The front page of today’s online New York Times -- as part of its coverage of the Democratic National Convention -- has a link to an article about what Michelle Obama wore last night. The piece, “Michelle Obama’s Dress in High Definition” by Eric Wilson, is featured alongside stories such as “Democrats Make Pitch to Middle Class.”
Apparently Obama’s outfits will always be “news.” According to Twitter, Obama’s speech peaked at 28,003 tweets per minute, nearly two times Mitt Romney’s RNC speech (14,289 tweets per minute). While most of the country was, hopefully, discussing the political issues addressed last night, a lot of people were still talking about her physical appearance – how toned her arms were, who designed her dress (Tracy Reese), how much her shoes cost, even her choice in nail polish color. Despite the fact that women’s issues were at the forefront of the discussions last night and speakers included prominent female icons such as Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, women’s equality activist Lilly Ledbetter, and war hero Tammy Duckworth, one of the top stories is still what Michelle Obama wore.
The NYT isn’t alone on this one. Many articles and blogs have given details and opinions on Obama’s outfit, as well as the red Oscar de la Renta dress worn by Romney during her speech at the Republican National Conference last week.
Wilson wrote, “Like it or not, this election season has shown that clothes are probably more important than words, or at least a more effective means of communication.”
However I’ve yet to find any big stories about how much President Obama’s tie cost or who designed the suit worn by the keynote speaker San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro. Why does the media devote this much attention to the fashion choices of women in politics, but never to their male counterparts?
A lot of people found the First Lady’s speech last night to be incredibly powerful and moving. Who really cares what she was wearing?
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