Women's Image Globally

PERSPECTIVES6 February 25, 2010 � Mount Holyoke News

It is curious to notice the role thatfashion and physical appearance play inpolitics. How many times have we wit-nessed the influence of looks on the elec-tion results in the United States? Duringa political campaign both the candidateand their spouse have to pay close atten-tion to themessages they convey to votersthrough their image. From the day BarackObama publicly announced his decision torun in the 2008 presidential election, theentire Obama family came under close ob-servation. Michelle Obama’s fashion tastehas been scrutinized by the national andglobal media.

Through all these different majorpublic appearances, Mrs. Obama’s tastefor fashion has either been criticized orpraised by fashionistas. Some have com-mended her choice of bold colors andsleeveless cuts that highlight her image.Critics have exaggerated her love forcardigans by saying that they are too ca-sual or inexpensive for a first lady. How-ever, there is a general consensus that sheis indeed, a fashion icon.

When Mrs. Obama began campaign-ing for her husband in 2006, she tried toavoid wearing suits because she didn’twant to come off as dominant or overpow-ering. Nor did she want to follow the trendof the typical political wife attire. Instead,Mrs. Obama began setting her own trendby mixing and matching dresses, cardi-gans and accessories from stores such asJ. Crew to designers like Jason Wu.

The 5 ft 10-inch first lady, who is ru-mored not to have a fashion stylist, knowsexactly what to wear to accentuate her fig-ure. During her 2008 debut appearance on

the ABC morning talk show, The View,Mrs. Obamawore a black-and-white floraldress with no sleeves. A fewmonths later,the sleeveless purple sheath Maria Pintodress she wore on stage for the Demo-cratic presidential nomination was an-other big win. Fast forward to thehistorical inauguration ball in Jan. 2009,where the first lady looked absolutely ra-diant in her one-shouldered ivory gowndesigned by Jason Wu.

Nationally, Mrs. Obama has beencompared to Jackie Onassis, one of themost fashionable American first ladieswhose fashion legacy continues today.She has also been compared to Frenchfirst lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, a formersupermodel. When these two ladies metfor the first time in Strasbourg during the2009 NATO conference, the “Fashion po-lice” of Hollywood entertainment site E!Online did not hesitate to name this asthe “European summit fashion” event.Mrs. Obama donned a floral print JasonWu necktie coat over a fitted dress andBruni was spotted in a similar ChristianDior necktie suede coat—both first ladieswore their outfits with elegance.

Mrs. Obama has been listed on sev-eral best-dressed lists and featured on nu-merous covers for fashion magazines.Whether she is touring the world with thepresident, hosting state dinners or spend-ing time with her daughters, she staystrue to the colors, prints and cuts that notonly accentuate her figure but also giveher an impeccable public image. She candefinitely teach fashion enthusiasts a les-son or two.

Fashion lessons from the First LadyBY CRYSTAL BOATENG ’10STAFF WRITER

During the 2005 electoral campaign, the Chris-tian Democratic Party in Germany proposed asurprising candidate for the office of chancel-

lor: Angela Merkel, the head of the party at that time.Merkel was not simply the first Eastern German runningfor office—she was also the first woman to do so.

Merkel’s candidacy caused a huge stir in the Germanmedia, and not only for political reasons. Journalists werequick to make fun of the “plain” candidate, often usingolder pictures of her to prove their point. Coming from anatural sciences background with a PhD in physics,Merkel had adopted a fashion style defined by the practi-cal rather than the chic.

When it became clear that Merkel was going to be aserious candidate, her campaign team completelychanged her image. Hiring a well-known stylist and fash-ion advisor, they transformed her hair from plain andstraight to voluminous and wavy. Her wardrobe changedfrom simple suits in somber colors to vibrant, feminine en-sembles. From hardly ever wearing make-up, she startedto apply professional business make-up daily. In short,Merkel was transformed into the poster image of a femalepolitician.

The German public loved those changes. Merkel’s newlook and modest appearance made her the icon of manybusinesswomen in Germany. Now, when she attends pub-lic events, her dresses and suits are widely discussed inmagazines. Not only do fashionmagazines love to discussher style, but political magazines also focus on her apparelas a metaphor for her politics.

At times, this causes controversies. In the summer of

2005, a journalist edited a picture of Merkel at a summergala to remove a sweat stain on her dress. This tweak trig-gered a huge debate and enraged German female leaders.They claimed that a huge portion of Merkel’s media atten-tion was focused on her outer appearance rather than onher political work. The journalist responsible for the al-terations apologized publicly, as did his editor.

Interestingly enough, the second big controversyaround Merkel’s image also came with a picture. At theopening of the new opera in Oslo in 2008, Merkel wore anevening gown with deep cleavage. All news stations inGermany aired pictures of her during primetime hour,

asking whether the dress was appropriate for a woman inher position. Merkel’s press speakers downplayed the in-cident, responding that the chancellor was entertained bythemedia attention but would keep picking her outfits ac-cording to her own taste.

A year later, another female politician from Merkel’sparty used this picture together with another photo show-ing her in a low-cut dress. Their campaign slogan read,Wir haben mehr zu bieten (We can offer more). Despiteher humorous approach when the dress was discussed bythe media, Merkel condemned this campaign poster as

tasteless and had her colleague take them down. Theposter was generally criticized for objectifying women inpolitics.

In 2009, Merkel led an especially unspectacular cam-paign. Instead of building on the image of the strong, prag-matic woman she had used in her first campaign, she fledinto stereotypical women’s images. She avoided politicalconfrontation and only gave interviews in home decora-tion and entertainment magazines. She also distancedherself from any controversial political issues and did notengage in direct debate with the other (male) candidates.Her messages were surprisingly unpolitical—she and herelectoral campaign team tried to perpetuate the image ofthe smiling, nice lady running for office who could be amother figure for all Germans.

Even though this tactic brought her victory, it washarmful to women in politics and democracy. By relyingheavily on an overly feminine image that wasmainly builton stereotypes associated with female politicians, such asshying away from controversial debates with her male op-

ponents, Merkel reaf-firmed a glass ceilingthat many had hoped tohave suffered substan-tial cracks after herbeing in office for fouryears.

Her unwillingnessto take stances on im-portant topics made italso hard for voters to

inform themselves. Was she going to identify stronglywith her party’s objectives?What were hermain goals forher new term? These questions andmanymore remainedunanswered until her acceptance speech.

Ever since then, Merkel has refused to answer ques-tions on hot topics. Even thoughMerkel’s new appearanceis now not the most discussed aspect about her, her newpolitics are harmful for the future of women in leadershippositions.

FIRST FEMALE CHANCELLOR IN GERMANY:

HER MESSAGES WERE SURPRISINGLY UNPOLITICAL—SHE AND HER ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN TEAM TRIED TO

PERPETUATE THE IMAGE OF THE SMILING, NICE LADYRUNNING FOR OFFICE WHO COULD BE A MOTHER

FIGURE FOR ALL GERMANS.

BY MARION MESSMER ’13STAFF WRITER

Surviving fashion wars,but not political ones

Perspectives second:Layout 1 2/25/10 8:47 PM Page 1

PERSPECTIVES 7February 25, 2010 � Mount Holyoke News

Ukraine’s recentpresidential electionappears to have erased

the demands made by the Ukrainian people in the2004 Orange Revolution. The February election ex-posed the difficulty of keeping up with the revolu-tion’s promises and demonstrated the nation’s splitbetween two opposing political ideologies.

The main candidates in the election, ViktorYanukovych and primeminister Yulia Tymoshenko,represent two different directions for Ukraine. Ty-moshenko resembles the archetype of the Ukrain-ian peasant girl, with her trademark folksy hairbraids. She was a key figure in the Orange Revolu-tion and to this day represents Ukrainian national-ism. In contrast, Yanukovych has made clear hisdesire to ally Ukraine closely with Russia, the na-tion’s ex-ruler. In this way, the candidates in theelection symbolized the debate between Ukrainiannationalists and those sympathising with Russianinterests.

The winner of the 2010 election, Yanukovych,was the immediate cause and villain of the OrangeRevolution. As an ex-communist with explicit ties tothe Russian government, he attempted to steal the2004 presidential candidacy from winner ViktorYushchenko. This sparked protests and a new na-tional demand for government run by the people forthe people.

However, Yushchenko soon found that deliver-ing revolutionary change was not as easy as prom-

ising it. Promised reforms, such as removing Soviet-era policies on the privatization of land, were notcarried out. Tensions emerged between Ukraine’sWest and East about the future of the nation andhave not lessened since. The 2008 recession also hitthe country hard, continuously increasing inflation.In the past six months, the value of Ukraine’s cur-rency has halved against the dollar.

Though little changed under the leaders of theOrange Revolution, Ukrainians remain split in theirpolitical beliefs. The recent vote was more or lessdivided betweenwestern and eastern Ukraine, withthe western half going to Tymoshenko and the east-ern to Yanukovych. In this context, strong tensionsstill exist between the Ukrainian people and theRussian government. Many Russian nationalists, forinstance, keep using the expression “na Ukraine”instead of “v Ukraine,” a grammatical statementsuggesting that Ukraine remains a region of Russiarather than a country of its own.

It is unclear what the outcome of the election re-ally means for the country. Tymoshenko has an-nounced that she would be contesting the electionresults, claiming that they were fraudulent.Yanukovych, on the other hand, is trying to speedup his inauguration progress to stymie her investi-gation. These latest dynamics suggest thatYanukovychwill bring back the police-state policiesUkraine suffered under during its time as a Sovietstate.

Ukraine remains divided,as Tymoshenko losespresidential raceBY LAUREN THEURER ’12STAFF WRITER

WWOMENOMEN LLEADERSEADERS WWORLDWIDEORLDWIDE

“I CAN ONLY ENCOURAGEEVERYONE TO TAKE A CLOSELOOK AT THEIR PRACTICES.PREVENTION IS ALWAYSBETTER THAN CURE.”

“OUR CENTRAL OBJECTIVEREMAINS THE SAME. IT ISTHE COMBAT AGAINSTABSOLUTE POVERTY.”

“I WAS ELECTED BY THEWOMEN OF IRELAND,WHO INSTEAD OFROCKING THE CRADLE,ROCKED THE SYSTEM.”

MMYANMARYANMAR (B(BURMAURMA))

NNETHERLANDSETHERLANDS

PPALESTINEALESTINE

MMOZAMBIQUEOZAMBIQUE

SSRIRI LLANKAANKA

IIRELANDRELAND

NNEELIEEELIE KKROESROES

She is currently a Vice President of the EU Commission and was theEuropean Commissioner for Competition with a focus on promotingan impartial business environment in Europe.

AAUNGUNG SSANAN SSUUUU KKYIYI

HHANANANAN AASHWARISHWARI

LLUISAUISA DDIOGOIOGO

CCHANDRIKAHANDRIKA KKUMARATUNGAUMARATUNGA

MMARYARY RROBINSONOBINSON

She is the General Secretary of the National League of Democracy, aBurmese political party, and the winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prizefor her role in the democratic movement in Burma.

She is Mozambique’s current Prime Minister and former minister of fi-nance. She addresses issues of poverty through the overhaul of thehealth, education and employment sectors.

She became the first female President of Ireland in 1990. Robinson wasthe UN High Commissioner for human rights from 1997 to 2002 and is amember of the Elders, a group of world leaders and visionaries over-looking the progress of global politics.

She is an outspoken human rights activist and democracy leader. Shewas also the spokesperson for the Palestinian delegation at the MiddleEast Peace Process of 1991-1993.

She won two elections as the first female president of Sri Lanka from1994 to 2005 and is committed to organizing women leaders globally toaddress issues of social injustice.

Yulia Tymoshenko, one of the main candidates inUkraine’s recent presidential election.

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