"The current issue of Vogue features a portrait of the mayoral contender Christine C. Quinn standing on the steps of the New York Public Library with a wind-swept lift to her pageboy, wearing beige stilettos and a cobalt blue sheath designed by Carolina Herrera.
The look says Determined Ladylike, and what follows to fortify the message is an excerpt from her coming memoir 'With Patience and Fortitude,' in which she intersperses the story of the vote to legalize gay marriage in New York State with anecdotes about fierce budget negotiations she was simultaneously conducting on the City Council, all of which preceded her search for a wedding dress." (23)
Bellafante, Gina. "A Cloudy Revelation From a Mayoral Candidate" New York Times May 19, 2013.
Much of this article centers around the continuing issues women politicians have finding the balance between being political and being ladylike (or being seen as both/either); it's a shame that those are still seen as mutually exclusive. In this lead-in and many paragraphs after, it's all about "the costume changes [that] have been varied enough that it has been easy to regard the City Council speaker as the Cindy Sherman of our political class," presumably citing that artist's use of clothing, masks, makeup, and other aesthetic modifiers to comment on gender roles. Would you call the look above "Determined Ladylike"? Why not just determined (why do we still say "women politicians")?
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| New York Mayoral hopeful Christine C. Quinn, in her so-called "Determined Ladylike" persona. Photo: Mikael Jansson for Vogue, 2013. |
Bellafante, Gina. "A Cloudy Revelation From a Mayoral Candidate" New York Times May 19, 2013.
Much of this article centers around the continuing issues women politicians have finding the balance between being political and being ladylike (or being seen as both/either); it's a shame that those are still seen as mutually exclusive. In this lead-in and many paragraphs after, it's all about "the costume changes [that] have been varied enough that it has been easy to regard the City Council speaker as the Cindy Sherman of our political class," presumably citing that artist's use of clothing, masks, makeup, and other aesthetic modifiers to comment on gender roles. Would you call the look above "Determined Ladylike"? Why not just determined (why do we still say "women politicians")?