Class Seat Thief show up with their gang of corruptocrats and a big BAG of golden calf statues? They could back-slap each other and hand them out and pretend the whole thing is an award show.
You don’t understand the power of rallying for a common purpose?
Nazis, Commies, all the same! What was it Mussolini said about England being a nation of shopkeepers while Italy went for national greatness and reviving the glory that was Rome by unifying and conquering?
The individual is nothing unless his freedom is sacrificed to a common purpose! Well, I figure that I have waited 14 billion years or so to be born, and I am going to be dead for trillions of trillions of years, and this short time on this planet is too precious to surrender to a group of power hungry “do gooders” who want to tell me how to live.
That’s the real difference between the American right and the left. That’s why we can’t really tell the difference between Nazis and Commies, except, you know, the Nazis have better tailors.
Go Big or Go Home.
This might give the cameras fits.
PDM
True, a suit jacket is nothing but a military tunic with the collar turned down.
I hope someone shows up wearing a Vantablack cape and sucks all the light out of the room. Have to pay Anish Kapoor though.
"Inga said...
One day the real gesture will be made."
How many more girls will Bill Clinton and Bob Menendez rape before you and your crew do something #IngaKnew?
You want men in bright colors? Here you go.
Democrat women had a chance to take a courageous stand against sexual assault. They passed on that opportunity because it wasn't politically convenient. Hard to take them seriously now.
Shh! Curious George, you are wrecking Inga’s moment of moral superiority with those unhelpful facts!
Maybe Inga can explain to us why Bill Clinton never finished Oxford!
Rand Paul should show up in neon blue.
When asked he can respond it's to protest violence against Republican Congresspeople.
“Tom Cotton in a Yellow Zoot Suit. McConnell in Flamingo”
Probably the only thing that could make me watch a SOTU.
I thought pussy hats were empty and stupid. Same with the Golden Globe black gown "protest" or whatever it was. More of the same.
Funny how Linda Bloodsworth Thompson, who was a close friend of the Clintons from Little Rock, and had made it big in Hollywood warned “Top Democrats!” about Harvey, but not Hillary, because, well Hillary was shocked! Shocked!
If it were Hillary giving this SOTU, (oooh the thought of it! #THINGSNEVERGOINGTOHAPPEN) these same women would be in the kind of unified ecstasy that Inga dreams of.
Lemmings!
The black is about mourning over an election they lost a year ago. Nothing more.
Trump - walked thru a dressing room.
Bill Clinton - Sexually assaulted and raped campaign workers, among other dirty deeds.
They really should wear those outfits from The Handmaid's Tale.
Funny how The two words "HARVEY" and "WEINSTEIN" have been vanished from the MSM lexicon.
Kevin, that is brilliant!
Women have minds made largely of fuzz.
Weird that fashion designers have re-imagined the business suit to be more of a gift wrapping for their little catamite models! Not, you know, something that makes a middle-aged man you would never want to see naked, look presentable.
When I try to comment on the previous post, Trump & Dems in the cabinet room, it says "Page does not exist."
I thought it was fascinating theater, but now I know it was all a dream.
Professional lady said...
I thought pussy hats were empty and stupid.
Actually, it was what was inside the hats that was empty and stupid.
Tim Gilliland said...
Gee I don't see why the men can't wear bright colors to the SOTU show. I mean, why should women get color privilege?"
Women didn't have color privilege before the 19th century. Or makeup or wig or high heel privilege either, as any Rubens portrait will show you. Wearing brightly colored clothes was not gender privilege but class privilege. Male and female peasants wore drab colors. House servants and footmen did not - they often wore their master's and mistresses' cast off clothing, but the custom was to dress house servants in clothes that were slightly out of style, so nobody would mistake them for aristocrats.
Trousers and dark suits for men are really the longest running fashions in the modern world. Trousers replaced knee breeches in the 19th century (and, in France, during the Revolution) and never went out of style, because men found them practical. Consider all the changes women's clothes have gone through since 1800.
The idea of women wearing black dresses to go out on the town would have seemed ludicrous before the 20th century. Black was for mourning only. Looks like we're returning to that.
They like to make a statement through silly exercises such as this because they have nothing important to say.
Dear Ann,
Tell me you don't really want to see one of the men show up dressed like the models you pictured. What's next? Shorts?
A concerned reader
Exactly, mockturtle.
Male peacocks have the wonderful plumage. Female humans have the wonderful plumage. Nature's Choice... Uh, choice.
That said, #SheKnew, but profited from painting men with broad, sweeping strokes for political, financial, social, and Democrat progress.
Wear big hats with veils
I hope the D women DO all wear black for the sake of symmetry: Hollywood is politics for the stupid, Washington is show business for the ugly.
PS: That wasn't very nice, was it?
Rand and Steve Scalice should show up wearing BERNIE BROS WANT TO KILL ME T-shirts.
Stop the leftwing violence.
Grassley could wear his signature red vest.
It's mourning in America
The Reagan Revolution was Federalist Society James Madison neckties and red braces (suspenders).
The Reagan years brought back the tasteful Ivy League Anglo American clothing style, of course college kids dialed it up to 11 with "The Preppy Handbook" ape shit extreme. College kids always amp it up to 11, remember student Hillary's clown pants?
I saw Halle Bette wearing black and it was pushing something UP not back. Many of their outfits made me think about sex but that’s standard Hollywood dress code. They were sending a message all right. Like modern art, if there’s no one there to explain it then the message ain’t got through.
“Why would you sacrifice your biggest power to stand out at this event where you're stuck sitting in a big group while somebody else talks?”
Inga replied: “They aren’t sacrificing their power at all. Wearing black at the Golden Globes was a pushback regarding sexual assault and harassment, it’s being done in a similar vein at the SOTU. Trump has at least 20 women who have made allegations of sexual assault and groping against him.”
The problem there is that only Democratic members of Congress are giving up their color privilege, ceding the playing field to the Republican members. The Democratic women are intentionally going to disappear into a sea of men. All because some men are sexual predators, and others are just cads around women. Two things distinguish this situation from the Golden Globes ceremony. First, all the women there protested together. Here, the invisible (because they blend into the sea of males) half will be invisibly protesting, while the non-protesting half will be even more visible. And second, there won’t be a red carpet, where the admiring audience can marvel at the daring or tailoring of the women’s dresses, as they progress by, one by one, for the cameras. Instead, there will just mostly be a sea of darkly clad people, mostly male, but some female, and a bunch of Republican women in their bright outfits sticking out.
Mitch McConnell's face, in that Obama State of the Union/Congress photo, says it all. Surprisingly easy to spot.
Dem women finally coming out against Bill Clinton?
They love him. They hate him. He was good for their career. Acting. Genius!
Can't they wear their pink pussy hats?
One interesting thing about the differences in male and female office dress is "female privilege." Woman are "allowed" to wear a far wider ranges of colors and patterns than men in the corporate world.
My ex-wife went suit shopping with me a few times when I was doing corporate psychology. She stopped because she always thought that a new suit I was considering looked just like several other ones I had.
The advantage to having such a narrow range of clothing options (e.g., black, grey and blue, brown if you are Ronald Reagan) is that you notice subtleties in cloth, drape and color much more. At about the middle of my consulting career, I could pretty much tell where a man bought his suit, how much he paid and how well it was professionally tailored.
Ann Althouse said: "If Trump did that, everyone would interpret that, and I can tell you want the interpretation would be: He can't do it, he's afraid, he's narcissistic, he has tremors, he can't stick to the script, he's got Alzheimer's, etc. etc."
That's what they will say anyway. What's the diff?
Last year it was white dresses.
"Washington (CNN)Democratic women in Congress made an impression Tuesday evening as they sat in the audience for President Donald Trump's joint address to Congress.
Many of the 66 Democratic women representatives and delegates who make up the House Democratic Women's Working Group wore white clothing, dubbed "suffragette white" in a nod to the women's rights movement in the early 1900s, which encouraged its supporters to dress in white as a representation of purity."
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/28/politics/democratic-women-wear-white-donald-trump-speech/index.html
Dennis Kucinich could have got away with a colorful suit.
Maybe they can save a place for Tom Wolfe in the gallery.
First of all, no man walks like that.
I would just like to say that it is my conviction
That longer hair and other flamboyant affectations
Of appearance are nothing more
Than the male's emergence from his drab camoflage
Into the gaudy plumage
Which is the birthright of his sex
From HAIR
The advantage to having such a narrow range of clothing options (e.g., black, grey and blue, brown if you are Ronald Reagan) is that you notice subtleties in cloth, drape and color much more. At about the middle of my consulting career, I could pretty much tell where a man bought his suit, how much he paid and how well it was professionally tailored.
Men are more apt to have their clothing tailored than are women. Of course, they tend to wear them longer as a rule
How in the world does wearing black "push back" against sexual assault?
It doesn't, MayBee.
It's stupid, mindless, tedious virtue signalling.
But, it's all they've got.
All the more's the pity.
"Maybe this would work:"
No. No. A thousand times No.
Hillary would have done better wearing dark consistently, yes. She alternatively would have done better wearing skirt suits in her favored colors instead of pantsuits. Skirt suits in dark colors would have been best.
If you're seriously interviewing for a job (and running for President is interviewing for a job), you should take the image you project seriously. Otherwise, your only hope is the other candidates for the job are just as foolish as you are.
If only Aaron Schock were still in Congress. He could be the Peacock.
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