In The Middle
the impact of Aoc‘s STyLE Anna Ferguson explores the style of the youngest woman ever to serve in the US Congress Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez
Since her election in 2018, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has served as a massive inspiration for many – at 29 years old, she is the youngest woman ever to serve in the US Congress. She has an active social media presence, the power of which was evident recently when a stream of her playing Among Us with a group of popular creators captured an audience of over 400,000. It is so refreshing to see a politician actually acting like a human, and this
white pantsuit, bright red lip and gold hoop combo that she wore for her swearing in ceremony is a winning one, and it had a bigger impact beyond just looking great. Throughout history, red lips have been seen as a sign of dubious morality – associated with sexual promiscuity, prostitution or even witchcraft. In the Dark and Middle ages, they were a sign of collaborating with the Devil. Despite this, red lipstick has historically been a favourite of powerful women – Cleopatra, Elizabeth I and the Suffragettes, to name a few. Having been used as a weapon against women, and AOC to wear as she joined the ranks of women that the history books will remember.
and hoop combo has been a staple of Latina culture for centuries, and its association with working-class Latina women has led to racist stereotypes and mockery. AOC’s decision to don her hoops in congress is an impactful one in Trump’s America. Alexandria tweeted after her appearance – “Lip+hoops were inspired by Sonia Sotomayor, who was advised to wear neutral-
Next they
time can
someone tells Bronx girls to take off their hoops, just say they’re dressing like a Congresswoman”.
Of the entire US Congress, only 22% is non-white. By publicly celebrating her heritage against the overwhelmingly white backdrop of Congress, AOC sets a precedent. She is changing the image of what a congress member can look like. As a result, she has had to endure her fair share of racist backlash – Fox News frequently attacks her heritage, with one of its guests, a University of Maryland professor, stating that her “Latin-American values” were going to destroy America. Attempting to conform to appease this bigotry was never an option for AOC, which is what makes her fashion sense so empowering. Society’s need to police the appearance of women is still ever-present. In February, British MP Tracy Brabin was bombarded with sexual comments and accusations of unprofessionalism after wearing a one-shoulder dress to parliament. Young girls Daily Mail posts a new article every day about a different female celebrity’s body. AOC’s loud and proud approach to her appearance is incredibly empowering, and it sends a message to young women that they should choose what own skin – not what a loud white guy on TV says they should wear. . Anna Ferguson
Savage X Fenty and Male Body Diversity Rihanna recently received an abundance of online praise for promoting male body positivity and diversity in her latest collection for her lingerie line, Savage X Fenty. menswear capsule collection, for which she collaborated on with Christian Combs, rapper and son of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs. Fans were excited to see plus-size male models being featured in the Savage X Fenty Vol. 2 fashion show and on the lingerie website. For the last three years, Rihanna has been changing the game in the fashion industry in regards to inclusivity; she has consistently casted models of all sizes, races and gender identities and her underwear sizes range from XS to 4XL. This is a contrast from lingerie brands such as Victoria’s Secret which does not cater to plus-size women and only features very tall and slim models. Fans were excited to see that extends to men. A Twitter user shared screenshots from the Savage X Fenty website of a shirtless Steven Green, US size 2XL, modelling the new Savage X Fenty section on the website. The presence of plus-size male models in the latest Savage X Fenty campaign spurred a conversation about the scarcity of male body diversity in the fashion world. Men from all over the world took to Twitter to vocalise how great it made them feel to see someone who looks like them modelling for a trendy underwear line. For example, Twitter user @codyjacobmusic said “Never in my adult life have I seen a male model that has a similar body type to mine…I feel almost emotional?
The standard male model that we typically see on clothing websites and in magazines is normally tall with a lean and athletic body. Unfortunately, we seldom see placed pressure on men to look like your typical athletic, lean model in order to be models who look like them, this can severely damage their self-esteem and make them feel as though their body is not good enough. As a society, we massively overlook the body image issues experienced by men and the body dysmorphia that can result from a lack of representation in the fashion world, paired with the
Rihanna has broken barriers and encouraged the progression of the fashion industry with her latest lingerie collection. However, it should no longer be considered ground-breaking or be a one-off surprise to see plus-size male models on fashion websites – this should be the norm. The presence of a diverse range of male body types in the fashion industry is essential because this is an accurate representation of the diversity that exists in the real world. It also sends the message to men that and that is perfectly okay – everybody is beautiful in their own way and deserves to feel like it. Men come in all heights, shapes, sizes and races, and this ought to be
world and the importance of introducing greater male body diversity into it. Fiona Western
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