Research on my Nancy Pelosi paper is going well. I realized that many comments made on Nancy Pelosi that have nothing to do with her political agenda have something to do with her clothing and appearance. As mentioned in my previous blog post, an image of Pelosi on MSNBC had a caption that explained who designed the pantsuit she was wearing in the image. I found that really odd, especially since we don't see the same treatment for other male politicians' images.
Pelosi does have a reputation of dressing well, a quality that isn't often attributed to other female politicians like Hillary Clinton. She's even been called a "babe" by Elle Magazine. But is this necessarily a bad thing? Does it hurt Pelosi's credibility as competition politician?
A lot of the comments made on Pelosi's appearance are randomly scattered in articles pertaining to her, but when the focus is on her looks rather than her agenda, this coverage tends to remain in the style sections of the newspaper or fashion segments of television shows. The amount of time spent on covering Pelosi's suit designers or jewelry does not seem to overshadow her job as House Speaker.
Most reporters do not focus solely on her fashion sense, but do like to highlight it. Why? Maybe it's because they know that certain members of the public are interested in stories like these. There is probably a significant portion of the public that would like to know who designs Pelosi's pantsuits and dresses and created her jewelry. This brings up the question of who controls news content: the media or the public? Logically, the media controls the news they release, but I do believe that a significant portion of the news is released because the media knows that the public wants to hear stories like that.
So generally so far, it seems that the portrayal of Nancy Pelosi by the media, in regard to her appearance, is sexist, yet does not detract from her job. We still hear about her political stances and the issues at hand. We aren't overwhelmed with talk about her Armani suits or jewelry designers. However, I do think that media coverage of Nancy Pelosi that criticizes her tone of voice and emotional state DO detract from her authority and competency in government. But that explanation is for another blog post.
Pelosi does have a reputation of dressing well, a quality that isn't often attributed to other female politicians like Hillary Clinton. She's even been called a "babe" by Elle Magazine. But is this necessarily a bad thing? Does it hurt Pelosi's credibility as competition politician?
A lot of the comments made on Pelosi's appearance are randomly scattered in articles pertaining to her, but when the focus is on her looks rather than her agenda, this coverage tends to remain in the style sections of the newspaper or fashion segments of television shows. The amount of time spent on covering Pelosi's suit designers or jewelry does not seem to overshadow her job as House Speaker.
Most reporters do not focus solely on her fashion sense, but do like to highlight it. Why? Maybe it's because they know that certain members of the public are interested in stories like these. There is probably a significant portion of the public that would like to know who designs Pelosi's pantsuits and dresses and created her jewelry. This brings up the question of who controls news content: the media or the public? Logically, the media controls the news they release, but I do believe that a significant portion of the news is released because the media knows that the public wants to hear stories like that.
So generally so far, it seems that the portrayal of Nancy Pelosi by the media, in regard to her appearance, is sexist, yet does not detract from her job. We still hear about her political stances and the issues at hand. We aren't overwhelmed with talk about her Armani suits or jewelry designers. However, I do think that media coverage of Nancy Pelosi that criticizes her tone of voice and emotional state DO detract from her authority and competency in government. But that explanation is for another blog post.
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