Sarah Palin's wardrobe firestorm

I defer to wisdom from CNN's Campbell Brown



...and the wisdom of the great Melissa McEwan.

It's no secret that you should "Dress for the job you want, not the job you have." Well, Palin is dressing to look Presidential, so it's understandable that she wants to look sharp. Not only that, as a woman in the public eye, she HAS to look sharp.

Throughout this campaign season, the press has made it abundantly clear that it won't be cutting female politicians any slack. Article after article was written about Hillary's pantsuits, the 'is-it-there-or-not' cleavage and the choice of wardrobe colors (did that blue really flatter her?). And forget the clothes, was Clinton even HOT enough to be President? Believe it or not, it was a concern some pundits had.... Rush Limbaugh (professional asshole) wrote an entire article about Hillary, "Does Our Looks-Obsessed Culture Want to Stare at an Aging Woman?"

So needless to say, there's pressure to look flawless. Palin's already been subject to scrutiny for outdated hair or for simply appearing as she is!

However, as McEwan and Brown both point out, we can acknowledge the sexist double standard but still point out the hypocrisy that Ms. Small Town, "Real" America, Hockey Mom, Average Joe-loving Sarah Palin shops at stores (and with expense accounts) that in NO WAY reflect the average American experience.

Yes, woman are held to unfair standards but Palin dropped a LOT of cash ($150,000 over the course of 2 months) on clothes from top designers while Michelle Obama rocked a White House Black Market dress for less than $200.

And if they were just two women living their life, that information would be none of my concern.

However, Palin's campaign crux is that she sees America the way YOU do ('you' being, middle class, small town folk) and her actions continually speak otherwise.

Besides, if I were a donor to McCain's campaign (hahahah, perish the thought) I'd be just a lil' pissy that she couldn't have shopped a few sale racks.

Update: Just found a great post from Echidne on this issue.

Sunday Spotlight

Kristin Herout is my hero.

The 23-year-old graduate student and professional photographer is replicating advertisements from Cosmopolitan, Elle and other women’s fashion magazines using “curvy” and “realistic” women to accompany a scholarly paper on the subject.

“Basically, I just want people to see what it would be like if plus-size models were represented similarly to slim models,” said Herout

Read the whole thing here.

America the Beautiful - documentary

Ignore the corny intro from these two female anchors ... the story is interesting

A bone to pick

I was shopping online today at Macy's in the "junior plus" section. First of all, the "regular" juniors section features pages and pages of clothes, while junior plus gets maybe two. That is lame.

Also, when I go to the junior plus page, I exepct to see junior plus-size models.

For the record, these......



... are not plus size juniors.

Just saying.

Feminist blogs made a difference

Charming right? Feministing alerted me to this sick excuse for "fashion" last night and I wrote an angry letter this morning.

If you want to write to them too, the address is:

questions@davidandgoliathtees.com

My letter:

Dear David & Goliath clothing company,

I had never heard of your company before, but I'll never forget the brand now. And I'll be sure never to buy so much as one hat from your company after I see you sell products like this.

What crack team thought a shirt saying, "No means No-- well, maybe if I'm drunk," would be a great slogan for a womens/juniors t-shirt? If you respond to this e-mail, I'd really like someone to tell me... What about rape makes it ripe for parody? What about a horrible, violent crime that leaves girls at risk for depression, eating disorders, cutting, and suicide is so HILARIOUS?

Raping an unconscious woman against her will is not funny. It's a sick and prevalent crime-- especially on college campuses. Congratulations, David and Goliath clothing company for taking a widespread, heinous crime and making it ambiguous, as if there's something "humorous" to be found in rape. I feel horrible for all the other people browsing your site who may stumble upon this thoughtless message which demeans their experience and re-victimizes them over again.

I will be sure to pass on your "error of judgment" to other online shoppers,
Ms. XXXX

Exciting news!!!!!

Just an hour or two ago, I decided I'd blog on this, and tried to click my link back to the page showing the shirt-- Well now if you click the link to see the t-shirt, you are instead redirected back to the main page of David & Goliath Clothing company. They have removed the shirt from the site!!! Most likely thanks to feministing.com and the many, many letters they helped generate!

We may have won this battle!!!

Via.

Ads that annoy

From Express:

I noticed this in my local shopping mall. The men's ad was the same but the women's said "longer, leaner, leggier" --- Why is it that men can look, casual, comfortable and cool and women must appear thin, tall, sexy? No comfort for them I guess. Anyone else care to help pinpoint why this ad annoys me so much?






Plus these women just look pissed.

What I don't get is that according to the Express website, men's shirts will go up to XXL (women's tops only come in XS-Large!). Women's pants only up to size 12 but men's up to 36 (in some stores 38).

How can you make a XXL for men but only go to a Large in women's sizes? I guess if Express ran the world any woman deemed "extra large" wouldn't get to buy clothes. And besides, have you ever held up a "large" women's size shirt from Express? Large by what definition of the word? Large for an 4 year old?

Personal rant: I'm a plus size gal myself but can often buy a Large or XL at mainstreem stores like The Limited, Old Navy, Gap etc but NEVER at Express.

Also- as I began to surf more around their website, I just noticed more irony.



I guess color variation is fabulous, except when it comes to the range of models you use. The real ad copy should read:

"Blonde. Brunette. But always caucasian."

There's an online video of their models and there is exactly one black female model and in a very "blink and you'll miss her" capacity.

Pointing out the hypocrisy

They interview Ann from Feministing-- awesome!
Note to Southwest: I will NEVER fly your airline AGAIN.

Your seat cushion can double as a cover for your slutty, shameful body

Feministing broke this unreal story.

Apparently this outfit is so offensive that Southwest felt they could remove this woman, Kyla Ebbert from the plane to lecture her on her innapropriate clothing.

She arrived at Lindbergh Field wearing a white denim miniskirt, high-heel sandals, and a turquoise summer sweater over a tank top over a bra.

Really how dare a woman wear a skirt and tank top in 100+ degree weather. The flight attendedant gave Ebbert a chance to change but she was without luggage and had to fight for her right to stay aboard the plane with legs showing.

Ebbert says several flight attendants overheard the conversation and, after an embarrassing walk down the aisle, she took her seat and spread a blanket over her lap. She kept her composure until the plane landed, when she called her mother and broke down.

It just makes me sick. Visit feministing for more including a great photo of what Southwest airlines used to consider appropriate dress for flight attendants --- as one commenter points out-- I guess it's okay for woman to dress provactively as long as it's corporate (read: men) set the rules.

Baby girls with body image-- HOW CUTE *not*

Good to know we're starting with this stereotypical crap early.

Get it... cause it's for a girl, so it's image/fat obsessed and in pink with glittery, twirly letters.

If I ever have a baby girl, I am not putting her in this. Why can't we have a little WONDER WOMAN onesies for our girls? Why are we making this idea 'cute' when girls younger and younger feel physically inadequate and think they need to diet? I mean seriously-- I just read something yesterday about 8-year-old girls DIETING!!

8 FREAKIN' YEARS OLD!!!

I know I'm taking this too seriously (I was in a pissy mood when I saw this at Target) but I'm just not amused. No baby BOY onesie said "Does this diaper give me a lopsided bulge?" So why are baby GIRL outfits putting this body image crap out there?

This isn't really anything to freak about I guess-- I just find it stupid. I should start a business for baby feminists where they can buy EMPOWERING onesies -- HA

Sorry for poor pic quality-- they came from my cell phone.

A better alternative...

Naughty Nurse

I agree that the costumes are misogynistic but not sure how I feel about the bigger controversy. I mean if we start fighting these battles are we gonna spend all our time picketing Playboy and Halloween costume outlets too?

Maybe I'm wrong....Any thoughts?

Video clip