Fashioning Politics and Protests: New Visual Cultures of Feminism in the United States 3031162269, 9783031162268

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PALGRAVE STUDIES IN FASHION AND THE BODY

Fashioning Politics and Protests New Visual Cultures of Feminism in the United States

Emily L. Newman

Palgrave Studies in Fashion and the Body

Series Editors

Jane Tynan Department of Art and Culture, History and Antiquity, Faculty of Humanities Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Amsterdam, The Netherlands Suzannah Biernoff Department of History of Art Birkbeck, University of London London, UK

Palgrave Studies in Fashion and the Body publishes research that offers a fresh perspective on the contemporary and historical significance of fashion as a bodily practice and cultural industry. A vibrant and growing field, fashion studies touches on disciplines such as art, film, history, design, sociology, literature, politics, geography and anthropology. The series explores modes of representation that fashion has taken historically, but also considers the cultural contexts for new directions, at a time when the fashioned body is increasingly implicated in the negotiation of individual and collective identities. By following new circuits of production and consumption the series highlights the range of social and political forces shaping fashion practices today. Looking to recent developments in new materialisms, medical humanities, disability studies, the posthuman, intermediality, decolonial and pluriversal perspectives, books in the series consider fashion’s role in anticipating new cultural transformations.

Emily L. Newman

Fashioning Politics and Protests New Visual Cultures of Feminism in the United States

Emily L. Newman Department of Liberal Studies Texas A&M University – Commerce Commerce, TX, USA

Palgrave Studies in Fashion and the Body ISBN 978-3-031-16226-8    ISBN 978-3-031-16227-5 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16227-5 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: Mimi Haddon / Getty Images This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

For all women who are scared to act out, there are many other ways. Be Brave.

Acknowledgments

Without support, this book would not have been written. Financial support came from Texas A&M University-Commerce, who graciously allowed me to take a Faculty Development Leave in the Fall of 2021, in which the bulk of this text was written. Additionally, they funded my research and helped with the cost of illustrations. I’m extraordinarily grateful to Mark Menaldo, Brad Klypchak, William Kuracina, Cece Gassner, Marci Campbell, and Hannah Jaeger. Further, my editor, Lina Aboujieb, has been fantastically helpful, not only in answering my many questions and pushing me when I was in doubt, but also in actually helping develop the idea for this book. She has shown faith in the project when I questioned everything and is a key reason that I was able to finish this book. I would be remiss in not acknowledging the series editors and the anonymous readers for their useful feedback. Corina Richards designed the amazing illustration for my book that deals with the main thematic elements I have written about fantastically. Additionally, research support was provided by top-notch student Frankie Hausler, who helped extensively with sources and the bibliography. Support and helpful feedback were provided at conferences such as the Talking Bodies, Fourth Biennial, International, Interdisciplinary Conference in Chester, UK, and the College Art Association Annual Conference in New York, both in 2019. Emotional support has come in many ways, and I’m so lucky to have such great friends and family. Emily Witsell has fearlessly edited this work and consistently helps me with my writing and making my ideas stronger. But more than that, she talks me down when I’m panicking and has vii

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ceaseless encouraged me; I’m so grateful to have met her so many years ago. In addition, Sharon Pajka graciously helped me work on a section, I’m lucky for her contributions. Family support has helped keep me strong, and that of course includes my cherished grandfather Thornton Wright and my beloved grandmother June Wright who watches over me from wherever she is now. My brilliant sister Allison Kinney knows how to calm me down better than anyone and is always one text away. She lifts me up and makes me laugh whenever and wherever. My brother-in-law John Kinney always has more interest in my projects than anyone else, which never fails to make me feel like my work is important and valued, something that is better than gold. Lastly, my mother, Laurie Newman, has inspired me to be the independent woman I have become, one who is always fighting for the betterment of the world. Without her grace and humor, I would be nothing. My constant and my partner-in-crime, Fred, keeps me grounded and never fails to put a smile on my face.

Contents

1 Introduction: I Will Not Be the Last  1 2 Redress the Red Dress 31 3 CROWNing a New Kind of Miss America 71 4 When Women Wear the Pants111 5 What’s New Pussyhat?159 6 Epilogue:  The Future is Female … and Intersectional, Gender-Fluid, and Unexpected197 7 Postscript: November 7, 2022223 Bibliography233 Index253

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About the Author

Emily  L.  Newman  is presently Associate Professor of Art History at Texas A&M University-Commerce in the Liberal Studies Department. She completed her PhD at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, where she specialized in contemporary art and gender studies. Her research concerns intersections of contemporary art history, popular culture, and the female body, exemplified by Female Body Image in Contemporary Art: Dieting, Eating Disorders, Self-Harm, and Fatness (2018). Among a variety of articles and book chapters, she has published on such far-reaching topics as meat dresses, Anne of Green Gables, art and violence against women, LOVE sculptures by Robert Indiana, the illustrations of Pride and Prejudice, and the short-lived sitcom Starved about an eating disorder support group. She has co-­edited The Lifetime Network: Essays on “Television for Women” in the 21st Century (2016), ABC Family to Freeform TV: Essays on the Millennial-focused Network and Its Programs (2018), The Hallmark Channel: Essays on Faith, Race and Feminism (2020), and The Food Network Recipe: Essays on Cooking, Celebrity, and Competition (2021), all with Emily Witsell and McFarland Press. Newman has presented at conferences both domestic and international and works closely with students to help them develop their own research and honor’s projects. Her next book project explores contemporary art and how it connects to culture via television programming.

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List of Figures

Fig. 1.1

Fig. 1.2 Fig. 1.3

Fig. 1.4

Fig. 2.1 Fig. 2.2 Fig. 2.3 Fig. 2.4

Chicago Tribune, Picketing the Republican Convention, June 1920, Women of Protest: Photographs from the Records of the National Woman’s Party, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., https://www.loc.gov/resource/ mnwp.276034, accessed May 5, 2022 5 Inez Milholland Poster, 1924, Division of Political and Military History, National Museum of American History 11 Jeanine Michna-Bales, SuffrageDress; images from the photographic essay, 2016–2020, “Standing Together: Inez Milholland’s Final Campaign for Women’s Suffrage” and the book of the same title (MW Editions, 2021). (© Jeanine Michna-Bales)17 Jeanine Michna-Bales, Ready for Battle; images from the photographic essay, 2016–2020, “Standing Together: Inez Milholland’s Final Campaign for Women’s Suffrage” and the book of the same title (MW Editions, 2021). (© Jeanine Michna-Bales)19 Still from “Unfit,” The Handmaid’sTale, Season 3, Episode 8, Hulu, July 19, 2019 33 Adam Fagen, Handmaids in Red, The People’s Filibuster to Stop Trumpcare: Day One at the U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC, June 27, 2017, Creative Commons license 40 Frank Stahlberg, San Valentino – Valentino’s Day, Ara Pacis, Rome, August 1, 2007, Creative Commons license 50 Christian Louboutin Peep Toe Pump, metallic patent leather, 140mm heel, “Altadama” model (red sole), September 27, 2011, Creative Commons license 51 xiii

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Fig. 2.5

Fig. 2.6

Fig. 2.7 Fig. 3.1

Fig. 3.2

Fig. 3.3

Fig. 3.4

Fig. 4.1

Fig. 4.2

Edna Winti, Art Installation Inspired by Métis Artist Jaime Black. At Seaforth Peace Park, Vancouver, today, the National Day for Vigils for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, October 3, 2016, Creative Commons license 56 Lorie Shaull, A Participant in the Greater Than Fear Rally and March in Rochester, Minnesota. The rally and march were held in response to President Trump’s Rally at the Mayo Civic Center in downtown Rochester, October 4, 2018, Creative Commons license 59 Photograph of Walking with Our Sisters Exhibition, The Shingwauk Auditorium at Algoma University, May 3, 2014, Creative Commons license 65 Miss Black America—Saundra Williams, reproduced in Bayer Mack, Miss Black America Pageant 1967–1977 | Black History Documentary | The Black Encyclopedia, Block Starz Music Television https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t94lD1qJQKc, 2014–201872 Alison Saar, Blonde Dreams, 1997, wood, tar, gold leaf, and rope, 95½ × 7 × 6 in (242.6 × 17.8 × 15.2 cm), Private collection. (Copyright Alison Saar. Courtesy of L.A. Louver, Venice, CA) 92 Lorraine O’Grady, Untitled (A Skeptic Inspects Mlle Bourgeoise Noire’s Cape), 1980–1983/2009. Silver gelatin fiber print. 7 × 9 3/8 inches (17.78 × 23.83 cm). (Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York © 2022 Lorraine O’Grady / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York) 103 Lorraine O’Grady, Untitled (Mlle Bourgeoise Noire moves the cape and puts on her gloves), 1980–1983/2009. Silver gelatin fiber print. 9 3/8 × 7 inches (23.83 × 17.78 cm). (Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York © 2022 Lorraine O’Grady / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York) 104 Gage Skidmore, Hillary Clinton, Former Secretary of State speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at the Intramural Fields at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, November 2, 2016, Creative Commons license 112 Chanel Haute Couture Jacket, F/W 1961, November 26, 2017. Jacqueline Kennedy’s pink Chanel suit was a line-to-line copy made by Chez Ninon in New York based on the original design. This is an original haute couture jacket made by Coco Chanel in Paris. Adnan Ege Kutay Collection, Creative Commons license 124

  List of Figures 

Fig. 4.3

Fig. 4.4

Fig. 4.5 Fig. 4.6 Fig. 4.7 Fig. 4.8 Fig. 5.1 Fig. 5.2 Fig. 6.1

Fig. 6.2 Fig. 6.3 Fig. 6.4 Fig. 6.5 Fig. 6.6

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Eileen Costa, Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Smoking Evening Suit, Black wool, satin, and off-white silk crepe, c. 1982, France Gift from The Estate of Tina Chow, 91.255.4, YSL + Halston: Fashioning the 70s, Museum at FIT, Creative Commons License 127 Still from 9 to 5 (1980), showcasing actors Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, and Jane Fonda. Released by Twentieth Century Fox, directed by Colin Higgins, and written by Patricia Resnick (story) and Colin Higgins (screenplay) 134 Still from American Gigolo (1980), showcasing Robert Gere. Released by Paramount Pictures, directed and written by Paul Schrader138 Still from Working Girl (1988), showcasing Melanie Griffith and Joan Cusack. Released by Twentieth Century Fox, directed by Mike Nichols, and written by Kevin Wade 140 Still from Working Girl (1988), showcasing Mealnie Griffith and Harrison Ford. Released by Twentieth Century Fox, directed by Mike Nichols, and written by Kevin Wade 142 Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe, 1928, gelatin silver print, 4 5/8 × 3 9/16 inches, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Gift of the Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation 146 Woman with Pussyhat, March on Washington, January 22, 2017, Creative Commons license 161 Women’s March on Washington, January 21, 2021, Creative Commons license 165 Gage Skidmore, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, June 1, 2019, California Democratic Party State Convention at the George R. Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California (as of 2021, vice president) 198 Liza Cowan, Photo of Alix Dobkin wearing “The Future is Female” T-shirt. (Photo © Liza Cowan 1975) 203 Thomas Roeschlein, Hirsuit, 2019–2022. (Courtesy of Rachel Berks and Otherwild) 208 Plank Like RBG Image 1295, The Outrage Event, March 3, 2019. (Courtesy of The Outrage) 212 Zafi Ahmed, Ciara Renée in a Diana Ross inspired “I’m Gonna Win” shirt by Phenomenal Woman, March 26, 2019, Creative Commons license 217 Corina Richards, This is What a Feminist Looks Like, printmaker and illustrator, 2022 220

CHAPTER 1

Introduction: I Will Not Be the Last

Kamala Harris was on her way to the American vice-presidency, and in accepting the role on November 7, 2020, she proudly affirmed that she may be the first woman vice president, but she “will not be the last.”1 Besides ending President Donald Trump’s reign, this win empowered women everywhere. After all, Harris was the first woman vice president, the first woman of color vice president, first vice president of South Asian descent, and more. As Vanessa Friedman of the New York Times aptly proclaimed, “She is the representation of so many promises finally fulfilled, so many hopes and dreams.”2 As she waved to the crowd that night, she did so in a white pantsuit. This was not a simple or cheap white pantsuit; rather, it was a luxurious Carolina Herrera cream designer suit accessorized with a pussy-bow blouse. Tailored perfectly, she wore a gold bracelet and pearl earrings (her signature choice of jewels) and nude pumps. Harris looked elegant, sophisticated, clean-cut, and most of all, ready to accept her future role. On MSNBC that night, Brian Williams noted the significance of the white 1  Qtd in Vanessa Friedman, “Kamala Harris in a White Suit, Dressing for History,” The New  York Times, November 8, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/08/fashion/ kamala-harris-speech-suffrage.html. 2  Friedman, “Kamala Harris in a White Suit.”

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. Newman, Fashioning Politics and Protests, Palgrave Studies in Fashion and the Body, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16227-5_1

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suit and how recognizable her choice was. And yet, Williams did not go on to explain what it meant, presuming his audience would understand her recalling the symbolic white clothes of the suffragists of the early 1900s, as well as the pantsuit mirroring the choices of Hillary Clinton and elected women officials before her.3 Further, he failed to mention the pussy-bow blouse which was similar to one that working women wore throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and whose name viscerally recalls the pussyhats women wore protesting the election of Donald J. Trump in 2017. On this rather cold night in Delaware, every choice that Harris made referred to the past while nodding toward changes in the future. That suit was not just incredibly fashionable, it was made to withstand the passage of time and exist as important moment in history. One day, many hope that in looking back at this moment, it will be the first of many moments in which women were able to break through and change the course of history. Without fashion and artistic contributions, the events lose a key part of their visibility—which leaders rely on to create an active memory for viewers so that they remember the central tenets and beliefs of their message. Harris was not the only one woman wearing white that night. As the speeches wrapped up, the Harris and Biden families flooded the stage to watch the fireworks. Harris’ young grandnieces came out to celebrate and promptly stole the show. Amara and Leela Ajagu, both under five, showed up in adorable matching long sleeve white lace dresses, white opaque tights, and cool white high tops with black shoelaces. Matching their aunt, they helped remind the audience of the same causes Harris was championing, but with an added dose of cuteness. Further, and perhaps more importantly, they were joyous and celebratory, expressing the exuberance 3  The British were first to be called suffragettes. The -ette suffix at the end of the word feminized the word but was also used to connect them to their diminutive stature, allowing critics to demean the women when they used the term. While most British women embraced the term, wanting to upend its negative connotations, the Americans felt it was too derisive. The Americans preferred the gender-neutral suffragists, though people who worked against women’s suffrage would use the term suffragette in America to belittle the suffragists. See “Did You Know? Suffragist vs Suffragette” National Park Service, September 1, 2020. https:// www.nps.gov/articles/suffragistvssuffragette.htm; see also this article and its accompanying sources, Alice Janigro, “Suffragists or Suffragettes,” Suffrage 100 MA, 2022, https://suffrage100ma.org/resources/did-you-know-resources/suffragists-or-suffragettes/.

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that much of the American public felt as the Democrats regained control of the presidency. It is not surprising, then, that Harris’ sartorial choice that November evening was attention-worthy, with news outlets around the world reporting on her fashion. Besides the discussion of the color of her garment, the pussy-bow blouse drew its own attention. Many reporters referred to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who wore the same type of shirt, with tied pussy-bow echoing the way that men would wear ties, as she significantly challenged the “boys club” of political circles.4 At the same time, the “pussy” in pussy-bow blouse had a particularly American significance as Donald Trump was heard using the harsh slang toward women in the infamous Access Hollywood tape. Shortly after, Melania Trump wore a pussy-bow blouse in public, which cased speculation that this was perhaps her subtle way of speaking out against her husband. But even the smaller choices Harris made are worth exploring. Her oft-­ worn pearl earrings were both generational heirlooms and the type of jewelry preferred by her sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha. Each detail was painstakingly considered by Harris and her staff and meant to mirror the celebratory occasion and the groundbreaking speech. Even her fashion statement is reflected in her words: All the women who worked to secure and protect the right to vote for over a century: 100 years ago with the 19th Amendment, 55 years ago with the Voting Rights Act, and now, in 2020, with a new generation of women in our country who cast their ballots and continued the fight for their fundamental right to vote and be heard. Tonight, I reflect on their struggle, their determination and the strength of their vision—to see what can be unburdened by what has been—I stand on their shoulders.5

4  Friedman, “Kamala Harris in a White Suit”; Oscar Holland, “Why Kamala Harris’ White Suit Speaks Volumes,” CNN.com, November 9, 2020. https://www.cnn.com/style/article/kamala-harris-white-suit/index.html; Darcy Schild, “Kamala Harris Made a Statement by Wearing Head-to-Toe White in a Powerful Suit Silhouette for Her Victory Speech,” Insider.com, November 8, 2020. https://www.insider.com/kamala-harris-white-suit-style-­­ statement-2020-11; and, among others, Eliza Huber, “Every Single Piece of Kamala Harris’ Acceptance Speech Outfit Was Significant,” Refinery29, November 9, 2020. 5  Kamala Harris, “Victory Speech upon Becoming Vice President-Elect”, Chase Center, Wilmington, Delaware, November 7, 2020.

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Harris, in both her fashion and her statement, makes clear that she does not take her position lightly, and acknowledges the great leaders who came before her. Those leaders, specifically the suffragists, paid significant attention to their fashion as well, creating a distinct identity with every item they wore. Colors would come to have important symbolic meeting, pins were worn by those who had spent time in jail, and sashes would publicly share their goals with the public. Djurdja Bartlett explains, “After all, fashion was one of the social vehicles towards female citizenship, just as the suffragette movement was a political vehicle.”6 The U.S. suffragists took their lead from their more established predecessors, the British suffragettes. With an earlier and more visible presence than their American counterparts, the British were influential in their practices.7 Graphic designer and scholar Liz McQuiston elaborates, “The influence of the British campaign was understandable. There was a long tradition of transatlantic relations between the leading feminists of both countries. The American press avidly followed the campaign in Britain.”8 For instance, the suffragettes’ journals and newspapers were circulated in New  York. Additionally, the suffragists adopted their counterparts’ pageants, decorations, and parades, though the Americans kept the focus on gentler and softer images of women, often preferring images of mothers instead of working women (see Fig. 1.1). The suffragists, as seen in this picture from a protest at the Republican convention in June of 1920, are wearing long white gowns. Modest holdovers from the Victorian era, the dresses show little more than hands and wrists, and slivers of a neck or an ankle. The color and modesty work to unify the women, as the dresses themselves vary: some wear skirts and a top, some button all the way down, others have embellished lace, and overall, the quality of the dresses varies. Yet, the details were not the priority; rather, because of the basic similarities in color, length, and shape, the dresses did their job of connecting the women to their interests. The dresses were markedly conservative, which allowed for the American feminists wanted to maintain an image of a good standing 6  Djurdja Bartlett, “Can Fashion Be Defended?” In Fashion and Politics, edited by Djurdja Bartlett (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019), 28. 7  For a full and detailed discussion of the arts and the suffragettes in the UK, see Lisa Tickner, The Spectacle of Women: Imagery of the Suffrage Campaign 1907–1914 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988). 8  Liz McQuiston, ed. Suffrage to She-Devils: Women’s Liberation and Beyond (New York: Phaidon Press, 1997), 60.

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Fig. 1.1  Chicago Tribune, Picketing the Republican Convention, June 1920, Women of Protest: Photographs from the Records of the National Woman’s Party, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., https://www.loc. gov/resource/mnwp.276034, accessed May 5, 2022

woman who was willing to challenge the vote, but not challenge her position as a woman or mother by looking more masculine or defiant. Accompanying their white dresses, the American suffragists wore a sash with the tricolor of purple, white, and yellow. These recognizable suffragist colors mostly come from the British, whose suffrage colors are arguably even better known than that of the United States. The British Emmeline Pankhurst, founder of the Women’s Social Political Union (WSPU) in 1903, helped choose the representative colors. Described by Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence in Votes for Women, a publication that she herself started and edited, “Purple as everyone knows is the royal color, it stands for the royal blood that flows in the veins of every suffragette, the instinct of freedom and dignity … white stands for purity in private hat public life …

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green is the color of hope and the emblem of spring.” She maintained that the suffragettes needed to use the colors to appeal to the public, arguing that “The result of our processions is that this movement becomes identified in the mind of the onlooker with color, gay sounds, movement and beauty.”9 The key difference between the colors of the two groups is that instead of green, the American women choose yellow. There were hints of Americans’ choice of yellow instead of green as early in 1894, before the start of the suffragists’ annual festival, when activist and editor Mary Livermore begged suffragists to wear yellow flowers in their lapels, writing, “We have cultivated a severe plainness long enough. It may be classic and it may be artistic but it is desperately ugly. Let’s have a change, and show our colors.”10 This was followed up in the early 1910s, when Harriot Eaton Staton Blatch used a golden yellow for the suffragists in organizing the first suffragists’ parade in New York City with yellow banners and yellow sashes.11 In March 1913, Alice Paul had taken the lead organizing the national parade in Washington, D.C. Coming from Britain, she had strong takes on how the movement should go and how women should be behaving. Used to the colors and the parades there, she ordered purple, white, and green flags. Various suffragists disagreed with her choice, not wanting to match the British. Stalwart suffragist Anna Howard Shaw, who had been campaigning for the vote since the 1880s and working with Susan B. Anthony, flat out refused to participate, saying she would never walk under the British suffragette flags.12 To keep everyone placated Paul changed the green to gold, and ordered replacement flags. The colors now meant purple for justice, white for purity, and gold for courage. Yet in 1913, The Suffragist, a weekly newspaper published by the Congressional Union for Women’s Suffrage, told a different story. Started by Paul and edited by Rheta Childe Dorr, the newspaper proclaimed that the gold of the U.S. feminists was “the color of light and life, in as the torch that guides our purpose, pure and unswerving.” Continuing, they explained that gold and yellow had associations with the sunflower, the 9  Helena Reckitt, ed. Art of Feminism: Images that Shaped the Fight for Equality, 1857–2017 (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2018), 41. 10  Johanna Neuman, Gilded Suffragists: The New York Socialites Who Fought for the Women’s Right to Vote (New York: New York University Press, 2017), 116. 11  Winifred Conkling, Votes for Women! American Suffragists and the Battle for the Ballot (Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Young Readers, 2018), 181. 12  Conkling, Votes for Women!, 189–190.

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state flower of Kansas, the first state to have a referendum on women’s right to vote.13 Thus, in either story, the suffragists adapted the colors in a way that they believed could better reflect the United States and emphasized bravery, Midwestern beliefs, and the way that suffrage was already spreading across the country. Fashion-wise, the colors were used frequently by the suffragists, with all three colors in their sash and the dresses remaining white, often incorporating both lace and cotton muslin. In 1911, the New  York Woman’s Political Union reached out to manufacturers and ordered many of these types of white dresses that the suffragists preferred because they were both stylish and symbolically powerful. Historian Einav Rabinovitch-Fox clarifies, “By adopting white as a signature color, suffragists conveyed a message of unity, emphasizing their shared gender intensity and plea, despite differences in class and backgrounds among them.”14 This was continued by the National Woman Suffrage Parade Committee, who in 1915 instructed women to wear white blouses and skirts, to coordinate with the carrying of yellow banners. They would then embellish their dresses with broaches, scarves, sashes, ribbons, and buttons in the colors of purple, white, and yellow. Therefore, the purple and gold would stand out and clearly symbolize their desire for voting rights. More than that, though, the colors became a commercial endeavor. The women would sell buttons at their offices and along the parade routes, not only through the official party but also through enterprising women who would sell their wares on the street during various events. Further, British jewelers had decided to make jewelry based on the colors of the British suffragettes, so it is no surprise that Macy’s and other department stores followed their lead. Not only did they create special jewelry for the suffragists, but they also developed and sold numerous white dresses that fit their needs. They would market their products through advertisements that were directly targeted at suffragists, emphasizing how well their items would work for various campaigns and rallies.15 By creating a desired image for suffragists, the leaders not only created a fashion that would dominate the movement, but, indirectly, they would also create an opportunity for commercialism. Their push for political change was mainly about convincing people that  Qtd. in Reckitt, ed. Art of Feminism, 41.  Einav Rabinovitch-Fox, Dressed for Freedom: The Fashionable Politics of American Feminism (Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2021), 66. 15  Reckitt, ed. Art of Feminism, 41. 13

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enfranchisement was needed for women, but this type of fashion demonstrated the way that commercialism could infiltrate political campaigns. One of the reasons to wear coordinated clothing was to promote unity among the women. However, that unity did not always translate across the color line, as Black suffragists would show up wearing appropriate clothing, but often be forced to walk in the back of the group and would rarely be photographed.16 There is a known history of Black women’s repeated exclusion from the suffrage and feminists movements, and by isolating the groups of members to the back and refusing to better integrate their parades, the suffragists not only damaged their own cause but also created a crack between Black and White feminists that would continue to persist for decades. Feminists like Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Mary Church Terrell resisted segregation and worked hard to position themselves in key roles, making sure to take up space and declare their involvement through visible participation in parades and gatherings throughout the 1900s and 1910s. Through their clothing at these events, these women were able to connect to other members of the suffrage movement, as Rabinovitch-Fox astutely argues that indeed, for the suffragists who were excluded from the mainstream movement due to their class or race, adopting suffrage styles and colors was the easiest way to assert their role as partners in the cause. Through clothes, they could claim access to the privileges of ladyhood and of fashionability that many of the White, upper- and middle-class suffragist enjoyed.17

So while Black women may have had to force their way into the spaces of White feminists, through their fashion they were able to, at least at times, blend in. The suffragists’ fashion and style were not always accepted, and their clothing was often used against them. Club Fellow, a gossipy, society 16  For more information on Black suffragists, on whom the research has increased dramatically in the past five years, see Martha S. Jones, Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All (New York: Basic Books, 2020); Conkling, Votes for Women!, 194–198; Alison M. Parker, Unceasing Militant: The Life of Mary Church Terrell (Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 2020); Michelle Duster, Ida B. the Queen (New York: Atria/One Signal Publishers, 2021); and Diana Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross, A Black Women’s History of the United States (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2020). 17  Rabinovitch-Fox, Dressed for Freedom, 69.

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magazine for Chicago and New York, did not take kindly to the suffragists in 1910, particularly attacking their fashion: “Women of fashion as a rule looked upon these suffrage agitators as short-haired, badly-dressed freaks. To be a woman suffragist pre-supposed strong mindedness, ugly clothes and steel rimmed spectacles.”18 This wording functioned as codes for many, as Johanna Neuman has argued, meant to belittle the women by relating them to spinsters, lesbians, or intellectuals. In her book, Gilded Suffragists: The New York Socialites Who Fought for the Women’s Right to Vote, Neuman distinguishes between the well-dressed, proper society women and the women like Paul, Shaw, and others who were doing the physical and visible work of suffrage. The rich elite dazzled in costumes that celebrated suffragist colors that they wore to fabulous parties that helped fundraise for the cause. Yellow or gold gowns would be accented with purple and white and illustrated not just the cause célèbre but the wealth of the women wearing these outfits to parties, not protests. But the harsh comments about suffragists were never directed toward these women, but rather toward the ones doing the political strategizing, marching, organizational work, and, in no coincidence, the women with the most visibility in public spaces. Neuman continues, “Seeking to counteract negative publicity about boorish behavior and broad hints about lesbian intentions, suffrage leaders had favored femininity. When critics shuddered at the idea of suffragists marching in the streets, likening them to streetwalkers, activists put forward their more fashionable suffragists and kept marching.”19 To try to take control of their narrative and push the discussion away from their fashion, leaders like Alice Paul and others placed news stories in popular newspapers (like The Washington Post) that encouraged women attending the parade to be dressed neatly, but modestly, and wearing a gown that was a nice as she could afford.20 They were fighting not just a battle about style, but also one connected to morality, as Marie Manning, the first newspaper advice columnist, discussed in 1898, saying that in the nineteenth century “the clothes that suffragists wore when they went about petitioning were grim as shrouds. [Those] unbecoming clothes … hadn’t worked in sixty years.”21 But the new suffragist, from the gilded  Qtd. in Neuman, Gilded Suffragists, 63.  Neuman, Gilded Suffragists, 116. 20  Neuman, Gilded Suffragists, 116–117. 21  Neuman, Gilded Suffragists, 155. 18 19

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halls of New York and around the east coast, brought jewelry, class, and fashion dominance to the table, following more in the direction of the stylish New Woman, who minded her clothing and hairstyles and worked hard to be modern. Manning continued writing about the suffragists, and eventually, in 1941, recognized the importance of many suffragists who contributed to these changes, as she would later champion Inez Milholland.22 Repeatedly referred to as the beauty of the suffragist movement, Milholland’s life and career has been heavily documented and researched by Linda J. Lumsden. She argues that Alice Paul’s support of Milholland, including prominently placing her in parades and at speaking events, was ultimately connected to Paul’s larger goal of helping the suffragists maintain their womanhood. Lumsden explains, “Paul’s political vision was unique because it wed feminism with femininity. She wielded beauty as a political tool through public spectacle and aimed to prove that women could be citizens without losing respectability and dignity.”23 Milholland had the right looks that epitomized femininity and beauty and served a direct challenge to those who tried to humiliate and denigrate the suffragists as being ugly and less of a woman by taking a strong political cause. The fashion that she wore and would appear on the covers of countless suffragists’ promotional materials would influence others (see Fig.  1.2). She provided the visibility of the femininity and the fashion that Alice Paul and others would want to emulate. Rabinovitch-Fox argues, “Fashion played a crucial role in popularizing these tactics and in shifting public opinion. As suffragists adopted the mainstream styles of the period, they not only fashioned a new image of the politically engaged woman that was palatable to the public, but they also turned fashion into a political tool.”24 As long as Paul continued to organize public events and speaking engagements, fashion would play an important role in arguing for suffrage. In posters and pictures of Milholland, she is not just beautiful, but she is a leader and a figure who will help women move into the future. In preserved photographs, she was fashionable, her dark hair pulled off her pale white skin and often worn in a tighter style of a Gibson Girl topknot. Her hair was gathered up and around her head, but instead of loosely  Neuman, Gilded Suffragists, 155.  Linda J. Lumsden, Inez: The Life and Times of Inez Milholland (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2016), 82. 24  Rabinovitch-Fox, Dressed for Freedom, 48. 22 23

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Fig. 1.2  Inez Milholland Poster, 1924, Division of Political and Military History, National Museum of American History

knotted, Milholland’s hair often worked to create a type of natural crown on top of her head. She wore stylish dresses, furs, and hats while campaigning for the cause, maintaining an appropriate tradition of modesty and contemporary fashion. Her dresses are loose and not binding, as she has already ditched the corset for more comfortable and flexible fashion. She is looking forward to the future not only in terms of voting but also in terms of women’s fashion. Milholland, whose beauty truly was legendary, had a background that supported her voting rights endeavors.25 She was well-educated and after  Milholland’s background and summary about her life are drawn from Lumsden, Inez.

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being denied entry into Harvard because of her sex, she was able to enter NYU’s law program and graduate, all while campaigning for human rights and voting rights across the state. Her wealthy background helped her secure memberships at elite social clubs, which allowed her to grow her network and create fundraising connections. Significantly, she believed in free love and women’s need for independence. In the first suffrage parade in New York on May 7, 1911, Milholland carried a banner whose message which proclaimed, “Forward out of darkness/Leave behind the night/ Forward out of error/Forward into light!”26 Her identity became associated with the slogan, such that it was even used at her memorial. She was seen as the leader who could help bring the women forward not only into the light but also into the twentieth century. It makes sense, as the fashionable Milholland was able to create a new image for the suffragist as modern and appropriate, while also working to expand the way that women can appear in public that is both subtle and subversive.27 She encouraged women to ditch the painful corsets and to instead embrace suffrage and more comfortable clothing. Freedom of fashion, for Milholland, was equal to the freedom to vote. For men, she often argued that voting would make women more beautiful, because it allows for women to think and expand their minds.28 Her arguments for the legalization of women’s suffrage were unusual but found an audience. Milholland’s success in speaking combined with her looks made her a perfect fit for Alice Paul’s version of femininity and leadership in the movement. In organizing the 1913 march in Washington, which Paul called the “suffrage procession,” Paul considered every aspect of the event that would include both a parade and a pageant.29 Scheduled for 3PM on March 3, the day before the inaugural parade of Woodrow Wilson, the parade route was a mile and a half long. Over the course of the event, 8000 suffragists participated, while somewhere between 300,000 and 500,000 people lined up to watch. The event created visibility for the suffragists, while also ensuring their respectability through conservative clothing, classical performances, and a dignified showing of their ­members. 26  Lumsden in Jeanine Michna-Bales, Standing Together: Inez Milholland’s Final Campaign for Women’s Suffrage (New York: MW Editions, 2021). 27  Rabinovitch-Fox, Dressed for Freedom, 52. 28  Rabinovitch-Fox, Dressed for Freedom, 52. 29  For a more detailed account of the parade, see Rebecca Boggs Roberts, Suffragists in Washington, D.C.: The 1913 Parade and the Fight for the Vote (Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2017).

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Kate Clarke Lemay has acknowledged that “in organizing a crowd of distinguished women to make a spectacle of themselves, suffragists were in effect displaying their power.”30 Milholland had already made her mark on the suffragists’ scene, so it made sense to give her a place of power in the parade. Directly behind the grand marshal of the parade, Milholland was the herald, holding a trumpet and riding her white horse named Grey Dawn. Milholland’s costume was impressive, and she contributed to its design. “It has occurred to me that it is much more fitting to have the women’s parade heralded by a symbol of the future rather than a relic of the Middle Ages—a medieval herald.” She preferred a modern costume, elaborating that she wanted “something suggesting the free woman of the future, crowned with the star of hope, armed with the cross of mercy, circled with the blue mantle of freedom, breasted with the torch of knowledge, and carrying the trumpet which is to herald the dawn of a new day of heroic endeavor for womanhood.”31 She was supposed to wear yellow, as all the other heralds wore, but on the day of the parade she showed up in white, differentiating herself and standing out from the crowd. Further, her variation of a knight wore a pale blue cape, which had the cross of mercy on it. As the horse moved and the wind blew, she created a remarkably dominating silhouette. Rabinovitch-Fox sets the scene, as she argues that even while Milholland appeared as a masculine knight elevated on a horse, she was still able to “capitalize on her reputation as a beauty to convert the image of a pants-wearing woman into an attractive one instead of a radical threat.”32 Yet, Milholland complicated the narrative while adding feminine details to her costume, including a crown, long flowing hair, and representing a modern age of womanhood. She was not just a knight transformed; she was Joan of Arc on a critical mission. Following her were 26 floats, 10 bands, and more than 5000 marchers. As the parade marched closer to their destination, the crowds got drunker, and Milholland was aware of the trouble that was on the horizon. Milholland proved her leadership capabilities, not just through costumes but also by her actions. Along with the mounted guards, she used her position on her horse to 30  Kate Clarke Lemay, “Compelling Tactics, 1913–1916,” in Votes for Women! A Portrait of Persistence, edited by Kate Clarke Lemay (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2019), 169. 31  Lumsden, Inez, 84. 32  Rabinovitch-Fox, Dressed for Freedom, 56.

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help quell the massive crowds who were drunk and getting abusive. Indeed, she really did become a savior to the marchers that day. She was able to complete her job of leading the parade to the pageant, though they arrived late, and the pageant performers had taken shelter from the cold inside the National Treasury. They quickly reappeared and moved into their positions, where a figure symbolizing Columbia took center stage, surrounded by other figures like Justice and Equality. Together, with children, they presented a tableau emphasizing the historical and important power of women. Suffragist Rebecca Hourwich Rehyher noted that “we were creating our own mythology of women on the march, women active, and dramatic.”33 Much of that mythology centered on Milholland herself, who, through her actions and depictions of her on various types of propaganda, became larger than life. Lumsden has even proclaimed, “Reporters anointed her the most beautiful suffragist in the land. Men called her a goddess, an Amazon.”34 Her popularity was not lost on Paul, who after the parade worked to keep her busy, despite Milholland’s interest in her law career and her recent marriage and efforts to conceive. In 1916, with the new election in sight, Paul asked Milholland to serve as a “special flying envoy” for the National Women’s Party campaign.35 This would take her on a fast-moving train journey over 12,000  miles across the western half of the country. Milholland had been ill and was concerned about the journey and leaving her husband, but her father offered to pay for her sister Vida Milholland to accompany her. Paul’s strategy was to have women in states who had already been enfranchised to vote against President Woodrow Wilson’s second term. He would still win, but this would show the power of the women’s voting bloc. Paul tasked Milholland with speaking engagements in 30 cities, and in a desire to impact the most people, she over-scheduled the already ailing Milholland. She would have lunch meetings, an evening speech with hours of questions followings, then board a 2AM train to get to the next city. The toll the travel took on Milholland was unbearable. While she was extremely successful, often getting her picture published in the newspapers and thousands of people showing up to hear her speak and rooms filled beyond capacity. Vida was extremely concerned about her sister, and  Neuman, Gilded Suffragists, 121.  Lumsden, Inez, 4. 35  Lumsden, Inez, 150. 33 34

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after repeated calls for Paul to lessen Inez’s schedule, Paul finally arranged for Milholland to slow down, but it was too late. In Los Angeles, on October 23rd, she collapsed on stage. She returned 15 minutes later to show that she was alive, proclaiming her final public words, “[President Wilson] says he must be bound by the provisions of the 1916 platform of the Democrats—provisions he wrote himself! Must he be bound by his own limitations? I ask you. Is that the reason for his refusal to see the light?”36 She was forced to stop campaigning, and on November 25, 1916, at just 30 years old, she died. Her death was attributed to pernicious anemia, but she suffered serious dental problems, habitually took arsenic to feel better, and repeatedly suffered from weakness and body aches. Her anemia was misdiagnosed several times, and by the end of her life she was too sickly to recover. Her death shook the suffragist community, who would honor her later that year. For our purposes, Milholland’s life and career is important as exemplifying the valued suffragist with the right look, style, and fashion. Because of how devoted she was to suffragism, many began to view her as a martyr. In addition to the recent work by Lumsden, Jeanine Michna-Bales has created a series of photographic work that looks to inform the public of Milholland’s incredible contributions by remaking moments from her travels throughout the western United States. Her project, Standing Together, was completed in 2020, meant to commentate the centennial of women’s right to vote.37 Michna-Bales makes clear that “Standing Together is a work of art that reflects history but is not a documentary. There are many challenges in piecing together a photo narrative more than one hundred years after the events took place.”38 She is not attempting to replicate history; rather, she is taking liberties with the story and creating an artistic work. Further, by choosing to focus on Milholland, she can document a hero’s journey, one that was complicated, painful, yet filled with successes. For Standing Together, Michna-Bales attempted to create the look of the autochrome process, invented by August and Louis Lumière around 1907. This difficult approach used potato starch on backlit plates to create one of the first types of color photography. The process resulted in a muted colored background and oftentimes a dream-like blurry effect but  Lumsden, Inez, 23.  Her whole series, including an essay by Lumsden as well as herself, is featured in the monograph Michna-Bales, Standing Together. 38  Michna-Bales, Standing Together, 213. 36 37

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was resoundingly celebrated in its ability to capture color for the first time. Michna-Bales did not follow the actual printing process of the Lumière brothers; rather, she used digital processing and manipulation to achieve a similar effect.39 She combined the photographic process with a tiring journey herself, as described by Amy Crawford, “During the course of a year, Michna-Bales retraced Milholland’s cross-country odyssey. She found that while many of the theaters where Milholland had spoken had long since been torn down, other locations, where Michna-Bales was able to set up the tableaux she photographed, were still standing, including historic hotels and small-town train depots.”40 Crawford also noted that much of the landscape remained unchanged, still echoing Millholland’s words— ”sunset splashed the mountains and river with crimson.”41 Michna-Bales stayed true to Milholland’s path, giving the entire series a feeling of historical accuracy and relevance. The focus of the photographs typically falls into two categories: landscape and moments from Milholland’s life. The range of landscapes varies, as one would expect with a journey all over the western part of the country. Blue Gem (2019) shows a costal view filled with dense trees on top of a mountainside. The fog dominates the background, blurring out the tops of the trees. It is indiscernible where the photographer stands: it is as if the world has completely faded away but this small area of rock. By contrast, Approaching Portland (2019) shows a super clear view of the city, focused on the Steel Bridge, which was built in 1912, and signifies the new technology employed in the years before Milholland’s visit. The clear water reflects the bridge nicely, with mountains viewed faintly in the background. Trees dominate the shoreline, and in particular the lower left of the image, so that it is clear the artist is combining the power of nature via the lake and the trees with the massive man-made technology of the Steel Bridge. Beyond just landscapes, Michna-Bales also includes newspaper articles, photographs of a ballot box, Grand Central Station, and more. A haunting image of a white Suffrage Dress hangs on a luggage compartment of a small train in Suffrage Dress, 2019, which also helps connect the images,  Michna-Bales, Standing Together, 24.  Amy Crawford, “Recreating a Suffragist’s Campaign Through the American West,” Smithsonian Magazine, July 2020, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ recreating-inez-milholland-boissevain-barnstorming-tour-american-west-180975173/. 41  Crawford, “Recreating a Suffragist’s Campaign Through the American West.” Crawford here quotes one of Milholland’s letters to her husband, Eugen Boissevain, who was in New York City. She was describing a route to Oregon. 39 40

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as it appears to be the dress worn by the various Milhollands in many of her other photographs in the series (Fig. 1.3). Her white dress is similar to those seen earlier with its modesty and singular color. Yet, the dress is distinct and unique, emphasizing the potential for deviation in the fashion of the suffragists, entirely covered with lace and small embroidered motifs, with an embellished lace collar and details at the end of the sleeves. The thin sheer outer layer covers a thicker more substantial layer underneath,

Fig. 1.3  Jeanine Michna-Bales, Suffrage Dress; images from the photographic essay, 2016–2020, “Standing Together: Inez Milholland’s Final Campaign for Women’s Suffrage” and the book of the same title (MW Editions, 2021). (© Jeanine Michna-Bales)

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allowing the gown to maintain full coverage of the wearer. The dress is worn throughout the series, creating a touchstone for the viewer not only to unite the series (much as the dresses united the suffragists) but also to reinforce the importance of the fashion to the larger movement. By contrast, Pinney Theatre (2019) shows a theatre where Milholland spoke, viewed from her perspective as the speaker and thus focused on the empty chairs. That way we can see the impressive size and scale of the audience, in a space we know that Milholland commanded attention. Additionally, Michna-Bales includes a picture of medicine and doctor’s tools in the series, titled Arsenic and Strychnine taken at the Sunset Club in Seattle, Washington (2018). Combining that image with Fever, Aches, and Pains (2018), Michna-Bales is trying to imagine different ways to show Milholland’s sickness. This image is blurry, with perhaps two figures in the lower center and then the lower right. But shadows repeat themselves and the colors are blended. On the left side of the image appears a screaming face, emerging out of a grayish background, dark eyes, a nose, and teeth peek through. Michna-Bales does well to capture a variety of moods; in mimicking the autochrome process, she is allowing for a loss of subtlety and an often-somber coloring. In addition, there are multiple images of trains included in the series, as well as photographs taken from trains. The depictions of a healthy, thriving greenery contrast with Fading Rose (2019), a solitary white thorny rose, whose leaves are dried out and petals are browning and curling back. One of the strengths of the series overall is that Standing Together is a combination of different types of photographs, which allows for an exploration of the series and moves seamlessly through pictures of individual objects, daring landscapes, blurry unclear photographs, images of groups of women, and more intimate images of a solitary figure. Ready for Battle (2019, Fig. 1.4) combines Michna-Bales’ interest in the landscape with the need for the specificity of Inez Milholland’s journey and experience. On a large, wheat-covered hill, one solitary figure stands slightly off-center, holding a pole supporting the U.S. flag moving in the breeze. The figure appears small in contrast with the space of the landscape and the space of the entire photograph. Inez is dressed in the white, slightly transparent dress seen in the picture Suffrage Dress. Perched atop her head is the star of hope crown that Milholland wore proudly in the March on Washington, while the sash in colors of white, gold, and purple, and saying “Votes for Women” is draped across her chest. Because of the recreation of the autochrome process, scratches and slight damage appear

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Fig. 1.4  Jeanine Michna-Bales, Ready for Battle; images from the photographic essay, 2016–2020, “Standing Together: Inez Milholland’s Final Campaign for Women’s Suffrage” and the book of the same title (MW Editions, 2021). (© Jeanine Michna-Bales)

most visible across the sky with its gray, melancholic clouds. The smallness of the figure and the big flag draw the attention of the viewer through their dominant colors and placement. Photographs and posters from the event still exist that would help guide the artist, and it is clear that Michna Bales was able to illustrate how Milholland was able to capture the viewers’ attention here. Millholland’s captivating presence, alluring costume, and the powerful landscapes make it hard to look away from her. In Michna-Bales’ photographs that included Milholland, she was wearing the typical white suffrage dress, attempting to always be presentable

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and ready for any talk she needed to give. Sometimes, Milholland would give impromptu speeches as the train stopped in a small city. Hundreds of people of both genders would gather to hear what she had to say. What is unique about Michna-Bales’ imagery is that Milholland is not portrayed with one actor; rather, she uses a variety of types of people. She explains that from courageous role models like Ida B. Wells-Barnett to countless women whose names we have yet to learn, many women from all walks of life fought for a women’s right to vote. To reflect this, I asked women of all ages and backgrounds to represent Inez, her sister Vida, and their fellow suffragists in many of the images in Standing Together.42

Oftentimes, the faces are blurred or obscured, so you cannot even find specific markers of identity. Body shapes and skin tones allow the viewer to understand they are not looking at the same people over and over. Women Hold Up Half of the Sky (2019) shows a younger Black woman wearing the suffrage dress, the star of hope crown, and the Votes for Women Sash. She is holding a large sphere, made up of smaller circles like hula-hoops. This globe-like representation sits on her shoulders as she visually illustrates holding up the world. Michna-Bales also includes other people in her variations of Milholland. In A Wonderful Argument from Oregon in 2019, Milholland is shown only from behind as she is having a lively conversation in between train cars with the train conductor. Anytime she was communicating, Milholland was attempting to convince people to support women’s right to vote, and it appears she is well on her way to convincing him to side with her. She wears the same white dress, with her hair knotted at her neck, and this White woman’s age shows in her wrinkles and posture. Whistlestop Speech, taken in Cut Bank, Montana (2018), shows another middle-aged White woman, but this time she stands at the very back of the train. In front of her, a crowd of men and women have gathered, decked out in fashionable hats, suits, and blouses from the era. Perched above her audience, Milholland wears the white gown and the sash as she raises her right hand in a gesture of speech, while using the railing to support her other hand. The series, taken as a whole, serves to restore honor by sharing the story of Milholland’s travels, including both the positives and the negatives. Yet, it also shows how important specific symbols were to the suffragists,  Michna-Bales, Standing Together, 24.

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including the white dress specifically. While suffering unbearable pain, Milholland traveled the countryside wearing white and effectively convinced thousands of people to support women’s suffrage. Michna-Bales’ work helps to garner name recognition and support for Milholland’s efforts. After her death, the major suffragist leaders also wanted to honor Milholland, so on Christmas day of 1916, a march in DC was held to honor and pay tribute to Milholland. She was the first suffragist to be given a memorial service in the capital. American novelist and first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama Zona Gale gave the memorial address, saying, “Inez Milholland stood for women. She lived for women, she died for women. She is in the heart of every woman whose heart beats for tomorrow. That tomorrow is clearer and nearer because Inez Milholland lived … May we have the courage and devotion to follow where she has led.”43 Suffrage for women was finally achieved in 1920, after years of protest and heartache, and a key part of its success was the groups’ choice of fashion and style to convince the public that women could still be women, even if they had the ability to vote. Miranda Garett and Zoë Thomas have noted how important artists, designers, and makers were to the cause, by explaining that they worked specifically to get out the vote by joining suffrage organizations, participating in parades and marches, writing campaign letters, signing petitions, and more. They continue, explaining how these women “produced a wealth of visual culture that served to promote the ideals of the campaign and (tried to) unify its members and they even responded to the increased need to generate visual culture by organizing themselves into dedicated groups.”44 These artists and organizers helped by working both behind the scenes and marching in the parades, working to establish a viable and ultimately successful campaign. Starting this project with both the suffragists and Jeanine Michna-­ Bales’ Standing Together establishes the goals of this entire book. In looking at recent events in feminism, fashion, art, and politics in the United States, it becomes clearer that all are connected to each other. In her choice to wear off-white, Kamala Harris emphasized how important  Qtd. in Lumsden, Inez, 177.  Miranda Garrett and Zoë Thomas, “Introduction,” in Suffrage and the Arts: Visual Culture, Politics and Enterprise, edited by Miranda Garrett and Zoë Thomas (London: Bloomsbury, 2020). 43 44

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fashion was in perhaps one of the most important speeches in her entire career. Her suit connected to her those suffragists that came before but was also steeped in the elegance of the world of contemporary and couture fashion. She wore Carolina Herrera, a world-renowned fashion designer, but combined her own personal accessories with nods to her sorority and her family heirlooms. Her fashion choice, however, was not distracting or inappropriate. Rather, in her stylish combining of historical referents, personal choices, and notable designers, she enhanced her talk allowing for a deeper understanding of her speech. The importance of a well-styled woman in the White House illustrates a command of fashion’s role in politics. From Millholland to Harris, these successful women demonstrate that as their political campaigns have become more successful, the necessary engagement in fashion styles and artistic tastes has increased and is now more socially driven. Through the lenses of different contemporary moments, we can see how these elements—fashion, art, feminism, politics, and protests—all come together, in unique and powerful ways. This book is influenced heavily by several books that concern these themes—many of which are fashion-focused. In her recent book, Dressed for Freedom: The Fashionable Politics of American Feminism (2021), Einav Rabinovitch-Fox explores the first half of the twentieth century in America, discussing the shirtwaists of the 1890s to the second-wave feminists. Her book predates the focus of this work but shows how the choice to unite fashion and politics has been significant for feminists since the serious consideration of women’s suffrage. Another book that tackles feminism and politics is Anne Hollander’s Sex and Suits: The Evolution of Modern Dress (1994). Through a detailed history of the suit, she traces the way the garment was shaped over the course of over 250 years, whereby this reflected societal ideas and developed the creation of fashion as it is understood today. In his well-known Fashion, Culture, and Identity (1992), Fred Davis connects how fashion can be a helpful tool to see and understand someone’s identity, an idea at the heart of this book. His work inspires mine, in which I hope to show how fashion can be a signifier or political and/or feminist identity. Finally, Fashion and Politics, edited by Djurdja Bartlett, features an in-depth discussion of the two elements, showing how intertwined they have become. Significantly, by treating fashion, and to some extent art, as a living practice, the contributors show how relevant these ideas can be. The focus of this anthology is broad, as they cover different political events across the world, not just feminism or contemporary moments.

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New research over the past few years has increased the conversation regarding diversity in the arts and fashion, and this work is imperative for this discussion. Keetsahnak: Our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Sisters (2018), edited by Kim Anderson, Maria Campbell, and Christi Belcourt, not only contributed to the chapter on red dresses but also helped elucidate how a community can be established around the needs of a people suffering and in need of healing. In addition, this book functions as a memory for art, performances, and gatherings, documenting experiences and lives of Indigenous women lost to horrendous treatment. Another book that has caused reconsideration of the more traditional ideas of fashion is Tanisha C. Ford’s powerful Liberated Threads: Black Women, Style, and the Global Politics of Soul (2015). By exploring key moments in history like the civil rights movement, the Black Panthers, and the “Afro Look,” Ford shows how important Black women have been to American culture through their style and fashion. Addressing “soul culture” and the Black experience in fashion, Ford works to correct absences in the history of fashion and politics. In the process of researching, books illuminating the history of protest, particularly those including imagery of signage, clothing, and artwork, helped establish how these topics can be explored within the context of fashion and art history. Two books, through their imagery and use of subject matter, help establish the importance of the visual nature of protesting. Liz McQuiston’s Protest! A History of Social and Political Protest Graphics (2019) and The Art of Protest: A Visual History of Dissent and Resistance (2020) by Jo Rippon with Amnesty International are both richly illustrated and filled with descriptions that make these books very useful. In Protest: The Aesthetics of Resistance (2018), editors Basil Rogger, Jonas Voegeli, and Ruedi Widmer address protest around the world, examining them visually, theoretically, and politically. Finally, Elizabeth Currans’ Marching Dykes, Liberated Sluts, and Concerned Mothers: Women Transforming Public Space (2017) just predated the 2017 Women’s March, but still conveyed how women established power through the act of protest. Looking at the variety of causes that Currans addressed, the need for visibility that protests provide is made abundantly evident. While the focus of this book is concerned with American protest art and fashion, I utilize intersectionality throughout the text. In coining the term, Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw has drawn key attention to one of the most problematic areas of feminism—it’s lack of diversity and its inabilities to make connections between different kind of identities based upon race

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and class. She elaborates, “The problem with identity politics is not that it fails to transcend difference, as some critics charge, but rather the opposite—that it frequently conflates or ignores intragroup differences.”45 Women’s experiences are not shaped solely by their gender, but also by race and class among other differences. These intersections are pivotal to the stories in this narrative; they can represent tensions or fractions in groups, but also the differences shared by women make for stronger and more united protests. Indeed, it is imperative that our focus not be solely on gender; rather, we must expand the categories of oppression to address class, sexuality, and race. The tools used by the protestors—like hats or clothing—can work to visually allow people of difference to come together for a common cause. Yet by contrast, certain signifiers can allow for distinction, like the red handprints placed on women’s faces by those trying to draw attention to the many missing and murdered Indigenous women. This book hopes to illustrate how both examples explored in intersectionality—fracturing and unification—are significant and can be used to further the equality of all women. In addition to Crenshaw, Patricia Hill Collins’ ideas offer significant contributions. Her exploration of the matrix of domination addresses how these intersections introduced by Crenshaw are organized, as she elaborates, “structural, disciplinary, hegemonic, and interpersonal domains of power reappear across quite different forms of oppression.”46 Collins allows for a thorough investigation into how intersectionality has been disregarded with the intent of maintaining the status quo, which often means keeping White men in power. Striving to move away from White feminists’ mistakes of the 1970s and beyond, this book includes a variety of people and positions, examples of all different kinds of feminisms, with the hope of complicating the straightforward positioning of White women’s calls for equality. I echo Collins’ calls for empowerment of women of color and recognize there is more work to do. 45  Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color,” Stanford Law Review 43, no. 6 (July 1991), 1242. Crenshaw is one of the leading advocates and authors of critical race theory, and her ideas are still leading the way in feminist discussions. While discussing her work, Anna Carasthathis explores recent explorations of intersectionality while striving to return its ideas to its roots with Williams’ work. For more, see Anna Carasthathis, Intersectionality: Origins, Contestations, Horizons (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2019). 46  Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment (New York: Routledge, 2008), 21.

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In this vein, I expand upon how diverse identities have distinct issues that have not been explored enough (via the inclusion of discussions concerning missing and murdered Indigenous women, Miss Black America, and more). Intersectionality was always critical in the choice of the subjects of each chapter, and hopefully makes apparent my focus on inclusivity in the chapters themselves. Yet, in my quest for allyship and my hope for things to become better, I want to make clear and recognize that there is still much work to be done to support and elevate people of color’s experience. Criticism is often made of the Whiteness of the Women’s March in 2017. While many women complained they were frustrated by the years of protest for women’s rights, these same women were often absent from Black Lives Matter events and failed to recognize the essentialism of the pussyhats. I have attempted to do justice to both sides of the story.47 Intending for this book to further the conversation these inspirational scholars have begun, I hope to look beyond art, fashion, and politics, to explore how American culture has shifted. Women, transwomen, and non-­ binary people are changing this discussion, using fashion and art as tactics to make political noise. By marching, drawing on recognizable symbols and costumes, creating visibility for themselves and others through craftivism and even the creation of simple t-shirts, these women are continuing well-worn traditional methods of arguing for change with new notions of identity, feminism, and activism. This book is divided into four chapters, with a conclusion that looks toward the future. With the hope of illustrating how all kinds of women in America are demonstrating through art, fashion, and protests, I hope it becomes evident that the status quo is being destabilized and challenged. “Redress the Red Dress,” the second chapter, explores how a simple red dress can have numerous functions, including becoming a symbol of women’s rights. In the strikingness of the color red, certain fashion designers used red as their signature color or to make powerful statements. More specifically, fans of Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale (now an influential television show by Hulu) know the power of the red uniform that the handmaids wear. These women were forced to have sex with powerful men, with the goal of procreating and helping the struggling 47  Beth Hinderlinter and Noelle Chaddock, “A Rejection of White Feminist Cisgender Allyship: Centering Intersectionality,” Antagonizing White Feminism: Intersectionality’s Critique of Women’s Studies and the Academy, edited by Noelle Chaddock and Beth Hinderlinter, (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2020), 137–145.

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population. Yet, a handmaid known as June defies the rules and leads a mutiny, one that Americans have started mimicking in real life. Donning the red dress, women protest their shrinking rights over their own bodily autonomy, including abortion rights and healthcare. While these dresses appear in DC and across the country, red dresses are also appearing on and standing for Indigenous women across Canada and the United States. Jamie Black began using red dresses to symbolize the many Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirits (MMIWG2S), hanging the dresses in trees and in installations, working to create awareness for the women whose lives have been lost and forgotten by all but their families and close friends. Combined with progressive politics, these striking red dresses attempt to challenge common beliefs about Indigenous women and draw attention to the repeated violent attacks committed against them. Especially for the families of MMIWG2S, this can not only help them process their life and grief but also push for more resolution regarding the crimes that had been committed against loved ones. All these different red dresses show the power a color can have, and the different ways that this can be used to create meaning and change. The third chapter, “CROWNing a New Kind of Miss America,” explores the history of the Miss America pageant, focusing on winners who changed the system, while examining how this entire pageant system seems to be crumbling. The traditional pageant created an ideal body type for women everywhere, shaping expectations for how women should dress—from evening gowns to swimsuits. Creating an ideal fashioned body, the pageant prioritized thinness, Whiteness, able-bodiedness, and more; pageant leaders protected a unified, stereotypical Barbie-type of beauty, ignoring the reality of actual American women. By studying two winners, Bess Myerson and Vanessa Williams, I show how each woman challenged the standard that the pageant was privileging, be it Christianity or Whiteness. Interspersed with discussions of artwork, quinceañeras, and popular trends, this chapter discusses Miss America’s legacy and two current political discussions that center female bodies and feminine style at the heart of the issues. Firstly, the Free the Nipple campaign has drawn attention to the way that women’s bodies (particularly their nipples) are being censored on social media while men’s bodies are not. Secondly, the CROWN act quickly rose in popularity recently to counter the problematic critiques of Black women’s hair. The movement leaders hope  to pass a national law protecting against discrimination against race-based hairstyles and is meant to protect women who have been mocked or even punished for wearing

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braids, locs, twists, natural hair, or any other types of styles associated with cultures beyond White ones. For so long the Miss America pageant upheld a certain type of fashioned women, and now, in the twenty-first century, as the pageant struggles to find success, women are forcing the organization and society to reconsider what fashion and beauty really mean. “When Women Wear the Pants,” the fourth chapter, explores the rise of pantsuits for women. Inspired by the rise and support of Hillary Clinton and her fashionable pantsuits in all colors, women across the world embraced the outfit and wore it to vote for her in the 2016 election, in which she won the popular vote but not the presidency. This was the culmination of the rise of the women’s power suit, which had progressed dramatically over the course of the twentieth century. Adopted by the New Woman at the turn of the century, the pantsuit not only represented a break from traditional gowns but also gave lesbians the space to create their own identity. Later, the suit for women was embraced by fashion designers like Coco Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent and worn by movie stars and wealthy socialites. However, in the 1970s, working women embraced pantsuits and skirts, as evidenced by John T.  Malloy’s The Women’s Dress for Success Book (1977) and the popular film Working Girl (1988). Artists are emboldened to use the suit to present themselves not only as professional but also as an easy-to-rely-on uniform for them to rely on outside the studio. Georgia O’Keeffe, NIki de Saint Phalle, and Laurie Anderson all created personas and identities for themselves that relied on a suit in pivotal moments in their careers. Today, women can rely on capsule collections designed by fashionistas and bloggers that can help create an easily structured wardrobe, based on the idea of a suit that functions in multiple ways and can be mixed and matched with multiple pieces. In the twenty-first century, the pantsuit is now iconic and appears in politics and fashion shows and is intrinsically connected to power and prestige. The fifth and final chapter, “What’s New Pussyhat?”, addresses the explosion of pink knitted pussyhats that dominated the Women’s March in January 2017. Easy to make, the instructions were disseminated publicly, with all people encouraged to make the pussyhats, not just for themselves but for everyone interested in having one. Embodying a relatively new form of artistic practice, pussyhats are an example of craftivism, a combination of craft and activism. The handmade nature of the objects spread wildly over social media and attempted to present a wholesome challenge to commercialized products, though they were also met with significant concerns. From the protest marches, the pussyhats and what they stood

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for made their way to runways, as designers like Karl Lagerfeld, Angela Missoni, and Maria Grazia Chiuri incorporated “trendy” ideas about reproductive rights and feminist beliefs. Further, designers and even the term “pussyhat” connect to feminist artists in the 1970s, who were the first to make women’s genitalia publicly accessible and wildly visible. Judy Chicago, Hannah Wilke, Tee Corrine, Shigeko Kubota, and Carolee Schneemann have all worked to make female anatomy more understood and equally represented via their work in the visual arts. The celebration and dominance of the pussyhat that day in January exemplified how far the artists’ work has come. In the epilogue, “The Future is Female … and Intersectional, Gender-­ Fluid, and Unexpected,” the significance of Kamala Harris’ groundbreaking election to vice president of the United States is demonstrated by the calls for women, Black women in particular, to celebrate her and Biden’s victory by wearing pearl necklaces and Converse-brand tennis shoes, items that Harris herself wore frequently and expressed her love for. Historically, many of these beliefs have been expressed in buttons or even on t-shirts. In 1974, a t-shirt with the slogan “The Future is Female” was designed by Labryis Books. Popular at the time, the phrase continued to appear since then, but saw a huge resurgence in 2015 when Rachel Berks remade the shirt for her shop Otherwild. What was to be a one-time limited print run giving back to Planned Parenthood turned in to a shirt (and sweatshirts) in various colors and sizes constantly in stock. Stores like Otherwild have popped up across the United States, including Phenomenal and The Outrage, which have worked to create a new outlet for those who want to be politically engaged, but for various reasons cannot participate in marches or other events. Financially, these stores give back, helping to provide various resources for feminist, non-profit organizations that support reproductive rights, healthcare, queer concerns, immigration, civil rights, voting rights, and general human rights. Visible accessories and t-shirts allow people all over the country to participate in the movement for a low cost but easy impact. Non-profits are counting on it, and as walk-­ outs and protests persist across the world, it appears that fashion and art will continue to be helpful tools that contribute to the political conversation. Lastly, a short Postscript has been included, updated to address the repeal of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court in 2022. While this disappointing event seemed to contradict the hopeful position the book proposes, rather, it reinforces the power of art and fashion politically by

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looking at how green bandanas have helped Latin American people legalize abortion. Further, conservatives’ attempt to remove the right to abortion from the state constitution in Kansas failed by almost 20%, much higher than most people expected. Indeed, it is the Kansas defiance of the recent Supreme Court decision, as well as the reminder that most Americans overwhelmingly support reproductive rights, that continue to support my hope that reproductive justice can be achieved, along with a slew of other human rights that are deserved by all.

CHAPTER 2

Redress the Red Dress

The handmaids are draped in red, from the high-neck full-length crimson dresses to their shoes. Not a burgundy or a faded red, but a bright, intense blood red. When allowed to move about the city, the red is eye-catching, meant to prevent any escapes or secret missions. No skin is shown, hidden mainly by the dress, but also the gloves and stockings. Besides keeping them visible to those in power, another intent is to de-sexualize the handmaids and stop any man from having any lascivious thoughts. The only part of their outfits that is not red is their large, winged bonnet, which works to prevent them from any peripheral vision while encouraging them to keep their heads down and avoid eye contact. In Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale (1986), the handmaid’s job is solely to perpetuate the population by serving as child bearers for the wealthy men in the newly founded state of Gilead. The number of women able to give birth has severely decreased in recent history, hence Gilead’s leaders’ belief in forced procreation of those able to bear children. In this fictional society, the United States has fallen to a right-wing Christian group that wants to return to “happier” and “healthier” times when women are restricted to the home and men have the control and power, using the Bible as their guide.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. Newman, Fashioning Politics and Protests, Palgrave Studies in Fashion and the Body, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16227-5_2

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The book was received tepidly when published in 1986 and has only gained praise and grown in relevance over time.1 In 2017, the streaming company Hulu released a series based on the book, with the first season of the show staying true to the source material. The book moves around in time, as the main handmaid, June (Fig. 2.1),2 flashes back to before, during, and after the development of Gilead and how she went from being a married woman with a young daughter to a handmaid, stripped of all contact with her family and retrained to be a submissive woman with the sole goal of bearing children and a fear of being sent to worse locations for work which could include cleaning up dead bodies and toxic sludge. The distinctive uniform of the handmaid is a symbol for women’s roles in Gilead, and in contrast to the society’s other uniforms (e.g., blue dresses for the wealthy wives, and light sage clothing and aprons for the house cooks and cleaners), the brightness and distinctness of the red stand out. The television show revived an interest in the book at a time when the story could be seen as a parallel to the contemporary world. The show debuted only a year after Donald J. Trump took over the U.S. presidency, and his behavior through the election and early in his presidency made clear his challenges to women’s rights including abortion, birth control, and more. His repeated mocking of women (like calling Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas”) or saying he would grab the “pussy” of an actress made evident his negative feelings about women. For Trump, women were meant to be looked at and only if they met conventional standards of attractiveness. His ugly beliefs often feel right at home in Gilead. 1  For just a few examples, see Patrick Parrinder, “Making Poison,” The London Review of Books 8, no. 5 (March 20, 1986), https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v08/n05/patrick-­ parrinder/making-poison; and Mary McCarthy, “Book Review: The Handmaid’s Tale,” The New  York Times, February 9, 1986, https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/ books/00/03/26/specials/mccarthy-atwood.html; Sophie Gilbert, “The Visceral, Woman-­ Centric Horror of The Handmaid’s Tale,” The Atlantic, April 25, 2017, https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/04/the-visceral-woman-centric-horror-ofthe-handmaids-tale/523683/; and Emily Nussbaum, “A Cunning Adaptation of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’” The New Yorker, May 15, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/ 2017/05/22/a-cunning-adaptation-of-the-handmaids-tale. 2  The book does not directly name the narrator, though readers have often assumed that her name was June due to a clue presented in the novel. The show names her June from the very beginning, and for ease and clarity, I will follow suit. In situations where June is dealing with her Commander and his wife, the aunts, or any authority figures, she is called Offred (essentially, Of Fred, after her Commander’s first name). I will, however, stick to June throughout this chapter for continuity.

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Fig. 2.1  Still from “Unfit,” The Handmaid’s Tale, Season 3, Episode 8, Hulu, July 19, 2019

Perhaps the greatest legacy of the book and television show are the way that Atwood has created a world filled with distinctive clothing that visually reflected the terrifying story. The focus on such a striking and memorable uniform for the protagonist represents the class of women in the book’s title. Atwood emphasizes the importance of the clothes: “Many totalitarianisms have used clothing, both forbidden and enforced, to identify and control people—think of yellow stars and Roman purple—and many have ruled behind a religious front. It makes the creation of heretics that much easier.”3 Smartly, Atwood united the idea of power, fashion, and color, allowing for the creation of an unforgettable look. In her use of red, Atwood has embraced a color with numerous symbolic meanings and one that has become a shorthand for protest movements, allowing for groups to coopt and reinvent the color red. This chapter will examine not just how Atwood has captured the power of red, but how it has also been used by fashion designers, Indigenous women, and various groups of protestors to draw attention to a variety of causes. 3  Margaret Atwood, “Margaret Atwood on What ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Means in the Age of Trump,” The New York Times, March 10, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/10/ books/review/margaret-atwood-handmaids-tale-age-of-trump.html.

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Handmaid Red Early in the book, Atwood allows the narrator to describe the uniform in detail, which is worth including here: I get up out of the chair, advance my feet into the sunlight, in their red shoes, flat-heeled to save the spine and not for dancing. The red gloves are lying on the bed. I pick them up, pull them onto my hands, finger by finger. Everything except the wings around my face is red: the color of blood, which defines us. The skirt is ankle-length, full, gathered to a flat yoke that extends over the breasts and the sleeves are full. The white wings too are prescribed issue; they are to keep us from seeing, but also from being seen. I never looked good in red, it’s not my color.4

Later, the narrator catches herself in a mirror, noting “a Sister, dipped in blood.”5 Atwood makes very clear at the start of the novel how these handmaids are defined by their clothing, which also signifies their identity as childbearing women. Further, by drawing comparisons of their sisterhood to nuns, she illustrates how the women and the childbirth process are controlled entirely by women in this society. The distinctive outfit immediately made its appearance on covers of the print versions of the book and became a central tool when advertising for the television show made by Hulu and MGM (2017–present). The television series brings these uniforms to life, as designed by the ingenious Ann Crabtree. The viewer is shown every detailed element of the uniform—which is subtly different shades of deep crimson red. Underneath, the woman wears a white tank top and shorts, which are hidden by the long sleeved, floor-length red dress, with a slight boat neck. Oftentimes, the dress is accompanied by a stretchy belt of the same color. When going on outings, the women wear a hooded cloak with scarves, gloves or mittens, and perhaps an extra sweater or sweatshirt all in the matching red. Brown boots are worn under the gown, with a white bonnet that completely covers their head and their hair. Over the thin bonnet is a large, winged headpiece that blocks the peripheral vision of the woman wearing it while also allowing their face to be hidden from viewers. The wings also encourage the wearers to look down in deference to their Commanders, which must be done whenever in front of them. Much like 4 5

 Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale (1986; reis., New York: Anchor Press, 2017), 8.  Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, 9.

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a cone that a dog must wear to prevent them from licking wounds, these wings are all about the Gilead state emphasizing power and control. The handmaids’ outfits are all unified by the color and look of the uniforms, though the small variance in details shows that there have been efforts to recycle past clothing items. Crabtree was inspired by many sources including religious cults, the Amish, artist Matthew Barney, and as she described, “kind of a [Vivienne] Westwood-esque appeal because it is strange no matter how you look at it.” Lightweight and thin, the handmaid’s dresses were meant to catch air and flow as the women moved, which she said would cause the women to look like “walking wombs. They would also be a flowing life force of blood.”6 Despite the elaborate layers and distinctive wings, the blood red remains the most distinctive feature of the garments. In one scene of an early episode, Mrs. Waterford (her Commander’s wife) looks at June, studying her from head to toe, and declares that June looks fine, since they need to make a good impression on the delegates from Mexico as well as the Commander at a reception that night. June sarcastically replies, “Red’s my color,” to which Mrs. Crawford retorts, “Well, that’s lucky.”7 The saturated red of the handmaid’s dress is further distinguished by the often-washed-out backgrounds and a gray chill that constantly permeates the environment. Therefore, when the handmaids walk around in the bold red dresses, cloaks, hoods, and gloves, they stand out distinctly. Contrasting moody environment, the series visually relies on solar flares and extreme brightness. Almost blinding the viewer, it is frequently the handmaids and their red gowns that interrupt not just the overly intense sunlight but even the frequent depictions of hospitals or clinical spaces. These women are inescapable while also unable to escape; they represent the possibility of what is most desired—children—but also the threat of power. Because they are easily spotted, the hope is that they can be contained and controlled. But as June, as narrator, proclaims, “They should have never given us uniforms if they didn’t want us to be an army.”8 The bright red of their costumes functions similarly to a panopticon, reminding them they are always being watched. The men in this society can 6  Qtd in E. Alex Jung, “From the Handmaids to the Marthas, How Each Handmaid’s Tale Costume Came Together,” Vulture, April 28, 2017, https://www.vulture.com/2017/04/ handmaids-tale-costumes-how-they-came-together.html. 7  The Handmaid’s Tale, “A Woman’s Place,” Hulu video, Season 1, Episode 6. 8  The Handmaid’s Tale, “The Night,” Hulu video, Season 1, Episode 10.

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constantly reinforce their power through the fear they inspire by monitoring the woman at all times. Further, the handmaid’s outfit also represents the fragility and impossible ability to control the reproductive system. Their clothing is blood red, comparable to menstrual blood. Handmaids’ whole lives are built around their ability to give birth, to measure their hormones, their periods, and their fertility. What better way to reinforce their primary purpose in the Gilead society than by connecting their uniform to the monitoring of and the physicality of their female bodies? The “wings,” as the headpiece is referred, provide the most confining element of their uniform. They make it hard for any woman wearing them to see others, to speak to others, and to have any clear perceptions of their surroundings. Not only does this make them more vulnerable, but it also serves as a constant reminder of their lack of freedom. Atwood explains her inspirations, saying she “must confess that the face-hiding bonnets came not only from mid-Victorian costume and from nuns, but from the Old Dutch Cleanser package of the 1940s, which showed a woman with her face hidden, and which frightened me as a child.”9 Crabtree and the set designers seem to play a bit with Atwood’s sources, particularly the idea of the Dutch bonnet worn by women workers in the seventeenth century, by actually showing June in her full attire next to a reproduction of Johann Vermeer’s iconic Milkmaid (1657–1658).10 While Crabtree had explored other options for the headwear, she ultimately relied on Atwood’s designs, explaining, “We decided to use that as a vehicle to heighten the cages that they were in mentally, physically, emotionally. And then use it to reveal the eyes, reveal the emotions. What was actually a hindrance became quite a helpful vehicle for a new way of acting, a new way of filming, a new way of designing.”11 The wings worked perhaps too well, as the actors and crew members on set struggled to film with them. Writer Hilary Elizabeth mentions that “Getting a good angle on the actors when 75% of their face is being intentionally obscured is no easy feat, and the actors often times have trouble hearing or seeing one another as well.”12 The wings proved their effectiveness in the filming of the series, though. In an unsettling scene in the third season, the wings are  Atwood, “Margaret Atwood on What ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Means.”  The Handmaid’s Tale, “Sacrifice,” Hulu video, Season 3, Episode 12. 11  Qtd. in Jung, “From the Handmaids to the Marthas.” 12  Hilary Elizabeth, “Handmaid’s Tale: 10 Hidden Details About the Costumes You Didn’t Notice,” ScreenRant, August 25, 2019, https://screenrant.com/ handmaids-tale-costume-details-trivia/. 9

10

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used for visual effect to emphasize the limits and disorientations that they can cause. A handmaid, Ofmatthew, is struggling to accept her pregnancy while facing backlash from her handmaid sisters for reporting June’s gossiping with a Martha, the generic name for a servant. This Martha had been helping June try to rescue her daughter and was violently killed for her actions. As Ofmatthew walks to the store, the viewer is allowed to see the world from her perspective under the wings, which blocks her side vision as well as her upward glances. To see more than a small segment directly in front of her, she must turn her head fully. It’s alarming and allows the viewer clear insight to how frustrating this must be. As Ofmatthew begins to suffer a nervous breakdown, again we see the view from the wings. She strikes a handmaid, then a guard and grabs his gun. As she looks for her intended victim, we see how hard it is to find that person, and her vision is blurred and confused, made further unsettled by the wings. Just as she finds the dreaded and evil Aunt Lydia, she is shot from behind, spinning to her death.13 Using the wings to frame the shot allows the viewer to experience the paranoia, the confusion, and ending with the mounting frustration that each handmaid must feel when wearing their uniforms. Over the course of the series, June wears several different uniforms. While in the present setting of the show, she is primarily seen wearing the handmaid’s red, in flashbacks she is showing wearing the contemporary fashion of the day, including the smart business suits that she wears to her job as an associate editor at an academic publishing firm. Yet, back in the present, when her Commander wants to sneak her into to an illegal club, she must wear the blue cloak of the Commander’s wives during their secretive travels. At the club, she wears a sexy sparkling barely there dress, fitting in with the sex workers and “discarded” women there. In an attempted escape, she dons the gray clothing of the econowives and econohusbands—those not rich enough to have a handmaid, but lawfully employed and religious who therefore escape the punishment and confinement of the servants, handmaids, people, and those sent to the colonies. In an elaborate plan to help a Martha infiltrate deeper into the resistance, June wears the faded sage of a Martha. One of the only outfits June never wears is of those women sent to the colonies, which in the show is a faded denim, drained of all color, much as the barren and chemically ruined land they are forced to work. The success of the uniforms,  The Handmaid’s Tale, “Unfit,” Hulu video, Season 3, Episode 8.

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though, is how intimately tied to the social caste they are: June is able to succeed in her travels because of her clothing. As long as she convincingly pulls off the uniform, she is unquestioned and often blends into the world around her. These are not just simply pieces of clothing; rather, they are completely connected and tied to the identity and the position in society of the person wearing them. This is incredibly clear when after trying to escape, a pregnant June is caught and returned to face punishment at the Red Center, the headquarters of the handmaids, which includes spaces for education and imprisonment. She is chained to a bed, while an Aunt brings her red handmaid dress and hangs it in front of her. Aunt Lydia comes in and makes clear that June has a choice: to remain chained up until she gives birth and then face execution, or to put her handmaid’s dress back on and attempt to return to good graces and move back in with her Commander. The dress hangs in front of her hauntingly, taunting her. Its red color is distinguished from the brownish room, almost as if it is “lighting the way,” as it provides the only path for June to hope to live beyond the birth of her child.14 That red dress seemed to hang in front of many American women in 2020. In this climate, Atwood herself has articulated, Fears and anxieties proliferate. Basic civil liberties are seen as endangered, along with many of the rights for women won over the past decades, and indeed the past centuries. In this divisive climate, in which hate for many groups seems on the rise and scorn for democratic institutions is being expressed by extremists of all stripes, it is a certainty that someone, somewhere—many, I would guess—are writing down what is happening as they themselves are experiencing it.15

In the second decade of the twenty-first century, The Handmaid’s Tale began to shift away from science fiction and into reality. Donald Trump was pushing through policies focused on restricting women’s reproductive rights. This was most clearly evident after the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg in 2020, who herself was a legendary champion for women’s equality. Trump now had the chance to fill another seat on the Supreme Court, one that would shift the balance toward conservatives. His choice sent shockwaves through progressive communities everywhere.  The Handmaid’s Tale, “Other Women,” Hulu video, Season 2, Episode 4.  Atwood, “Margaret Atwood on What ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Means.”

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Protest Red In some ways, Amy Coney Barrett was a predictable choice for Trump: she was vocally anti-choice, had a religious background, and was a woman, so that he could appear to be championing equality. Yet Barrett lacked experience that many justices had brought to the table, and she had a complicated background with religion. For years she was involved with a small Christian group founded in the 1970s, People of Praise. Much information about the group has been scrubbed from the internet and various sources. However, in perhaps an unbelievable twist, in the group’s directory from 2010 Barrett is listed as a “handmaid,” which they described as a leadership position for women. The main role for these handmaids was to provide advice and guidance to women members of the community, though this title did not come with the power that male leaders had. Further, in vigorous research published by The Washington Post, the group was known for encouraging women to be submissive to their husbands, and while not necessarily discouraging ambition, stressed the role of the husband as head of household.16 Unsurprisingly, when Barrett was nominated to the Supreme Court, many women virulently opposed the nomination. This “handmaid” would be challenged and protested by thousands across the country during her confirmation hearing. Women across the United States and beyond showed up in their versions of the handmaid’s costumes from Atwood’s novel and the television adaptation. The event was organized by a group named the National Red Cloak Protest, which called on women to wear the handmaid’s outfits and push for equality (see an example of this type of costume and protest in Fig. 2.2, in which in this case was protesting Trump’s healthcare policies but has the same look). They also hoped to draw attention to honor Ginsburg’s last wish—to wait until the next president was elected to appoint her successor.17 The blood red outfits stood out against the stark white buildings found all over Washington, DC and capital buildings throughout the nation. Posters were displayed with 16  Emma Brown, Jon Swaine, and Michelle Boorstein, “Amy Coney Barrett served as a ‘handmaid’ in Christian group People of Praise” The Washington Post, October 6, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/amy-coney-barrett-people-of-­praise/20 20/10/06/5f497d8c-0781-11eb-859b-f9c27abe638d_story.html. 17  Carrie N.  Baker, “#RuthSentUs: Red Cloak National Protest Against Amy Coney Barrett Confirmation,” Ms., October 26, 2020. https://msmagazine.com/2020/10/26/ ruth-sent-us-red-cloak-national-protest-against-amy-coney-barrett-confirmation/.

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Fig. 2.2  Adam Fagen, Handmaids in Red, The People’s Filibuster to Stop Trumpcare: Day One at the U.S.  Capitol, Washington, DC, June 27, 2017, Creative Commons license

slogans like “Ruth Sent Us,” “Reproductive Rights are Essential,” “More than a womb,” and “A woman’s place is in the resistance.” One of the protestors, Cyrstal Czyscon, described the groups’ feelings and reasonings for protesting: “We feel oppressed. We feel afraid. We are not just pieces of property, for our lives to be decided by the government. The government should stay away from all bodies. Not just women’s bodies, all bodies.”18 By using the now-recognizable handmaid’s outfit to comment about the 18  Rebecca Speare-Cole, “People Across U.S. Wear ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ Cloaks to Protest Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court Nomination,” Newsweek, October 26, 2020, https:// www.newsweek.com/handmaids-tale-cloaks-protest-amy-coney-barrett-supreme-courtnomination-1542118.

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harrowing ways women’s rights could be reduced to their abilities to conceive, these protestors landed on a way to visually create an immediate impact that could be readily understood by most in a quick glance. This, however, was not the first appearance of the robes in protests, as they were also worn by women protesting Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 2018. Tracey E.  Gilchrist explained the dramatic scene, by referencing The Handmaid’s Tale’s second season, comparing that the imprisoned handmaids “valued merely for the viability of their reproductive organs, lined the atrium of a meeting hall where their male captors sat below deciding policy, women at Kavanaugh’s hearing stood silently side-by-side as a rebuke to his nomination.”19 Kavanaugh is a staunch conservative and was often vague about abortion rights in his confirmation hearings. His Senate confirmation hearings also revealed that he had problematic relationships with women, including an account of attempted sexual assault of Christine Blasey Ford, who testified about her experience in depth. Kavanaugh denied the incident and was voted into the Senate on a party-line vote. Yet even before Kavanaugh, the handmaid outfits were used at marches against healthcare bills and restrictive abortion-­related legislation in 2017, almost immediately after the Hulu show debuted. It is not surprising, then, that Atwood realized this relevance was happening with the arrival of Donald Trump on the campaign circuit: I hate to say the story is newly relevant, as if it weren’t for three decades. But face it: When you have a president who talks about women as if they were squeeze toys, who implied a tough female journalist was on her period, whose administration gathered a room full of male politicians to discuss women’s health coverage—well, the viral marketing takes care of itself.20

She elaborates even further, “When I saw that witch and demon imagery being applied to Hillary Clinton, I thought, ‘We’re still in the 17th century.’ Vice President Mike Pence’s refusal to have dinner with women who aren’t his wife, for example, smacks of the same kind of Puritanism that 19  Tracey E.  Gilchrist, “Handmaid’s Tale Protesters Silently Resist Brett Kavanaugh for SCOTUS,” Advocate, September 4, 2018, https://www.advocate.com/politics/2018/9/04/handmaids-tale-protesters-silently-resist-brett-kavanaugh-scotus. 20  James Poniewozik, “Review: ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Creates a Chilling Man’s World,” The New York Times, April 24, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/24/arts/television/review-the-handmaids-tale-creates-a-chilling-mans-world.html.

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saw women condemned as witches and harlots just for the virtue of being born female.”21 Atwood recognized how as much as things could change to better the world for women, there were still people in power who were unwilling to accept women as equals. At the same time, the costumes were being used eloquently and sophisticatedly in protests, there was also the corresponding low-brow approach. In 2018, Yandy, a popular online retailer known for selling seductive costumes for Halloween (building on the idea of the sexy nurse and sexy cat), launched a “Brave Red Maiden Costume” for $64.95, which they described as an “upsetting dystopian future has emerged where women no longer have a say.” The outfit bares some similarity to the handmaid’s costume, yet it is sleeveless, cleavage baring, extremely short, risquély showing full legs, and with a small white bonnet (no wings). This was clearly a “sexy” Handmaid’s Tale outfit, yet in a bizarre twist, emphasized women’s oppression further by combining slavery with sexuality. After outrage online, the company pulled the costume, releasing a statement that read: Over the last few hours, it has become obvious that our “Yandy Brave Red Maiden Costume” is being seen as a symbol of women’s oppression, rather than an expression of women’s empowerment. This is unfortunate, as it was not our intention on any level. Our initial inspiration to create the piece was through witnessing its use in recent months as a powerful protest image.22

The backlash was quick, but so was the company’s response. Yandy had gone one step too far, and people simply would not tolerate it. Powerfully, though, Yandy does not stop using the costume because of its original source material; rather, they are recognizing the value of the protest, and the way this particular outfit has become symbolic for presenting a challenge to women’s rights. Unlike the protests at Barrett’s confirmation hearing, outspoken protests found success here, albeit on a much smaller scale. The design of the handmaid’s uniform, so distinct and recognizable, has come to represent more than just the novel The Handmaid’s Tale. Through protests and discussion, the red coats and dresses now represent  Gilbert, “The Visceral, Woman-Centric.”  Discussed and quoted in, Alaa Elassar and Nadeem Muaddi, “Retailer drops sexy ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ costume following outcry,” CNN, September 21, 2018, https://www. cnn.com/2018/09/21/us/Handmaids-tale-halloween-costume-trnd/index.html. 21 22

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a view of women reduced to their bodily function of childbirth—one that is outdated and reprehensible in terms of women’s actual full-bodied capabilities. Yet, as Atwood and others have noted, the book and costumes have only gained in relevance over time and today serve as powerful symbols of what could happen if fundamentalists or extremists gain too much power. As James Poniewozik has articulated, “This urgent ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ is not about prophecy. It’s about process, the way people will themselves to believe the abnormal is normal, until one day they look around and realize that these are the bad old days.”23 The handmaid’s wardrobe serves as a symbolic warning for us all to pay attention to the rising tide of the patriarchy.

Period Red The costume of the handmaid has clear recognizability and clout, but it is impractical for many and can clearly only be used for certain protests and occasions. In its simplest form, however, it is a variation of a red dress. As the show rose in popularity and as it figured prominently in protests, the company Pantone seemed to capitalize on the popularity of this brightly colored red. Instead of connecting it to protests however, they took it back to the origin of the handmaid and its biological role. In 2020, Pantone, a company known for creating a recognizable coded color system, added a new color: “Period.” This bright and intense red was meant to allude to menstrual cycles. The campaign was launched in collaboration with INTIMINA, a Swedish company working to de-stigmatize menstruation. INTIMINA sells menstrual cups and publishes helpful exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor, among other needs for those menstruating. In the press release about the news, Pantone claims: An active and adventurous red hue, courageous Period emboldens people who menstruate to feel proud of who they are. To own their period with self-assurance; to stand up and passionately celebrate the exciting and powerful life force they are born with; to urge everyone regardless of gender to feel comfortable to talk spontaneously and openly about this pure and natural bodily function.24  Poniewozik, “Review: ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Creates a Chilling Man’s World.”  Pantone Color Institute, “The Creation of Period: Creating a Red Hue to Break Down the Stigma Surrounding Menstruation,” September 30, 2020, https://www.pantone.com/ articles/case-studies/the-creation-of-period. 23 24

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This is the slick, carefully worded talk of a corporation trying to appeal to a broader audience through a direct bodily connection. Simultaneously, this publicly drew attention to the underdiscussed nature of cis-women’s menstruation. However, the sincerity and perhaps even the oddness of the choice must be recognized. In a humorous approach to this color “invention,” Sarah Rose Sharp mocks the choice, which is worth reading in its entirety: First of all, I’m concerned that the paint is slightly too homogenous. To really get the conversation flowing appropriately, there should be occasional odd chunks. Secondly, while I appreciate the direct approach, calling it “Period” feels a little on the nose, and I wonder if we could have gotten something more playful. My suggestions include “Aunt Flo,” “Shark Week,” and “I Brought You Into This World, and I Can Take You Out of It.” Finally, it seems reductionist to champion only a single shade for this experience, which most uterus-bearing folks can tell you deserves a whole range of colors, from “Rusty Bucket” to “Heliotrope,” to that old classic, “Oh Shit, Denise. Do You Have a Tampon? Fuck.25

In her comedic take, Sharp sophisticatedly tears down the ridiculousness of naming one color in honor of menstrual blood by pointing out the reality of the menstrual experience. Her perspective can also be seen as illuminating the specifics of what is like to actually bleed every month, something that half the population has not experienced. Sharp was not the only critical voice concerning Pantone’s decision, as Cromoactivismo, an Argentinian artist-activist collective, would challenge the corporation’s decision. The group, led by Marina De Caro, Guillermina Mongan, Victoria Musotto, Daiana Rose, and Mariela Scafati, is known for creating unique colors with challenging names that could be used in protests and demonstrations across the region. For example, they created green scarves in colors such as “Contagious Poison Green,” “Promiscuous Queen Green,” “Senate Green,” and “Legal, Safe, and Free Green” which were used to support the abortion rights movement in the country in 2018. In their challenge to Pantone, they write, “Color is not something that can or should be identified with a registration number; it is not something that needs to be regulated by a company. Color finds itself in constant movement and transformation.” They question how this color could in fact be universal, when every person is so distinct from one another: 25  Sarah Rose Sharp, “Pantone’s Latest Shade? ‘Period’ Red,” Hyperallergic, September 30, 2020. https://hyperallergic.com/591554/pantone-intimina-period-red/.

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Color is in constant dialogue with its context. How can we think that the shade “Period Red” can universally represent our menstrual palettes? Our cycles traverse moments of brownish, yellowish, whitish, pinkish, reddish, blackish, all juxtaposed against the colors of our hands, pads, menstrual cups, tampons, jeans, sheets, sofas, bus seats—the beach drops, the surprise drops, the first-time shade, the secret, the strange congratulations, our memories.26

Cromoactivismo echoes Sharp in her challenges to Pantone, but makes things much more explicit and perhaps, more understandable. For a group that has used colors to make significant political statements, Pantone’s female empowerment take reeks of capitalism, instead of a sincere push for acceptance and understanding. And yet, Pantone’s “Period” does draw attention to the menstrual blood that most cis-women pass once a month during their childbearing years. At its basest, the menstrual period is one of the fundamental biological differences between the sexes. It reduces the broadly and uniquely defined woman into her reproductive function, one that can be different for each person. By naming a bright red color “Period,” Pantone is making a symbol of menstrual blood, which itself is symbolic. Recalling the work of Elizabeth Grosz, Berkeley Kaite explains, “So while blood may seem to belong in the body, and in this case, a woman’s body, when a ciswoman’s uterine lining builds towards its monthly slow release, that fluid is charged with many disciplinary maneuvers—material, linguistic, and symbolic.”27 While the power and use of menstrual blood is significant, Pantone here wants to focus only on one specific color, which emphasizes the boldness and the graphicness of the blood as it exits the body and before air changes the color.28 The intense red color of Pantone’s period is blood at its reddest, the stereotypical color of blood in movies, not the blood found in underwear once a month. But unlike blood from a wound, 26   Valentina Di Liscia, “Artist-Activist Group Criticizes Pantone’s ‘Period Red,’” Hyperallergic, October 26, 2020. https://hyperallergic.com/596910/artist-activist-groupcriticizes-pantones-period-red/. 27  Berkeley Kaite ed., Menstruation Now: What Does Blood Perform? (Ontario, Canada: Demeter Press, 2019), 8. 28  For more information on this, see Kaite ed., Menstruation Now; Chris Bobel, New Blood: Third Wave Feminism and the Politics of Menstruation (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2010); and Breanne Fahs, Out for Blood: Essays on Menstruation and Resistance (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2016); and Lauren Rosewarne, Periods in Pop Culture (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2012).

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this is blood that is often expected and emphasized as part of a cis-­woman’s lifecycle. This is the blood that allows for Atwood’s handmaids to serve their function as childbearing in The Handmaid’s Tale.

Historically Red But red does not only stand for blood, despite that powerful visceral connection. Expanding beyond menstruation, red also represents “power, brain, life, and death all swept up in one bold color.”29 “Period” red, or a bright intense red, also recalls the color scarlet, and even perhaps a dash of vermillion. Each of these colors embodies the bold side of red. Scarlet takes its name from a woolen cloth in the fourteenth century, an admired, boldly color that was the brightest and most resilient cloth at the time. It was regarded as luxurious and especially expensive, as it was made from hundreds of female kermes beetles from southern Europe.30 Pantone’s “Period” is an intense red, one filled with historical referents, emotion, symbolism, and above all else, power. Traditionally, red has been used for significant moments and is often connected to powerful figures. Red and its brighter shades have been worn by Roman warriors who battled between the 500 and 300  BCE; Egyptians wrapped their mummies in linens dyed red; and ancient Chinese people associated the color with death, though in modern times it is often connected to luck, joy, and money.31 Michel Pastoureau posits that red is not just an important color, but that it in fact was the first and “only true color.” He elaborates by citing the famous prehistoric rock paintings in the Cave of Altamira in Santillana del Mar, Spain, and Chauvet Cave in Vallon-Pont-d’Arc, Ardèche, France, as demonstrating the way red was used in painting, but also acknowledges that red appeared in pottery, bricks, grooves, fabrics, and more.32 For Pastoureau, red appeared as the first decorative color. As he continues to explore the history of the potent color, he describes its variable associations in discussion over the past 150 years: the red world of prostitutes, a political color, correction markings in red, the red celebration, the red of seduction, and red’s  Kassia St. Clair, The Secret Lives of Color. (New York: Penguin Books, 2018), 138–141.  St. Clair, 138–139. 31  St. Clair, 134–155. 32  Michel Pastoureau, Red: The History of a Color, trans. by Jody Gladding (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2017), 14–17. For an incredibly thorough dissection of the history of this color over time, his book is an excellent resource. 29 30

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theatricality.33 In almost every description on red, the color is associated with power.34 The red of the handmaids’ outfits is associated with multiple kinds of power. Firstly, the women are made to wear red to symbolize their lower status and their role in society to strictly give birth as many times as possible. They illustrate the power that the Commanders have over them and are a symbol of compliance. But as the story progresses, and the handmaids begin to fight back, the red gown can now be seen as symbolizing their power. Escaping Gilead, the red of their gowns signifies to other countries how they have been repeatedly raped and abused at the hands of leaders who want to populate their new country. The red dominates the landscape, powerfully sweeping across it, as the women refuse to acquiesce to violence and now begin to enact pain on others. It is easy to see why the handmaid’s dresses have come to symbolize the show, because of the way that dress symbolizes the shifting power dynamic central to the show’s premise.

Powerful Red In an entirely different manner, the power of red can also be useful and persuasive for charitable causes, as in the case of the Red Dress Fashion shows. These events were arranged by the American Heart Association (AHA), who founded their Go Red for Women campaign in 2004. This program emphasizes education for women about heart disease, which is severely underdiagnosed and underdiscussed in women. In addition to publishing annual special editions of the science journal Circulation on gender and heart disease, the AHA provides key facts, cooking info, weight loss guidance, sleep advice, fitness tips, and more for women to work  Pastoureau, 140–193.  In a famous example of this, successful golfer Tiger Woods is known for wearing red power shirts on the fourth and final day of his golf tournaments. He has worn the color since 1996, before he was a professional and started when he played junior golf. Later, his preference for red conveniently aligned with his college choice, Stanford, who also wore red on their last tournament days. Explaining his choice, he has said that “I wear red on Sundays because my mom thinks that that’s my power color, and you know you should always listen to your mom.” For more, see Brent Kelley, “The Real Reason Tiger Woods Wears Red Shirts in Final Rounds,” liveabout.com, October 5, 2018, https://www.liveabout.com/tiger-­ woods-­red-shirt-1566398; and Ganit Singh, “The Red Shirt Phenomena,” 36 Chapters, October 14, 2021, https://36chapters.com/the-red-shirt-phenomena-bf9bd76dd2e5. 33 34

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toward preventing heart disease.35 Most famously, they created the Red Dress collection, and for many years they have held fashion shows featuring the looks, often coinciding with fashion week in New York, though small, local fashion events can happen as well. The red in these garments is meant to symbolize blood, but not period blood, instead focusing on its connection to the heart as the grand mechanism that controls blood flow. Celebrities join forces with AHA, all modeling various fashion-forward red dresses in various shapes and styles, all while drawing attention to heart disease prevention and care. The 2020 Annual Red Dress Collection, which marked the 16th fashion show, featured actresses, former Miss Americas, news anchors, singers, and professional athletes. Designers who participated included Nicole Miller, Michael Fausto, Naeem Kahn, Randi Rahm, Yousef Aljasmi, and Etro. AHA’s CEO Nancy Brown noted that all the models and the 1600 people in attendance were not paid, nor did they pay for tickets. Rather, they were invited to attend the globally broadcasted event to encourage and to raise awareness of the cause. Brown continued: The Red Dress Collection is an amazing opportunity for the American Heart Association and these amazing celebrities to help us, help people understand that heart disease is the greatest health threat to women. These women are all volunteers who are very excited. Many of them have personal family histories with heart disease, or heart disease themselves.36

Thanks to prominent women of all professions who take part, the show gets a fair amount of press, which is increased by its timing coinciding with other prominent fashion events. All of this attention benefits Go Red for Women. In connection with local events and runway shows, AHA has worked intensely to help women understand the causes of heart disease and help prevent future issues. It is no coincidence that the AHA latched onto the color red for its runway shows: red has always been one of the strongest and distinct colors that designers can use. Throughout his impressive 45-year career, fashion 35  American Heart Association, Go Red for Women, https://www.goredforwomen.org/ en/; and AHA/ASA Journals, “AHA Journals Go Red For Women® Collection,” https:// www.ahajournals.org/go-red. 36  Kellie Ell, “The Stars Were Seeing Red at Annual Red Dress Collection,” Women’s Wear Daily, February 6, 2020, https://wwd.com/eye/people/ red-dress-collection-fashion-show-feb-1203465781/.

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designer Valentino’s trademark was his signature poppy red, which was inspired by a trip to the opera in Barcelona, where he “marveled at the sight of women seated in the theater’s boxes looking like a basket full of red flowers.”37 One of the most famous designers ever, Valentino (whose full name was Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani) designed sumptuous, complicated, and feminine dresses for such luminary figures as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Audrey Hepburn, Brooke Shields, and Julia Roberts. His use of red in his shows, clothing, and all of his designs was distinctive and repetitive enough that he became associated with the color. His first ready-to-wear item was 50 little red coats for Bloomingdales in 1963.38 In his white collection of 1968, he included one shocking red dress, disrupting the whiteness of the runway. He always incorporated one piece in red for good luck.39 As with the other examples in this chapter, Valentino preferred a hue that was both bright and filled with intensity. This brilliant red would be his signature, as exemplified in Fig. 2.3. When Valentino retired in 2008, he shared his last collection with the world at the Rodin Museum in Paris. At the end of the show, his red gowns were projected on the wall and were also worn by his close group of celebrities, friends, and models who preceded him on his final catwalk presentation.40 The finale was perhaps the boldest move of Valentino’s last presentation. Thirty models walked on the catwalk in identical red Valentino gowns. The dresses relied on an asymmetrical neckline, which added dramatic movement through a small cape-like extension over the left shoulder. As that caught the breeze from their turn at the end of the runway, the models revealed an impressive back cut-out that emphasized their shoulder blades while the silk cut across the lower back to gather at the hip. The fabric slid down the model’s long legs, as the full but not overpowering skirt was filled with movement when the model walked. In this last show of his career, Valentino wanted to make it memorable. As the parade of models wearing one of his flattering and memorable long red dresses, his mark on the fashion world was solidified. Like Valentino, Christian Louboutin became distinctly affiliated with the color red. Louboutin gained notoriety for putting an unexpected,  Pamela Golbin, Valentino: Themes and Variations (New York, Rizzoli, 2018), 123.  Golbin, Valentino, 233. 39  Golbin, Valentino, 235. 40  Sarah Mower, “Valentino Spring 2008 Couture,” Vogue Runway, January 22, 2008, https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2008-couture/valentino. 37 38

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Fig. 2.3  Frank Stahlberg, San Valentino  – Valentino’s Day, Ara Pacis, Rome, August 1, 2007, Creative Commons license

bright shiny red on the soles of his high heels. The Parisian-based footwear designer got his start in the early 1980s, but it was not until 1992 that he would cement his legendary designer status. Working on a shoe that was heavily influenced by Andy Warhol’s flower prints, he “felt the shoe lacked

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Fig. 2.4  Christian Louboutin Peep Toe Pump, metallic patent leather, 140mm heel, “Altadama” model (red sole), September 27, 2011, Creative Commons license

energy.”41 Nearby, one of his assistants was painting her nails bright red, which encouraged him to paint the sole of the shoe the same bright color, even borrowing his assistant’s nail polish. Darla-Jane Gilroy says, “Signifying love, passion and blood, red was used by Louboutin to create a visual shorthand to empower women, allowing them to break out of societal constraints while wearing his ‘forbidden shoe.’”42 Success was immediate, as his distinct coloring of a part of shoe that no one had historically paid attention to garnered renown as illustrated in Fig.  2.4. References to his shoes in pop culture abound. Louboutin even has his own color code, Pantone 18-1663 TPX. The impact of Louboutin’s seemingly random choice of red soles was enormous. In a swift move, he had created a signature moment for his brand, one that was immediately recognizable but also fun, spunky, and distinct. As Gilroy reiterates, “The genius of Louboutin was to take this 41  Qtd. in Darla-Jane Gilroy, Little Book of Christian Louboutin: The Story of the Iconic Shoe Designer (London: Welbeck Publishing Group, 2021), 43. 42  Gilroy, 44.

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previously overlooked part of a shoe and make it not only visually dynamic but also commercially useful in communicating his brand. He has been so successful that today, it is arguable that no single shoe characteristic is as globally recognized as his red shoe.”43 Not only do the red soles symbolize the brand, but they also now stand for luxury, innovation, and high quality. But Louboutin could not trademark the color red in fashion, as we have seen how Valentino and others also embraced the color. Besides them, a younger designer picked up an interest in red but managed to link it to his own broader ambitions and activism. Born in Singapore and growing up in Nepal, Prabal Gurung was continually inspired by strong women, including both his mother and famous talk show host Oprah Winfrey. He prioritized his fashion education, achieving his goals through school in India, then Parsons in New York City, and working for designer Bill Blass, among others. After ten years of success in school and working his way through the ranks of designers’ atelier, he began his own career. His first collection for Fall 2009 debuted in February 2009 to much excitement, winning him the cover of Women’s Wear Daily. The color palette of this first collection was simple, focusing mainly on red, black, and white, which, he writes, were inspired by the Newar community, a group with a rich history and strong roots in Nepal.44 A mix of mainly Hindu peoples from the Kathmandu Valley, with some Buddhists mixed in, they are recognized for their work in the arts, crafts, dance, music, and architecture. The traditional Newari dress are black saris with red band edges, which inspired Gurung and appear in both his color scheme and dress design in that first show.45 Within his first year of working on his own, Gurung designed a gown for Oprah to wear on the cover of her magazine, styled Zoe Saldana for the Star Trek premiere, and dressed then-First Lady Michelle Obama for a public outing. All three of these dresses plus the WWD cover dress were in his preferred bold hue of crimson. Further, in creating outfits for women of different sizes and different races, Gurung was already showing his distinctive approach to fashion. Oprah’s bold taffeta gown emphasized her left shoulder with an oversized bow. The slight v-neckline showcased her impressive cleavage. Cinched in at the waist, the skirt flares out effortlessly,  Gilroy, 44.  Prabal Gurung, Prabal Gurung: Style and Beauty with a Bite (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2019), 24. 45  Marcia R. Liberman, “The Artistry of the Newars,” New York Times, April 9, 1995. 43 44

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flattering her shape. The opportunity to design such a bold and stunning red ballgown for Oprah Winfrey, the woman who pushed him to follow his dreams through her television show, represented a moment of coming full circle for Gurung. Gurung made an important part of his career redefining the standards of fashion and beauty, pushing his audience to accept all types of women. In 2006, he made a deal to launch a capsule collection for Lane Bryant, a women’s clothing store known for offering a range of sizes for women of all shapes. As he clarifies, “From day one, our brand was founded on the ideals of celebrating diversity and fostering an inclusive world, and while we’ve always offered a size-inclusive range, it brought me such happiness to be able to build a community and engage with inspiring women on a broader scale.”46 Combining these powerful ideas with his love for red is critical. Many people who design for women of a larger size work to hide their bodies, typically using darker colors to disguise a woman’s shape. Gurung’s willingness to embrace bright colors like red shows his belief that all women are beautiful, and all bodies deserved to be celebrated. He has connected this to his ideas of growing up in Nepal and India, where being too thin was worrisome and being fat was a sign of being well-fed and wealthy.47 There, size did not have to do with beauty, but instead coincided with wealth, status, and health. For Gurung, it was a natural choice to be inclusive with his designs, models, and practices. In Fall 2018, he varied his red tones to include more pink. This collection is particularly of note because he was inspired by the matrilineal Mosuo tribe, from the Yunnan province of China. Not only did these strong women inspire him, but he was also influenced by the Gulabi Gang, female activists who wore pink saris which they find symbolic of their power and fearlessness.48 They are vigilantes known for protesting about domestic violence and abuse against women. He worked with female artisans in Nepal to help make design key elements of the collection, like scarfs. He also incorporated feathers, hand-embroidered sequins, patchwork, tufted pieces, and the raw edges he associated with Mongolia. Elaborating, he describes, “The artisanal spirit seen throughout was an ode to Eastern practices captured by the mandala-inspired and hand-­ drawn graphic prints, hand-cut fringe, hand-knit sweaters and  Gurung, Gurung, 177.  Gurung, Gurung, 20. 48  Gurung, Gurung, 226. 46 47

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hand-­embroidered feathers, paillettes, and pearls.”49 This collection represented a shift that he saw happening in society, with the development of the “cumulative power of female solidarity.”50 By this point, Gurung had produced work that had engaged with the campaign of Hilary Clinton and the Women’s March of 2017, and he was also exploring the #metoo movement and the rising power of women’s voices. The Fall 2018 collection built on that past work and incorporated Eastern themes of his past. To match the inspiration of his show, he made an effort to incorporate models that reflected that background—from Singapore, India, Thailand, China, Korea, and Nepal—while also working with stylists, hair, and make-up artists who were all of Asian descent. He explains this choice, noting “Amid a chaotic and challenging political and social climate, representation for minority groups is more important than ever, and it was essential for us to create a table where these groups have a seat to be heard, seen, and counted.”51

Indigenous Red Beyond Gurung, who has taken inspiration from his home country, there is an important rise in Indigenous designers who have begun using red in their collections to honor missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirits (commonly abbreviated as MMIWG2S). In 2019, a group of designers at Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week showcased red dresses on the runway. This event is superficially similar to the AHA Red Dress collection; however, it was not based on celebrity and fashion notoriety to fund a charity. In this case, Indigenous designers were showing their work that related to their ancestral history, to create a visible space for people whose careers often fly under the radar. This included Métis designer Evan Ducharme, who created The Honor Gown. Gathered and draped lightly across a corset, the red jersey dress was made to honor his ancestors. He wants to create something “timeless, formidable, and reverential,” believing that fashion can be a way to spread messages, particularly useful to Indigenous designers. Ducharme makes clear, “The fashion industry has a great deal of visibility in today’s cultural climate and maintains a firm grasp on the public’s attention. Attention can be harnessed to 49  A paillette is a type of glittery, metal ornament or a spangle, often attached to clothing. Gurung, Gurung, 226. 50  Gurung, Gurung, 226. 51  Gurung, Gurung, 242.

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bring awareness of this epidemic to the public and the industry—one that historically has done very little to uphold the humanity of Indigenous peoples.”52 Ducharme was part of the Red Dress Event, which included including Yolanda Skelton, Debra Sparrow, Pam Baker, Morgan Asoyuf, and Nipii Designs. “When the ladies are walking the runway in the red dresses they’re giving voice to their stolen sisters saying, ‘We are silent no more.’ What connects us through this color red is: Red is the color of our life’s blood, it connects all human beings, cross-culturally,” explains Skelton, who is a member of the House of Hax-be-gwoo-txw of the Fireweed Clan.53 Pushing this idea about anger and blood even further, it is understandable then that we can and should associate these ideas with the red dresses of the artist Jamie Black. An artist of mixed Anishinaabe and Finnish descent, Black has widely exhibited The REDress Project, which she has worked on since 2010. She describes the piece as an aesthetic response to the more than 1000 missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada … It is an installation art project based on an aesthetic response to this critical national issue. The project has been installed in public spaces throughout Canada and the United States as a visual reminder of the staggering number of women who are no longer with us. Through the installation I hope to draw attention to the gendered and racialized nature of violent crimes against Aboriginal women and to evoke a presence through the marking of absence.54

Black collected hundreds of red dresses and displays them in a variety of public places, such as hanging in trees outdoors or in museums. They hang loosely, never on a mannequin or a body; rather, the empty dresses move with the wind, emphasizing their lack of form and their missing wearer. The style of Black’s work can be seen in Fig. 2.5, as the photograph shows a recreated art installation inspired by her work, as many 52  Christian Allaire, “How Red Dresses Became a Symbol for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women,” Vogue, April 7, 2021, https://www.vogue.com/article/ jaime-black-red-dress-project-missing-murdered-indigenous-women. 53  Cassandra Szklarski, “Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week Showcases Clothing Design with ‘Higher Purpose,’” CBC, November 18, 2019, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ british-columbia/vancouver-indigenous-fashion-week-1.5363076. 54  Jamie Black, The REDress Project, 2020, https://www.jaimeblackartist.com/ exhibitions/.

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Fig. 2.5  Edna Winti, Art Installation Inspired by Métis Artist Jaime Black. At Seaforth Peace Park, Vancouver, today, the National Day for Vigils for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, October 3, 2016, Creative Commons license

across the United States and Canada have created their own tributes with similar red dresses. Black has often noted that one of her main inspirations for her project came from Bogotá, Colombia, where she saw a protest of local women in the main public square. She notes that “they were all women who had experienced having people in their families go missing, without any kind of recourse. There were about 40 women wearing red dresses. One woman in a red dress climbed to the top of the statue in the middle of the square, and she called out, ‘Where are they?’ I thought, We need to bring this energy home.”55 Black is referring to the 2009 event called “Where are 55  Qtd. in Christian Allaire, “How Red Dresses Became a Symbol for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.” Vogue, April 7, 2021, https://www.vogue.com/article/jaime-blackred-dress-project-missing-murdered-indigenous-women.

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they? Living Memory. Women in the Public Square,” which involved hundreds of women carrying signs with pictures of their husbands, fathers, sons, and daughters who had disappeared during years of political warfare in Colombia. The event was created by Patricia Ariza, an actor, director, writer, and poet. Discussing her work, which often involves women dealing with violence through performance, Ariza said, “Violence takes away the subjective character of women—their identities. So when women fight against that, they are capable of turning pain into strength.”56 Working with more than 300 Colombian citizens, actors and dancers in the red dresses repeatedly ask the question “Where are they?” Ariza wants the performers to engage in the public spaces, allowing them to acknowledge the oppression and violence that is continually being enacted upon women. Encouraging secretive or silenced experiences to be moved outside, Ariza is allowing women’s pain to be understood as well as demonstrating the scale of just how many women have been harmed. Black does not require actors for her pieces; rather, she relies on empty dresses, allowing for the focus to shift to the absences of the missing women, girls, and two-spirits, but like Ariza, she is encouraging the viewer to think about the loss of the people as well as the disruption that must be present for their friends in family. Black also hopes that the viewer can feel a presence when viewing the works, making it more of a lasting experience than just one that is engaged visually. She elaborates, “We are calling in the spirits of the women that were lost and make their energy and their powers here with us, right now, and it is here with the indigenous words and speaking out about the violence. They’re watching, and you know, and we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing.”57 Specifically, Black is discussing the installation of her project at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Her dresses hang from trees around the heavily landscaped façade of the museum. They stand at various points in the fountain, the red particularly jarring against the cool beige travertine and gray stone background. Placed on hangers, they feel like familiar clothing that could be in your closet or at a store display. Their materiality is crucial so that the public can 56   Alexis Greene, “Theatre Against Violence Against Women,” American Theatre, December 10, 2014, https://www.americantheatre.org/2014/12/10/theatre-againstviolence-against-women/. 57  “The REDress Project at the National Museum of the American Indian,” Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, April 8, 2020, video, 2:38, https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=157&v=lH7FuxzrFvs&feature=emb_logo.

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understand that these are real dresses, just as real people have gone missing and been murdered. Both the dresses as installed and even the photographs of the display are meant to be memorable. Viewers become witnesses to a powerful project that wants to awaken people to the horrors suffered by Indigenous women in Canada and the United States. Black’s work also recalls the twitter campaign “#MMIW,” which was created by Sheila North Wilson, grand chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) in 2012. Wilson recognized the growing gatherings to support missing and murdered loved ones in a variety of communities and understood their pain because she was one of them.58 Red was selected as the color of the MMIW campaign (later evolving into the more inclusive hashtag #MMIWG2S), not just for blood, love, anger, or pain. Instead, it was chosen because in numerous tribes, red is believed to be the only color that spirits could see. The Native Women’s Wilderness explains, “It is hoped that by wearing red, we can call back the missing spirits of our women and children so we can lay them to rest.”59 Similarly, many Indigenous women wear a red handprint painted on to their faces at protests and activist events.60 In one of the most visual representations of this movement, Jordan Marie Brings Three White Horses Daniel ran the Boston Marathon in 2019 with a red handprint across her face and MMIW written on her legs. Hoping to create awareness, she wanted to acknowledge her stolen relatives. She is a citizen of the Kul Wicasa Oyate (Lower Brule Sioux Tribe) in South Dakota, and she dedicated each individual mile of the event to an Indigenous women or girl who had been murdered through personal prayer. In Fig. 2.6, photographer Lorie Shaull shows a participant in the Greater than Fear Rally and March in Rochester, Minnesota, in 2018, who also covers her face to draw attention to the concerns regarding Indigenous women. Voicing her reasoning, she says, “It just was in those moments 58  Anna Maria Tremonti, “’I understood… because I was one of them.’ Sheila North Wilson on Creating #MMIW.” Current (Winnipeg), December 8, 2016, https://www.cbc. ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-december-7-2016-mmiw-winnipeg-publicforum-1.3883544/i-­u nderstood-­b ecause-i-was-one-of-them-sheila-north-wilson-oncreating-mmiw-1.3883730. 59  “Murdered & Missing Indigenous Women,” Native Women’s Wilderness, https:// www.nativewomenswilderness.org/mmiw#:~:text=Red%20is%20the%20official%20 color,can%20lay%20them%20to%20rest. This organization provides resources for all Indigenous women throughout North America. 60  Due to COVID precautions, the handprints now appear on masks instead of the face.

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Fig. 2.6  Lorie Shaull, A Participant in the Greater Than Fear Rally and March in Rochester, Minnesota. The rally and march were held in response to President Trump’s Rally at the Mayo Civic Center in downtown Rochester, October 4, 2018, Creative Commons license

that I realized that this is something that could be recognized and hopefully means something to Indigenous people, to Indian Country, and hopefully to the families or those that do this work.”61 While some have challenged the intent of wearing the handprint in that it perhaps recalls war paint or is just a blatant ploy to get more followers on social media, most recognize that within the context of the application of the handprint and its color have very obvious connections to the MMIWG2S movement. The dresses and the handprints on the face came together recently in Colorado, where artists and curators have worked to explore the rights of Native/Indigenous women in the state. Gregg Deal painted a large mural in Colorado Springs in 2022, which featured a young native woman with  Rhiannon Johnson, “Widespread Use of Red Handprints to Represent MMIWG Sparks Debate Among Advocates.” CBC News, March 9, 2020, https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/red-handprints-mmiwg-1.5483955. 61

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a red handprint on the lower half of her face. 77-foot tall and titled Take Back the Power, the mural focuses on representation. Deal notes, “A lot of representation sexualizes Indigenous women, from Disney’s long-legged Pocahontas to the way women are portrayed in pop culture. There’s a stereotype and representation of Indigenous women throughout American culture.”62 The woman painted is in fact Deal’s 14-year-old daughter Sage Deal and is meant to recall the #MMIWG2S campaign. Wearing red earrings and with a yellow halo around her head, she proudly looks out at the viewer demanding to be seen and acknowledged, as so many who are murdered and missing are often ignored. A curated exhibition, Sing Our Rivers Red (SORR), combined artwork from numerous Native peoples all to further people’s awareness about this cause. Held at the Dairy Art Center in Boulder, CO, from May to October in 2021, the curators, Danielle SeeWalker (Húŋkpapȟa Lakȟóta and citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota) and Navajo artist JayCee Beyale, created a central feature focused on a grouping of clothing, made by local Denver artists who were constructing ribbon dresses like those worn in the eighteenth century, which included the additions of wool, cotton, and ribbons that were received via trade. These dresses were hung from the rafters, a circle of about ten displayed so that the ribbon stripes were about eye level. In the center of the circle, rose one bright red dress displayed higher than all the others. These works inevitably bring up comparisons to Jaimie Black’s work and have the same intention, to illuminate the underdiscussed and unjust issue of the MMIWG2S, as these curators emphasize the history, resilience, and character of each piece of clothing.63 The other main installation at the exhibition further encouraged the viewer to think about absence and loss, as over 5000 single earrings were hung around the room—each earring isolated from the pair. Collected all over North America, by many who have been directly affected by MMIWG2S, as SeeWalker and Beyale elaborate, “The idea behind collecting a one-sided pair of earrings is to symbolize how we continue holding onto something we cherish even if part of it is missing. It is about the process of reconciliation with the loss of the other side, or in other words, 62  Jennifer Mulson, “New Colorado Springs Mural Addresses Plight of Indigenous Community,” Pikes Peak Courier, July 29, 2020, https://gazette.com/pikespeakcourier/ new-colorado-springs-mural-addresses-plight-of-indigenous-community/article_16a862c4-­ cdf1-­11ea-932a-db547b548396.html. 63  “Sing Our Rivers Red,” The Dairy Arts Center, curated by Danielle SeeWalker and JayCee Beyale, May–October 2021, https://thedairy.org/sing-our-rivers-red/.

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the loss of a loved one.”64 These thoughtful installations allowed viewers an immersive visualization of the number of Indigenous women who are lost—whether missing or murdered. SeeWalker’s art and curatorial practices are inextricably linked to her activist work. Working with Senator Jessie Danielson, SeeWalker helped to create and advocate for the Prohibit American Indian Mascots Bill (SB21-116), which passed in 2021 and bans the use of mascots by public schools, charter schools, and public colleges and universities. Further, she also helped establish a bill that would create an office dedicated to MMIWG2S at the Colorado Department of Safety, which passed in 2022. Significantly, this mural and exhibition show that while Canada has taken the lead in attempting reconciliation with Indigenous people, there are people invested in the United States who want to make some changes. This is articulated in the writings for the Sing Our Rivers Red (SORR) exhibition, as the curators articulate, “SORR also is being planned in solidarity and with a collaborative spirit, meant to support the efforts built in Canada, as well as highlight the need for awareness and action to address colonial gender violence in the United States.”65 Sadly, as much as people are working to raise awareness and create resources for MMIWG2S, no one quite knows the extent of how many people have actually been affected. Today, the official number of murdered and missing Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirits is over a thousand but is projected to be much more. Because of the role that both the United States and Canada have played in the lives of American Indians, Native Americans, First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples, it is worth it to explore both countries’ statistics with regard to their treatment of Indigenous women. In the United States, four out of five Native women are affected by violence. In addition, American Indian women face murder rates that are ten times the national average, and homicide is the third leading cause of death among Native women.66 By 2016, the National Crime Information Center reported 5712 cases of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women 64  Denise Zubizarreta, “Colorado Artists and Activists Unite to Advocate for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People,” Hyperallergic, October 5, 2022, https://hyperallergic. com/762163/colorado-ar tists-and-activists-unite-to-advocate-for-missing-andmurdered-indigenous-people/. 65  Sing Our Rivers Red. 66  “MMIWG2S,” Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women, 2022, https://www. csvanw.org/mmiw.

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and girls.67 Canada’s statistics are just as bad. As many as 1017 Indigenous women and girls were murdered between 1980 and 2012, a homicide rate roughly 4.5 times higher than of all other women in Canada.68 Indigenous women and girls are five times more likely to experience violence than any other population in Canada, and they make up 16% of all female homicide victims and 11% of missing women, even though they make up only 4.3% of the population of Canada.69 These statistics inform Daniel’s protest and Black’s work, who, in both the act of collecting and displaying these dresses, helps people to understand that the bodies are not just numbers, but real physical people who unjustly had their lives cut short. In considering recent activist Indigenous protests, we must step back and examine the circumstances surrounding MMIWG2S. To fully understand the depth of Black’s project and Daniel’s action as well as the importance of both the color red and their dresses and their meaning to Indigenous people, there must be an awareness of the history and situation of Indigenous people in Canada and the United States. This situation is extraordinarily complex, in larger part because it hinges on the colonization and disruption forced upon the Indigenous people in North America.70 Perhaps one of the most egregious and harmful events in Canada thrust upon the Indigenous people was The Indian Act (a conglomeration of laws passed dealing with “Indian” affairs) of 1876, and its later amended 67  “Murdered & Missing Indigenous Women,” Native Women’s Wilderness, https:// www.nativewomenswilderness.org/mmiw#:~:text=Red%20is%20the%20official%20 color,can%20lay%20them%20to%20rest. 68  “Missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls: Understanding the numbers,” Amnesty International, January 29, 2021, https://www.amnesty.ca/blog/ missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-and-girls-understanding-the-numbers/. 69  “MMIWG: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Ending Violence,” Assembly of First Nations, https://www.afn.ca/policy-sectors/mmiwg-end-violence/. 70  A note on terminology: I will refer to Indigenous people, as way of encompassing the large groups of tribes including First Peoples, First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples who inhabit North America. Both Aboriginal and Indian are terms constructed and utilized by the government and various institutions, and while they are still in use, many Indigenous people do not prefer the ways that the terms are forced upon them. When possible, I will be as specific as possible with respect to particular nations and/or backgrounds. I am following the lead of Allison Hargreaves, Violence against Indigenous Women: Literature, Activism, Resistance. (Ontario, Canada: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2017) 4–5; and incorporating wisdom from D. Memee Lavell-Harvard and Jennifer Brant, eds, Forever Loved: Exposing the Hidden Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada. (Ontario, Canada: Demeter Press, 2016).

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versions. These laws were horribly restricting to all Indigenous people, but even more so to Indigenous women. While all Indigenous people were considered wards of the state (and later “non-persons”), the laws often mirrored colonial, heteronormative, and patriarchal practices. Robyn Bourgeois explains, “Defined through men, the Indian Act imposed patrilineality and patriarchy on many previously matrilineal and matriarchal societies, therefore severely limiting the safety and social security these orderings of communities had provided.”71 Women could no longer participate in their governments of their nations, nor did they retain their “Indian status” if a woman was to marry a “non-Indian” (which did not happen for men). Motherhood was particularly attacked, which made it easier to advocate for residential school learning, which, at the time of this writing, is being exposed as unbelievably harmful to children and many institutions are revealed to have been hiding hundreds, if not thousands, of child graves.72 To be clear, as D. Memee Lavell-Harvard and Jennifer Brant have smartly articulated, “the history of settler colonialism must be understood, a process deliberately and openly designed to eradicate the so-called Indian problem in North America by simply eliminating the ‘Indians’ themselves.”73 Perhaps most concerning, the targeting of Indigenous women and their reproductive rights are the most controlling and upsetting effort to destroy Indigenous nations. Lavell-Harvard and Brant continue to argue, “This is evidenced by the sustained efforts to destroy that ability through forced sterilizations, residential schools, and child welfare apprehensions; all of which are aimed at eliminating the ability of Indigenous women to physically birth the nation and mother their own children.”74 The legacies of the impacts loom large today, and the dismissal of Indigenous women’s rights one hundred years ago has been perpetuated into today’s society.75 71  Robyn Bourgeois “Perpetual State of Violence: An Indigenous Feminist Anti-Oppression Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls” in Joyce Green, ed. Making Space for Indigenous Feminism. 2nd Edition. (Nova Scotia, Canada: Fernwood Publishing, 2017) 261. 72  Anita Olsen Harper, “Sisters in Spirit” in Forever Loved, 83–84; and Hargreaves, Violence against Indigenous Women, 1–7. 73  Lavell-Harvard and Brant, Forever in Love, 3. 74  Lavell-Harvard and Brant, Forever in Love, 4. 75  For a full and more elaborate timeline of the horrific events Indigenous women faced, see Wendee Kubik and Carrie Bourassa, “Stole Sisters: The Politics, Policies, and Travesty of Missing and Murdered Women in Canada,” in Forever Loved, 17–33.

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While Indigenous people have waited years for the Canadian government to respond more directly to the MMIWG2S tragedies, it was not until Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister that they would see some action. In 2015, he called for an inquiry into the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ (two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual people) which was finally published in 2019 as Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.76 The report resulted in over 231 Calls for Justice directed not just to governments but to institutions, social services providers, industries, and the entire Canadian public. While he has been routinely and justifiably criticized for not doing enough to help the situation, at least he is now recognizing the state’s problematic role in allowing for the perpetuation of these crimes. Following in Canada’s footsteps, the United States has finally stepped up to acknowledge MMIWG2S and has begun to take some action, thanks in large part to President Biden’s 2021 appointment of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Indigenous member of any president’s cabinet. Within one month of accepting her role, she created a Missing and Murdered Unit (MMU) within the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services (BIA-OJS). This group is intended to provide leadership, inter-departmental, and interagency work, with the ability to provide funding and resources to better ensure the safety and security of Indigenous communities. Haaland expounds: Violence against Indigenous peoples is a crisis that has been underfunded for decades. Far too often, murders and missing persons cases in Indian country go unsolved and unaddressed, leaving families and communities devastated. The new MMU unit will provide the resources and leadership to prioritize these cases and coordinate resources to hold people accountable, keep our communities safe, and provide closure for families.77

76  The full report can be accessed here: National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, “Reclaiming Power and Place” https://www.mmiwg-ffada. ca/final-report/. 77  U.S. Department of the Interior, “Secretary Haaland Creates New Missing & Murdered Unit to Pursue Justice for Missing or Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives,” DOI News, April 1, 2021, https://www.doi.gov/news/secretary-haaland-creates-new-missingmurdered-unit-pursue-justice-missing-or-murdered-american.

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Fig. 2.7  Photograph of Walking with Our Sisters Exhibition, The Shingwauk Auditorium at Algoma University, May 3, 2014, Creative Commons license

Haaland’s appointment and her quick willingness to prioritize her commitment to MMIWG2S represent a huge shift away from previous administration’s policies. Again, like the situation with Trudeau, much is left to be seen on how successful these ideas can be implemented, but with both comes hope. As struggles persist and there are more recognitions of past crimes against MMIWG2S, Canadian and American governments still have a long way to go to attempt to make things right. One of the important ways that reconciliation can continue is through acknowledging and understanding the artwork of Jamie Black and others like Walking with Our Sisters (WWOS), a commemorative art installation which began in 2013 and was exhibited at 25 sites through 2019 (Fig. 2.7). The entire project was organized by the WWOS Collective, which was made up of volunteers who helped the exhibition come together and travel throughout North America. Elder Maria Campbell was an editor was a leader and key advisor on traditional protocol. Christi Belcourt had the inspiring idea for the project and has helped share information through writing and

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documenting the processes, all while leading the exhibition as it moved from community to another community. Further, at each location a local community committee would be formed and help with that area’s installation. At no point was anyone paid or was the exhibition funded by the government or any organization; rather, the project subsisted on various small fundraising events done by local communities. The project began when Belcourt put a call out on Facebook for vamps—the name of the top part or the tongue of moccasin tops. Over 60 beadings groups across North America were formed to help contribute to the project. Eventually over 1700 vamps were submitted (plus over 300 child-sized ones). These would be lined up over the floor on a red cloth, symbolizing the lives of MMIWG2S, meant to “represent the unfinished lives of murdered or missing Indigenous women, exhibited on a pathway to represent their path or journey that was ended prematurely. As the artists created these works, many prayed and put their love into their stitching.”78 Additionally, 60 songs accompanied the visual artifacts, had been written for this experience. Throughout the exhibition and related experiences, the community honors those who have been lost, while also trying to create awareness and unification for the communities served going forward. Originally intended as an art exhibit, WWOS is, in fact, much more than that. Belcourt explains, “Walking With Our Sisters defies categorization. It’s a commemoration, it’s a ceremony, it’s an honoring, it’s art, it’s community taking action, it’s a way to demonstrate we care.” She continues, noting how the exhibition is different depending on its location: It is compassion that guides it. Nothing else. And it has no other purpose except for communities to come together to hold ceremony to honor the lives of missing and disappeared sisters and two-spirit loved ones, and to support family members who attend. WWOS is not an organization. It’s never been registered and it will never be. It’s merely a collective of caring souls. We set no expectations or goals and allowed the ceremony to guide what needed to happen. We asked the spaces where WWOS goes to turn their space into a community-owned space…. entirely run by community 78  Walking with Our Sisters, “Moccasin ‘Vamps,’” Walking with Our Sisters, 2020, http:// walkingwithoursisters.ca/artwork/moccasin-vamps/page/13/.

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and that the space becomes transformed into a sacred space where grandmothers, Elders and traditional knowledge keepers could feel comfortable being there every day to sustain the ceremony.79

This event brought people (Natives and non-Natives) to honor those who had disappeared, and the lives lost: through ceremony; the creation of “bundles” (sacred items gathered at each location and passed to the next); dancing, singing, and performing; sacred fires; and even in the organization and presentation of the event to and with the community. Similarly, Jamie Black intends her work for the community. For it to succeed, she needed the dresses to be donated and to have the spaces open to installing the dresses as she intended. They are meant to be seen and engaged, ideally imbued with the spirits and voices of the MMIWG2S that have been lost. The strength of both Black’s REDress Project and WWOS is not just that the pieces are community based, but that they work to individualize the people who had their lives cut short. Seeing the dresses and the vamps forces the viewer to consider a lived presence. This is potentially one of the great flaws of the documents and inquiries written about MMIWG2S, where individual stories are lost. Artists attempt to correct these omissions with the inclusion of narratives by family members and friends in these art installations. Allison Hargreaves has articled how important this is, explaining, That the contemporary language of anti-violence activism and advocacy should so often make claims for Indigenous people’s humanity, then—and for the inherent value in Indigenous women’s emergence from marginalized obscurity into public visibility—preserves uncritically those dominant constructions of humanity and of progressive historical change upon which the colonial project is founded and maintained.80

This influx of humanity makes these projects understandable and relatable. As the notoriety of the red dresses has increased, several distinct events emerged. Singer and songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie was so inspired that 79  Christi Belcort, “Prologue,” in Anderson, Kim, Maria Campbell, and Christi Belcourt, eds, Keetsahnak: Our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Sisters (Edmonton, Canada: University of Alberta Press, 2018), xii–xiii. This book documents the history of this project, as well as provides commentary on broader discussions and themes related to MMIWG2S. 80  Hargreaves, Violence against Indigenous Women, 16–17.

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she now hangs an empty red dress on her stage at each of her performances. A particular Red Dress Jingle Special is now performed at many Indigenous gatherings to honor the MMIWG2S. On May 5, 2020, women were inspired to wear red dresses, particularly inspired by Black’s work.81 The hope is that by celebrating “Red Dress Day” more attention would be drawn to the cause, with encouragement to engage to social media highly promoted. When Red Dress Day is looked at within the same context as the handmaid’s costume, it becomes clear that concerns about women’s life and bodies have both been historically neglected but are at the forefront of many conversations today. The handmaid’s costumes exist in a post-race world, where race is not addressed at all, attempting to express the idea that everyone is equal at this point in history, and idea that many find problematic, if not fully impossible. Yet, the red dresses of Gurung and those utilized by the Indigenous community specifically want to provide awareness and community. These red dresses are worn at protests in an attempt to support women’s rights with the intention of promoting awareness and inspiring change.

Seeing Red Yet, as much as the protests discussed have attempted to incorporate positivity, they inevitably have to deal with intense anger that accompany some of these issues. Just as red can be associated with power, as demonstrated earlier in this chapter, red can likewise convey rage and anger. The phrase “seeing red” has come to mean being so filled with anger that one cannot see the world in ordinary colors, rather that feeling intensely colors their world red. One feminist printmaking studio in the UK chose to use the phrase See Red as their moniker. Focusing on woman-centered ideals as the feminist movement was gaining steam in the early 1970s, the young artists made posters not just to sell but for feminist events, recruitment, and the spreading of new ideas.82 Significantly though, in choosing See Red as a motto, the artists encouraged the viewer to think not just about 81  Merritt Herald, “Red Dress day in effect for missing Indigenous women.” Merritt Herald. May 5, 2020, https://www.merrittherald.com/red-dress-day-in-effect-for-missingindigenous-women/. 82  For more see Jess Baines, Prue Stevenson, Susan Mackie, and Anne Robinson, See Red Women’s Workshop: Feminist Posters, 1974–1990. (London: Four Corners Books, 2016).

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anger but also femininity, due its recollection of red and its associations with menstrual blood. Red, which is so often aligned with women’s reproductive systems, seems inseparable from its symbolic reference to power. Therefore, with just a fashion choice, simple red dresses have become a way that many women ever can take a political stance at a protest. The power of the color red and all its other associations heighten the seriousness of their arguments while creating a bold narrative. These artists, costume and fashion designers, and protestors have all contributed to a visual language that challenges a government who refuses to treat women equally. The red dress can be seen as connecting to the early white dresses of the suffragists, both uniting under the guise of hope of women gaining equality and civil rights.

CHAPTER 3

CROWNing a New Kind of Miss America

The Ten Points We Protest: . The Degrading Mindless-Boob-Girlie Symbol. 1 2. Racism with Roses. 3. Miss America as Military Death Mascot. 4. The Consumer Con-Game. 5. Competition Rigged and Unrigged. 6. The Women as Pop Culture Obsolescent Theme. 7. The Unbeatable Madonna-Whore Combination. 8. The Irrelevant Crown on the Throne of Mediocrity. 9. Miss America as Dream Equivalent To—? 10. Miss America as Big Sister Watching You. NO MORE MISS AMERICA.1 The annual Miss America Pageant was ready to go on September 7th, 1968. It was already a bit of an unusual year. The first Miss Black America pageant had been held the same night, crowning Saundra Williams (Fig.  3.1). The need for this separate pageant’s existence illustrated the 1  New York Radical Feminists, “No More Miss America! (1968),” in Sisterhood Is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings from the Women’s Liberation Movement, ed. Robin Morgan (New York: Vintage Books, 1970), 584.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. Newman, Fashioning Politics and Protests, Palgrave Studies in Fashion and the Body, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16227-5_3

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Fig. 3.1  Miss Black America—Saundra Williams, reproduced in Bayer Mack, Miss Black America Pageant 1967–1977 | Black History Documentary | The Black Encyclopedia, Block Starz Music Television https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=t94lD1qJQKc, 2014–2018

dominance of Whiteness in the Miss America contest. Further, this exciting event was overshadowed by the protest that happened on the same day at Atlantic City boardwalk arranged by the New  York Radical Women (NYRW). In a press release that August, they explained that their goal was to “protest the image of Miss America, an image that oppresses women in

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every area in which it purports to represent us.”2 Including the poignant (and slightly humorous) ten points listed above, the press release encouraged women from around the country to show up and attend the protest. This is the infamous event that led to the myth of feminists who burned their bras in rebellion, when in fact that never happened. Instead, the NYRW encouraged attendees to bring their “woman-garbage,” which they suggested could be anything such as bras, girdles, wigs, and women’s magazines, among other things. At the protest, these items would be dumped in the Freedom Trash Can, which they had hoped to set on fire. Due to the event being staged on the very flammable wood boardwalk, officials asked women to not set the items ablaze.3 To accompany the “burning” of women’s items, the protestors were encouraged to boycott sponsors of the pageant as well as to protest in a myriad of others ways, including protests of individuals’ own devising.4 Roxane Gay has astutely called their behavior “guerrilla theater tactics,” as one woman performed a skit including her child and various kitchenware and another mopped the boardwalk to show the endlessness of women’s work.5 Protesters held signs proclaiming “All Women Are Beautiful,” as well as “Don’t be a Playboy accessory,” and perhaps most painfully, “Cattle parades are demeaning to human beings.” This point was certainly connected to the activists’ staging their own pageant, mockingly crowning a  New York Radical Feminists, “No More Miss America! (1968).”  The bra-burning myth came from an interview Robin Morgan gave before the protest to New York Post reporter Lindsy Van Gelder. They intended to burn the bras, so that information was shared, yet later, the protestors would acquiesce to officials because of potential danger to the site. This is explored further in Bonnie J. Dow, “Feminism, Miss America, and Media Mythology,” Rhetoric and Public Affairs 6, no. 1 (Spring 2003): 129–131. See also Susan Brownmiller, In Our Time: Memoir of a Revolution (New York: Dial, 1999), 36–37; Myra Ferree and Beth Hess, Controversy and Coalition: The New Feminist Movement Across Four Decades of Change (New York: Routledge, 2000), 83. 4  From 1982 to 1987, there was another iconic series of protests against the Miss California Pageant held in Santa Cruz each year. While there is not room here for this point, this pageant protest was notable for its dresses made of meat. For more information, see Emily L. Newman, “Fashionable Flesh: Meat as Clothing,” Fashion, Style & Popular Culture 4, no. 1 (2017): 105–120. 5  Roxane Gay, “Fifty Years Ago, Protesters Took on the Miss America Pageant and Electrified the Feminist Movement,” Smithsonian Magazine, January 2018. The pageant predates the significant work by Mierle Laderman Ukeles, whose Maintenance Art series incorporates cleaning and projects that mirror domestic practices of women. For more, see Patricia C.  Philips, Mierle Laderman Ukeles: Maintenance Art (London: Prestel Publishing, 2016). 2 3

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sheep Miss America. A hundred or so people attended the protest, and many were met with negative shouts from passersby. The protest was to culminate with a dramatic action at the pageant itself. Several feminists infiltrated the pageant, not as contestants but as audience members. During the show, they unfurled a banner from a balcony that read “Women’s Liberation.” Chanting “No More Miss America” and “Freedom for Women,” they even sprayed offensive smelling hair conditioner (which was made and produced by Toni, a sponsor of the event), which led to the arrest of many women protestors.6 But viewers at home would never know about the demonstration in the auditorium, because the camera never veered away from the stage and the sound was not heard. This was a bold, but ultimately disappointing move for the protestors and NYRW. Yet, the impact of the event was significant, as the feminist protest at Miss America in 1968 is often seen as the beginning of the second wave of feminism.7 The press release that the NYRW had released pushed against the pageants’ reinforcement of racism, sexism, militarism, and mediocrity. At the same time, NYRW did not want to attract an angry protest, wanting to make sure it would be a peaceful, “groovy day on the Boardwalk in the sun with our sisters.”8 In preparation for any hardships, they outlined in the document they would only be arrested by policewoman (even though in Atlantic City policewoman were not allowed to make arrests), and they would only be interviewed by newswomen. The pageant brought feminists together, but like the consciousness-­raising meetings leading up to the pageant that were dominating at the time, this protest was about bigger issues and women’s rights in the largest sense. The response to the protest by pageant organizations and viewers was split in the immediate aftermath, but in the longer term, the event had large implications. Kate Shindle, a former Miss America, has argued that pageant organizers were reluctant to address the protesters, but the women were challenging the outdated system and organizers could not ignore the visual impact this was having. Shindle elaborates, “Whether there were closet feminist sympathizers among that year’s Miss America 6  Robin Morgan, The Word of a Woman: Feminist Dispatches 1968–1992 (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1992), 27. 7  Bonnie J. Dow, “Feminism, Miss America, and Media Mythology,” Rhetoric and Public Affairs 6, no. 1 (Spring 2010): 127–149. 8  New York Radical Feminists, “No More Miss America!” (1968),” 587.

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contestants or not, September 7, 1968, represented a visual split between the old and the new—one that would inexorably alter the pageant’s image and reputation.”9 This new woman could not and would not be ignored. Even a former Miss America, Yolande Betbeze, chose to be involved in the 1968 protests. When she won the pageant in 1951, she refused to pose in swimwear after her win, though she had competed in the swimsuit competition. She believed that since she had won the crown, she no longer needed to be further exploited into showing so much skin. The pageant ended up losing sponsors because of her actions, but Betbeze never backed down and would go on to speak out against the racism of the pageant.10 Yet, others, including Sharon Kay Ritchie (Miss America 1956), refused to support the feminist protests, and she claimed that after appearing on talk shows with the protestors she found them “rude, angry, and obnoxious.”11 For the first time, men and women were very publicly debating the pros and cons of Miss America. People had a right to be concerned; there were serious negatives associated with the pageant, many of which had frequently been ignored or brushed under the rug. Historian Margot Mifflin articulated one of the inconsistencies by arguing the problematic relationship between the pageants dependency on beauty while trying to emphasize their scholarship promises, as she makes very clear, “Trading on beauty in realms irrelevant to beauty is a devil’s bargain women have been making forever, but it smacked of pure hypocrisy in an institution claiming to be a meritocracy.”12 At the same time, Mifflin acknowledged that the protestors often failed to acknowledge that the pageant provided a needed scholarship for professional advancement, at a time when scholarships were scarcely available for women. Sportswriter Frank Deford found the protesting and concerns about Miss America basically irrelevant, and all the heaviness and ideology leaped upon it was not actually connected to the pageant itself. He writes, 9  Kate Shindle, Being Miss America: Behind the Rhinestone Curtain (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2020), 122. 10  Amy Argetsinger, There She Was: The Secret History of Miss America (New York: One Signal Publishers/Atria, 2021), xxiii. Catalina, one of the sponsors that would drop the pageant as Betbeze refused to wear their swimsuits after the competition, would actually go on to start the Miss USA pageant. Angela Osborne, Miss America: The Dream Lives On; A 75-Year Celebration (Dallas: Taylor, 1995), 130. 11  Osborne, Miss America, 135. 12  Margot Mifflin, Looking for Miss America: A Pageant’s 100-Year Quest to Define Womanhood (Berkeley: Counterpoint, 2021).

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“Miss America is a harmless exercise that keeps a lot of people busy and out of trouble. It is a bunch of pretty girls parading around … Indeed, if Miss America were not so basic, if any of the controversies that it is obliged to suffer were genuine, it would have succumbed long ago.”13 Perhaps, in the midst of all of this is the truth. The expectations and beliefs that are placed upon the results of the pageant are too elevated, and yet, in its very visible role in society, the impact of the pageant is undeniable. Miss America pageant organizers attempted to establish the feminine ideal for the country, though that has been chipped away countless times over the past century. The pageant, which, as of 2018, is now called a competition, set the standard for how women should look while maintaining the upmost respectability and civility in their gorgeous evening gowns and swimsuits. Yet, these standards were not meant to apply to working-­ class women or even people of color. Rather, the pageant created ideals of a fashioned body that often inspired White, Midwestern women with significant means. Nonetheless, these ideas would be mirrored in Black beauty pageants, quinceañeras, and even state dinners. Over time though, pageant ideals shifted. The greatest representation of these changing ideas is through the swimsuit competition which has ranged from very proper, modest one-piece suits in the early years, to tiny bikinis, back to full one-­ pieces for many years, to the past years when two pieces were allowed again. Then, following scandalous years and controversy, the swimsuit competition was exorcized from the 2019 competition forward. In the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries, various calls to challenge beauty ideals and norms have echoed throughout and beyond the United States, including discussion about alteration (plastic surgery), nudity equity, and questioning society’s obsession with all things related to breasts. By understanding the rise and fall of Miss America and the relevant critiques of the event, we can explore the way that a certain type of White female body has been put on the highest pedestal. Yet challenges to this ideal existed and persist, particularly through the popularity of Black pageants and homecoming courts at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Deconstructing the ways that Miss America has been reinvented over the years through important contestants, this essay will then examine the pageant’s relevance over the past 50  years. From 13  In this book, Deford takes his knowledge of sports writing and applies it to the pageant world maintaining his blunt and straightforward approach. Frank Deford, There She Is: The Life and Times of Miss America. Rev. ed. (New York: Penguin Books, 1978), 260–261.

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quinceañeras to fashion statements to artist critiques, the pageant’s key tenets seem to be fading just as the pageant itself is forced to consider its solvency. Through the years and various themes, the pageant has addressed two significant political movements took shape. From the cancelling of the swimsuit competition emerged a reconsideration of how women’s bodies could and should be displayed, resulting in several challenges against social media sites about expressions of nudity. Secondly, amidst repeated discrimination against Black women for their hair styles and appearance, organizations have banned together to promote a law that would outlaw discrimination against any kind of hairstyle. The Miss America Pageant/Competition has been around since 1921, when it started on the Atlantic City Boardwalk as a swimsuit competition.14 Pageants and events of these types were not new; they had developed at the end of the twentieth century and gained notoriety, thanks to circus magnate P.T. Barnum. From the very beginning of the Miss America Pageant, the swimsuit caused numerous issues; modesty was mandated by law, but sexiness was desired by fans. Angela Osborne articulates, “The makings of the conflict that has plagued the Pageant: an absolute requirement that contestants be attired in bathing costumes and be judged in ‘beauty and form,’ while maintaining an art of modesty.’ No young lady would disgrace this ‘Graceful Dowager’ of the Jersey Shore, Atlantic City! The censors would see to that!”15 From the start, there was a great obsession and even concern about how the bathing suits would appear to the viewing public. For example, two-piece bathing suits were wildly popular in the 1950s but would be banned in 1960 and remain so for over 35 years.16 These early and tiny two-pieces (like the ever-so-popular yellow polka dot bikini) were deemed much too revealing and quickly pushed out of the contest because they were promoting too much sexuality. This is just one way that we can understand the way that various women have challenged, chipped away at, and eventually toppled the old-fashioned pageant ideal. After all, Miss America had to be modest. Yet, she also had to be desirable. It is useful here to consider the idea of a fashioned body, one that demonstrates how fashion can help shape an identity. The context of the 14  For a much fuller history, see Frank Deford, There She Is; and Mifflin, Looking for Miss America. 15  Osborne, Miss America, 553–559. 16  Shindle, Being Miss America, 122.

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pageant creates a culture where it defines beautiful women, not just how their body looks (including their hair and make-up) but also how they wear the clothes that are appropriate for the contest; significantly, these women work to find the balance in the contest by attempting to fit into the guidelines while trying to stand out ever so slightly. Women, then, had to determine a way to be both prudent and slightly sexy to maintain the need for Miss America to function as a role model whose job for the year involved touring the country, sponsorship work, and, later, developing her own charity passion project. Perhaps she is best described by former president and CEO of the Miss America Organization (MAO) Leonard C. Horn in 1995: Today, Miss America is a dynamic, relevant, young role model. She is an activist, and she uses her God-given abilities, together with her education, to place the Miss America spotlight and celebrity on significant social issues. She is ambitious, she believes in the pursuit of higher education…. People of all ages identify with Miss America and try to emulate her—what she does, what she says. And through the vast organization supporting her, Miss America provides significant benefits to society. She started humbly. She grew and adjusted throughout the various chapters of twentieth century history. Miss America has not only survived, but she emerged as a person of considerable influence and relevancy. Even the toughest of critics would agree that her endurance is noteworthy.17

What Horn alludes to but does not elucidate is that Miss America is an attempt to create a neutral figure—one who can represent the ideal of American beauty, but who can resist being drawn into politics, particularly contentious discussions about race, class, gender, or ethnicity. Miss America is never to be a threat to any questions of national identity or other concerns in the United States. Instead, Miss America should be a role model who could unquestionably be described as beautiful, accompanied by an impossible list of expectations to be practically perfect in every way.18

 Qtd. in Osborne, Miss America: The Dream Lives On, 19.  Sarah Banet-Weiser, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World: Beauty Pageants and National Identity (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999), 23. See also, Mandy McMicheal, Miss America’s God: Faith and Identity in America’s Oldest Pageant (Waco: Baylor University Press, 2019). 17 18

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One of the key ideas established in the early years of the pageant was celebrating femininity, which came across in several important ways. Firstly, beauty pageants at the start of the twentieth century worked in concert with the popular bodybuilding and prizefighting exhibitions that showcased masculinity and machismo.19 Secondly, along with the early parades that showcased all the women in their finest clothing and costumes, the Miss America winner’s image was widely circulated in the press. Her image covered newspapers days after her victory, allowing for a unique familiarity with her likeness, one that would familiarize her beauty type with the entire country. Lastly, the implementation of sashes was not particular or unique to Miss America, but as Mifflin notes, these sashes were “highly symbolic at that historic moment: suffragettes, for whom pageantry was a powerful vehicle for activism, had worn them in marches beginning with the historic 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession in Washington.”20 A key part of their public persona, the sashes utilized the National Women’s Party colors and the motto “Votes for Women,” while the beauty pageant sashes evolved to showcase the women’s local, state, or national affiliation. This visible takeaway from the suffrage campaign illustrates one of the many contradictions that Miss America embodies—in this case, not only wanting to encourage the power and freedom of women’s rights to vote but also wanting to make sure women follow the appropriate modesty guidelines, which include but are not limited to never having been pregnant nor married and appropriate public conduct which must include an unimpeachable record of moral behavior. To examine the issues that Miss America faces, this chapter will begin with two case studies centered on Miss America winners that challenged the standards and expectations of what a Miss America could and should be. Bess Myerson and Vanessa Williams disrupted the traditional narratives of what Miss Americas represents, causing ripple effects beyond the pageant itself. Because Myerson was crowned in 1945, her reign predates second  wave feminism, identity politics, and relevant artworks, while Williams’ win necessitates a discussion of important events, artists, and artworks that parallel the reigns of the path-breaking Miss Americans. These two women are emblematic of both the power of the organization and its limitations.

 Mifflin, Looking for Miss America, 25.  Mifflin, Looking for Miss America, 22.

19 20

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Bess Myerson Bess Myerson won Miss America in 1945, a time not only of massive change throughout the world, but within the Miss America pageant as well. For the first time, winning the pageant included a scholarship, elevating the status and respectability of the event immediately. Uniquely, Myerson broke the standard expectation of Miss America, as was the first (and still the only) Jewish Miss America. While competing and at the hotel, she was mocked for her Jewishness and faced anti-Semitism throughout her time in Atlantic City. Perhaps most shockingly, Executive Director Lenora Slaughter approached Myerson and suggested changing her name to something less distinctly Jewish.21 Slaughter has been heralded for bringing the pageant into the modern era, as she worked for the organization from 1935 to 1967. Her intentions were to refine the pageant by not only restoring a sense of grace and dignity but also bringing financial stability through sponsors and corporate deals. In 1938, she introduced the talent competition which shifted the pageant from a strictly beauty event to one that would become more well-rounded, which was further emphasized by the addition of the scholarship contest in 1945.22 Yet, it was not all roses with Slaughter. In her early years ruling the pageant, she added the egregious “Rule Seven” into the pageant’s contract, which specified that each contestant must be of good health and of White race. Slaughter would explain that this rule was meant to keep Black women out of the competition particularly, hence the appearance of Asian American, Hawaiian, and Native American women. Despite this permissiveness, Native American Mifaunwy Shunatona represented Oklahoma at the 1941 pageant, but no other Native woman would compete for almost 30 years.23 She justified her exclusion of Black women “due to the fact that it is absolutely impossible to judge fairly the beauty of the Negro race in comparison with the White race.”24 Slaughter made Rule Seven easier to enforce by requiring a form that contestants filled out that asked them to trace their ancestry as far back as possible, ideally to the  Osborne, Miss America: The Dream Lives On, 22–29.  The scholarship contest is now one of, if not, the defining characteristic of the Miss America competition today. The prize money with intended use to further education distinguishes the event from the Miss USA and Miss Universe world, which are strictly determined on the beauty of the competing women. 23  Osborne, Miss America: The Dream Lives On, 100. 24  Qtd. in Argetsinger, There She Was, 99. 21 22

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Revolutionary War or to the Mayflower. Debate remains about when Rule Seven ended, though it arguably continued in some way throughout Slaughter’s time with the organization, which ended in 1967. The rise and fall of Rule Seven aligned with the eugenics movement of the time, paralleling its popularity.25 It should not be a surprise then that Slaughter asking Myerson to change her name was all about protecting her view of what the pageant should be. Myerson refused, a decision that would have long-term implications for her reign as Miss America and beyond. An acclaimed contestant, Myerson had already graduated college and was skilled at playing both the flute and the piano, so it wasn’t surprising when there was quite a buzz surrounding the Miss New  York winner coming into the pageant. When the Jewish community found out she was involved, they showed up to support her at the contest, shouting Mazel Tov throughout the theater.26 Her choice to not hide her Jewish identity proved to be a blessing to her and her community. Yet, Myerson was also met with resistance when she began her role as Miss America because of her Jewishness. Sponsors boycotted her win and refused to support her financially as they had supported others in the past. Veterans refused to allow her to visit, and she was denied entrance into country clubs entirely.27 But Myerson prevailed; while she did not have the same opportunities many women before and after her reign would, she worked to create her own. Joining the Anti-Defamation League, she went on a speaking tour, promoting not just the pageant but her education and bravery against prejudices. Her motto, “You can’t be beautiful and hate,” was presented to students, housing project residents, and others.28 Myerson was able to succeed, despite the organization’s initial attempts to shift and shape her identity before the competition. Kate Shindle explains, “This episode was an early and obvious example of two of the pageant’s most consistent and self-destructive patterns: first, defaulting to a reactive position (rather than crafting a clear and firm identity and sticking with it), and second, sacrificing the young women it claims to celebrate in the name of the pageant’s survival.”29 Sarah Banet-Weisner further elaborated  Shindle, Being Miss America, 22.  Osborne, Miss America: The Dream Lives On, 92–97. 27  McMicheal, Miss America’s God, 93. 28  Banet-Weiser, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, 75–76. 29  Shindle, Being Miss America, 25. 25 26

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on Shindle’s points, “Thus, despite her whitened ethnicity and despite her commitment to the conventional understandings of what it meant to be ‘American,’ there were experiences that could not be contained within Bess Myerson’s representational form—there were things that she could not do that other Miss Americas could.”30 For Banet-Weisner, and with whom I agree, Myerson, in her role as Miss America, was a symbol for a United States riddled with tension, both racial and ethnic. It was inevitable that these issues would affect her reign, as not all prejudices could be overcome by her beauty, despite her hopeful motto.31 Her reign proved to be an important exception; her Jewish identity, represented through her name and her body, defied accepted practices of past and future Miss Americans. While she did fit into the pageant community to some extent, in her refusal to change her name as well as leaning into her heritage, Myerson managed to help progressively shift the Miss American Organization. Her full impact, however, would not be felt for years to come.

Vanessa Williams Rule Seven would persist in guiding who was able to enter the pageant until 1970, when Cheryl Browne won Miss Iowa and would be the first Black woman to compete at Miss America. Al Marks, who was director of the pageant in 1968, said at that time, “Look, I would love to have a colored girl here to take the heat off this thing. But we won’t fix anything so

30  Banet-Weiser, “Miss America, National Identity, and the Identity Politics of Whiteness,” in “There She Is, Miss America”: The Politics of Sex, Beauty, and Race in America’s Most Famous Pageant, eds Elwood Watson and Darcy Martin (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), 76. 31  Myerson would go on to live a life filled with dramatic ups and downs. After her pageant success, she had a long run on the hit game show I’ve Got a Secret. She would have a life in politics, working as the first New York City Commissioner of Consumer Affairs, which would lead to her working with three different presidents. She would later campaign with Edward I. Koch for mayor, though her political career would devolve into a scandal known as the “Bess Mess” which involved an affair with a married man made public and a later indictment for serious misconduct (resulting in an acquittal). The rest of her life was spent quietly and devoted to charity. For more see Enid Nemy and William McDonald, “Bess Myerson, New Yorker of Beauty, Wit, Service and Scandal, Dies at 90,” The New York Times, January 5, 2015; and Jennifer Preston, Queen Bess: The Unauthorized Biography of Bess Myerson (New York: McGraw Hill/Contemporary, 1990).

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we just have to wait.”32 He made very clear that the pageant was not going to “rig” a contest, and that they were not going to work on recruiting diverse contestants in any manner. He did, however, bring on two Black board members and a Black judge in 1969, but it would take another year before Cheryl Browne succeeded. It was another ten-plus years before a Black woman would actually win the crown, and Vanessa Williams did so with a shocking vibrancy and likability. Her win was both predictable and remarkable. New to the pageant scene, she was recruited while a student at Syracuse University, and she had already planned out her life in preparation to be a successful Broadway actress. In fact, she had booked an off-Broadway show, but its cancellation led her to be able to pursue a pageant. Her main motivation was the opportunity for a scholarship. With her impressive singing talent and her innate beauty, she easily won the local pageant. While many young women spent years preparing and working to get to the Miss America stage, it was almost effortless for Williams, which she acknowledged in 2012, “I never had any desire to be a beauty queen, let alone Miss America … I … was the girl who smoked pot and inhaled, drank beer at cast keg parties, and had premarital sex with my boyfriend. I lived life!”33 Williams was certainly talented and beautiful, but she also benefited from a bit of luck with timing. For the national pageant, she was the first contestant to arrive in Atlantic City, which garnered her extra press and attention. One of four Black women that competed for the pageant crown in 1983, Williams was often posed together with the other Black contestants. This was a way of making sure that she was both treated as and remembered as an “other.”34 After she won the competition, she was constantly asked about what it was like to be the first Black Miss America. Williams’ reign was marked by the distinct factor of her race. While she was celebrated for her beauty and talented, she faced racism, critiques about the lighter color of her skin, and even death threats, to the extent that she needed extra security. At the same time, she was also being criticized as not Black enough.35 This underscores the “fraught undertone” to her year as Miss America, as  Qtd. in Argetsinger, There She Was, 100.  Vanessa Williams and Helen Tinch Williams, You Have No Idea: A Famous Daughter, Her No-Nonsense Mother, and How They Survived Pageants, Hollywood, Love, Loss (and Each Other) (New York: Gotham, 2012), 7–8. 34  Shindle, Being Miss America, 81. 35  Shindle, Being Miss America, 85–86. 32 33

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Amy Argetsinger has called it.36 Williams would never be treated the same as a White Miss America, because she could never be separated from her race. Sarah Banet-Weiser elaborates, noting that the same way that Williams’ victory can be seen as representative of the 1980s and 1990s racial politics. By including Williams (and others like her), Banet-Weiser believes that it allowed the pageant to illustrate that they were open to some amount of diversity while also further emphasizing the Whiteness of the pageant. Thus, the pageant was now inclusive so it could erase and recuse itself from dealing with any racial history or concerns.37 These beliefs complicated Williams’ win, as many questioned whether the victory happened because of her Blackness, not in spite of her race. Vanessa’s response was simple, “I was chosen because I was qualified for the position. The fact I was Black was not a factor. I’ve always had to try harder in my life to achieve things, so this is regular.”38 The contradiction in her response, however, shows that her race did affect her competition. She may deny its role in the competition, but admitting that she had to work harder to achieve her win is a way of acknowledging the added pressures of being Black in the United States, as well as in the pageant. Williams’ victory as the first Black Miss America deserved celebrating, regardless of the debate about her race. The great Shirley Chisholm, one of the first women to run for president, and certainly the first Black woman to run for president, would say, “The inherent racism in America must be diluting itself. Thank God I have lived long enough that this nation has been able to select the beautiful young woman of color to be Miss America.”39 Yet, Banet-Weisner would argue that Williams and other Black contestants did not and could not celebrate their Blackness. She explains, “Black contestants continue to tell the conventional story of racial harmony, and the subjectivities of the Black contestants are characterized by the tensions that result from attempting to assert that indeed ‘Black is beautiful’ but only when it can be shown to correspond to an historically ‘White’ model of interior womanhood.”40 Williams was limited in her ability to celebrate her Blackness on the larger national and world stages, because that would be a direct threat to Whiteness (and by extension,  Argetsinger, There She Was, 115.  Banet-Weiser, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, 125. 38  Qtd. in Argetsinger, There She Was, 115. 39  Qtd. in Argetsinger, There She Was, 114. 40  Banet-Weiser, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, 129. 36 37

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White supremacy). Further, Williams had to become “uncolored” after winning Miss America. In this case, that means she did not discuss her Blackness or the importance of her race, she focused on her causes and the pageant win itself. By being de-racialized, she was easier to assimilate into the role of Miss America, practically passing as White.41 After her victory, Williams traveled the country and was embraced fully as one of the most popular and dynamic Miss Americas ever. Journalists, scholars, and fans alike debate Williams’ impact, which Shindle sees “as an example of evolving ideas about race in America (particularly gender-­ based norms about Black women, sexuality, and the Jezebel stereotype) and as a feel-good story of a woman who triumphed over adversity to become the most famous former Miss America of all time.”42 Just weeks before her triumphant reign was to end and she was to pass on the crown to the next winner, a rumor began to spread. Nude pictures of Williams were going to be published in Penthouse soon. Williams struggled with what to do. Several years prior to her pageant career, she had taken the pictures but had not signed a release for their publication. Now that she was famous, the “art” photographer who took advantage of her naiveté could make a considerable sum selling the pictures. Al Marks and the MAO believed that Williams broke the morality clause of her contract and gave her just 72 hours to decide what to do. He reportedly said, “If you don’t draw the line here, where do you draw it?”43 Williams decided to go public with her side of the story, saying she had not granted permission for the photographs to be published, and made clear she did not want to resign. Marks claimed that he advocated for her to resign so that children would still find Miss America as a role model. It was not just Williams’ image and life being ruined; the accusations could sully the reputation of the pageant. Mandy McMichael recognized that the images, in their nudity and sexuality (the images did include pictures of Williams with another woman), could not be reconciled with the pageant organizers in any kind of way as organizers defined themselves against pornography. She further explains, “They could not support a winner who openly flaunted her sexuality in such an explicit way. The Miss America Organization promoted the highest moral standards and an idealized form of  Banet-Weiser, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, 128–152.  Shindle, Being Miss America, 87. 43  Qtd. in Argetsinger, There She Was, 120. 41 42

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womanhood … By presenting herself as a sexual actor, Williams became a fallen idol, a temptation to be scorned and shunned.”44 Yet, it was not just the sexuality that was the issue, it was complicated by her race. Black women have historically been treated as sexual objects or beings, beginning when they are still children. Their identity and livelihood has been overshadowed by this focus on sensuality, one that has persisted for hundreds of years in the White Western world.45 Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, these ideas have been questioned, but this fascination with the sexuality of Black women persisted. In the media’s preoccupation with these pictures, Williams was unfortunately being treated like many Black women before her had been, including Sarah Baartmann whose curvy body was on public display for throughout Europe in the early nineteenth century.46 Williams, through these photographs of her youth, had created an unprecedented situation for the pageant, one that particularly threatened their image. Sponsors waited with bated breath, intent to pull their financial support if Williams was allowed to retain her title. Williams waffled back and forth with what to do up until the last minute, finally releasing a statement that said, “I wish I could retain my title as Miss America. However, the potential harm to the pageant and the deep division that a bitter fight may cause has convinced me that I must relinquish my title as Miss America.”47 There was uncertainty about who might take over; pageant directors thought about jumping over the first runner-up to choose a more conventional (White) contestant. Eventually, they went with the second-place winner Suzette Charles, who was also Black, which they hoped they could save face by denying any role of race in Williams’ resignation.48 In the history books, the MAO tried to position Williams as a great winner, befallen by a nefarious photographer with ruinous intent.49 They did so in part because after Williams lost her crown, she found other  McMicheal, Miss America’s God, 31–32.  Banet-Weiser, The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, 128–152. 46  For more information on Sarah Baartmann, see Robin Mitchell, Vénus Noire: Black Women and Colonial Fantasies in Nineteenth-Century France (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2020); and Shayne Lee, Erotic Revolutionaries: Black Women, Sexuality, and Popular Culture (Lanham, MD: Hamilton Books, 2010). 47  Qtd. in Argetsinger, There She Was, 122. 48  Qtd. in Argetsinger, There She Was, 126. 49  See, for example, Ann-Marie Bivans, Miss America: In Pursuit of the Crown: The Complete Guide to the Miss America Pageant (New York: MasterMedia, 1991), 30–31. 44 45

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successful paths, eventually performing off-Broadway and working her way into the music and film industries with many achievements. She had become one of the most famous and successful Miss Americas to ever wear the crown, so it was useful to the organization to embrace her again, allowing for accolades to be connected to the pageant itself. Emphasizing that Williams highly valued the organization, MAO presented the situation as Williams’ choice to step down so as not to have the organization suffer from her mistakes. In this way, Williams was able to continue to be a great role model, and after shifting the blame away from Williams, it was then easy and acceptable to welcome Williams back into the Miss America fold. In 2015, Williams returned to the pageant as head judge for that year, and Sam Haskell, then executive chairman of the Miss America pageant, apologized to Williams, saying “I want to apologize for anything that was said or done that made you feel any less the Miss America you are and the Miss America you always will be.”50 While unexpected, the apology was a smart strategy to embrace the ever-popular Williams.

Black Pageants While Williams might be the first Black Miss America, there had been Miss Black America pageants for years, as well as many other Black beauty pageants. Black pageants became popular during the era of Jim Crow laws and were meant to counter the racist ideology and eugenic propaganda of World War II.  Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) assumed the lead and had in fact been nominating queens associated with athletic events since the turn of the century. Many of these pageants incorporated academic achievement and community service, whereas Miss America didn’t become the well-known scholarship competition that it is today until 1945. Further, these pageants helped the women network, introducing them to key members of Black society.51 Kimberly Brown Pellum argues that Black pageants allowed Black women to present themselves with integrity, while they were denigrated by society’s brutal discriminations. Further, she argues that “the popularity of beauty programs

50  Katie Rogers, “Vanessa Williams Receives ‘Unexpected’ Apology at Miss America” New York Times, September 15, 2015. 51  Kimberly Brown Pellum, Black Beauties: African American Pageant Queens in the Segregated South (Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2020), 23–30.

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among African Americans reinscribed respectability, poise and high style as standards held dearly by the community.”52 Black women could be themselves in Black pageants and homecoming courts. But in the world of pageants that were dominated by White women, Black women were expected to fit in—with slim bodies, straight hair, and lighter skin. The Miss Black America Pageant in 1968 was designed to counter the assimilation that Black women were facing to try to fit into the larger pageants like Miss America. Organized by the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs (NACWA), the three-day event took place just before Miss America and intended to celebrate everything that made Black women unique including their natural hair, different types of bodies, and styles originating from Africa or the Caribbean. These contests included more emphasis on speaking ability, service, community outreach, advocacy, and charity than Miss America ever would, undoubtedly because of NACWA’s history of supporting voting rights throughout the civil rights movement. This was strategic, of course, as Pellum noted, “As common in attempts to improve the whole image of African American women and insert dimensionality into their public identities, scholastic accomplishments, service, activism, personality and even socioeconomic status figured into beauty ideology reconstruction.”53 These pageants gained steam throughout the 1970s, even airing on NBC the night before Miss America in 1977. Crowned the first Miss Black America in 1968, Saundra Williams exemplified the themes and ideas important to the pageant’s creators, especially those that distinguished them from Miss America.

Black Hair “Wearing an Afro, performing an ‘African’ dance created in America, claiming middle-class status, putting her body on the line in civil rights demonstrations, and placing her beauty on display to demonstrate racial pride, Saundra Williams breathed life into the symbols and practices of an emergent Black identity,” described Maxine Craig.54 This kind of woman persisted throughout the Black pageants and homecoming competitions,  Brown Pellum, Black Beauties, 40–42.  Brown Pellum, Black Beauties, 98. 54  Maxine Craig, Ain’’t I a Beauty Queen? Culture, Social Movements, and the Rearticulation of Race (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 4. 52 53

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which were deeply covered and photographed by the Black press. Women with afros, raised fists, strong political views, and darker skin began to win queen roles all over the south as the civil rights movement grew.55 Unsurprisingly, this coincides with the pivotal Black is Beautiful movement which Craig describes, saying, “I use the words ‘Black is Beautiful’ to refer to the new practices of self-presentation and the newly expressed appreciation of dark skin and tightly curled hair that became wide-spread in African American communities in the late 1960s and early 1970s.”56 The way Black people chose to dress and style their hair is still a societal issue. Even now, natural hair is still seen by some as messy or less polished, with (often White) people considering straightened, pressed hair as more professional or refined. Historically, Africans have valued their hair with an extreme reverence. Lori L. Tharps articulates how important hair was a part of person’s identity and power, “A general rule across Africa’s diverse people groups was that the more status a person had in society, the more elaborate the hairstyle, for both men and women. Intricate, gravity-defying styles would take days to create and would be carefully protected by the wearer with special tools and furnishings.”57 African hair was embedded into a person’s identity and role, but when the colonizers and traders came, those complex and intricate hairstyles were shaved. Slaveowners perpetuated their dominance by exerting control on the enslaved, forcing them to shave or manage their hair in particular ways. This reverberates in the way that societal pressures continue to be felt by Black men and women to groom their hair meticulously. For centuries, Black people have used painful chemicals to straighten their hair, to acclimate, survive, and better the lives of themselves and their families. Tameka N.  Ellington further argues, “Blacks were brainwashed to believe their hair was unacceptable and that the only way to gain acceptance was through assimilation to White Culture.”58 While the 1960s promised women more freedom and a call to return to natural hair, that was sadly short lived. Even harsher chemicals and hot tools were popularized in the 1970s and 1980s. Tharps, however,  Brown Pellum, Black Beauties, 17–18.  Craig, Ain’t I a Beauty Queen?, 23. 57  Lori L. Tharps, “Black Hair is…,” in Textures: The History and Art of Black Hair, eds. Joseph L. Underwood and Tamika N. Ellington (Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Museum and Munich: Hirmer Publishers, 2021), 19. 58  Tamika N. Ellington, “The Conception of Textures: The History and Art of Black Hair,” in Textures: The History and Art of Black Hair, 15. 55 56

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noted that Black hair and its properties persist, “The hair on Black heads refused to submit to the pomades, potions, lye and heat, forced upon it in a desperate attempt to straighten it into an approximation of Whiteness.”59 Tharps and others have worked particularly hard to draw attention to the biases that have existed for hundreds of years against hair that is not slick and straight, instead pushing toward celebration of natural Black hair. Niangi Batulukisi directly explains, “A biological component of the human body, hair has become a cultural element of social communication. Perceived as the expression of a cultural identity, a social status, or a profession, the traditional coiffure has multiple purposes.”60 Batulukisi is referencing African hairstyles here directly, but it is worth considering how within the African diaspora, Black hair has continued to be treated with significance and power. Saundra Williams’ choice to wear an Afro for her win as Miss Black America was part of a defining moment for this hairstyle. In this moment, Williams was one of the most visible Black women in the country and had been chosen based on her looks, her affable personality, and her service contributions. Her hair, styled in such a traditional manner, emphasized beauty, power, and African-ness, which was reinforced by her pageant win. Kennell Jackson elaborates on the importance and symbolic identity held within the Afro hairstyle: “a passion for things African (clothing, art, language, especially Swahili); an anti-assimilationist and anti-integrationist movement, a young peoples’ revolt, later cresting in ‘Black Power’ Politics; and a debate about cultural authenticity.” He concludes by noting that the Afro “represented the inherent restlessness of fashion. Black fashion in the twentieth century has waited for no one.”61 This natural hairstyle embodied a celebration and a return to a style that didn’t involve long periods of manipulations and horribly harsh chemicals. Further, the Afro was critical to the Civil Rights movement and of Black rebellion itself, continuing, as Tharps expands, arguing that it illustrated to White America that Black people were no longer willing to change themselves to fit into society.62 Williams was proclaiming that she valued

 Tharps, “Black Hair is…,” 20.  Niangi Batlukisi, “Hair in African Art and Cultures,” in Hair in African Art and Culture, Roy Sieber and Frank Herreman, eds. (New York: Museum of African Art, 2000), 25. 61  Kennell Jackson, “What is Really Happening Here? Black Hair among African-Americans and in American Culture,” in Hair in African Art and Culture, 175. 62  Tharps, “Black Hair is…,” 22. 59 60

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her body, her hair, and her heritage—a powerful way to present herself in direct contrast to the similarly coiffed women of the Miss America pageant.

Lorna Simpson and Alison Saar Thanks to the visibility of Williams and other Black men and women, Black hair has become part of an important conversation regarding Black beauty and beauty ideals rooted in Whiteness. Alison Saar and Lorna Simpson are two American artists who are among a growing number who have thoughtfully and powerfully addressed these issues. Through mixed media and photographic work, Saar and Simpson challenge preconceived notions about the understanding of Black hair and identity. In a series of works that Saar calls “self-lynchings,” she has created figures hanging upside down by their feet. These people are trapped, but also lost, as she elaborates, “All those figures hanging upside down have either a sense of apathy or are aspiring towards things outside of themselves. They are giving up aspects of themselves to fit into a more Western or successful bourgeois ideal.”63 This is evident in Blonde Dreams (1997, Fig. 3.2), a piece made of wood, tar, gold leaf, and rope. A woman figure is hanging from the ceiling from a rope looped around both her ankles. She hangs about 95 inches long, but most of that is hair, which is twice the length of her body at about eight feet. Long golden hair dangles, contrasting against the dark, naked Black women from which it hangs. The body is covered in tar and feathers, which coupled with her hanging from her feet suggests punishment or hatred, clearly illustrating a lynching. This blonde, slightly wavy hair is the Western ideal Saar is discussing; it can be achieved by anyone through hair dye and modification and can be seen as one way that Black people were attempting to fit into White culture. As Saar reiterates, “Again, it’s about putting the ball back in our court, and saying, as African Americans, we have the power to push beyond those obstacles and constraints we put on ourselves.”64 Blonde Dreams is part of Hairesies, a 1997 installation by Alison Saar, in which ten wooden and metal heads address hair and its connection to the body, identity, and race. Hairesies, a play on the word heresy, represents 63  Irene Tsatsos, “Between What We See: Alison Saar and Irene Tsatsos in Conversation,” in Alison Saar: Of Aether and Earthe, eds. Rebecca McGrew and Irene Tsatsos (Claremont, CA: Benton Museum of Art and Pasadena, CA: Armory Center for the Arts, 2020), 71. 64  Tsatsos, “Between What We See,” 72.

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Fig. 3.2  Alison Saar, Blonde Dreams, 1997, wood, tar, gold leaf, and rope, 95½ × 7 × 6 in (242.6 × 17.8 × 15.2 cm), Private collection. (Copyright Alison Saar. Courtesy of L.A. Louver, Venice, CA)

more than hair, as Jessica Dallow argues that the work is “a pun on women’s obsessions with problem hair, hair as signifier or trace, and the 1970s feminist journal Heresies … [The artwork] also remarked on how certain women have celebrated their hair with elaborate hairstyles or have felt stigmatized by their hair and desperately, sometimes comically, tried to change it.”65 These are not always simple hairstyles that one could get done at a beauty shop; rather, Pressed (1997) shows a head, cut off at the neck and laying sideways on a pedestal. The wire composing the hair almost brushes the floor. Not soft, not flowing, the hair hangs and stops 65  Jessica Dallow, “Reclaiming Histories: Betye and Alison Saar, Feminism, and the Representation of Black Womanhood,” Feminist Studies 30, no. 1 (Spring 2004): 95–96.

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in mid-air, as it is filled with different metal irons of various shapes and sizes. These are old irons used in the nineteenth century not just for clothes but also for straightening women’s hair. In this case, these irons seemed to have worked toward the roots of the woman’s head, but as the hair cascades downward, the irons disrupt the straightness, tangling it and misshaping it further as the hair moves toward the floor. In contrast, Nappy Head Blues (1997) is a head standing on its neck directly on the pedestal. The entire work, from head to nape, is painted a bright cobalt blue. Unlike Pressed and its draping hair, here the hair is short and filled with little tchotchkes, like a small comb, an angel wing, a tiny little pig, and a brush. The women’s face lacks details, and the small items in her hair are all obscured by being painted the bright shade of blue. In this work, the hair contains memories and traditions, ones that could be lost by trying to force their hair into unnecessary styles just to fit in with the dominant culture. To create an impact, Saar relies on the variety and contrast of her material, using found materials, including wood, metal, glass, wire, wild roots, nails, washboards, and other objects that may have been found in the trash, the street, or flea markets. Christina Sharpe elaborates on this materiality and its significance, “The elements of Saar’s work (weight, interior, exterior, Yoruba religion, myth, fable, glass, branch) signify racial specificity minus the detritus of races … She experiences and then makes worlds, and then, through her, we experience the world …. There is, she tells us, a spirit in certain materials.”66 In a memorable work, Mo’fro (2006), Saar creates a bust of female with a significant Afro. But this Afro is missing the airiness and the softness of the hair, as Saar uses a mix of tin and primarily barbed wire to create the hairstyle. Tough, impenetrable, and painful to the touch, Saar’s woman is armed with hair that recalls Africana but is embodied with a powerful sense of control. This is not hair that can be touched, despite so many White people’s requests. This is hair that stands up for itself, literally and figuratively. Lorna Simpson is like Saar in that she too challenges how Black hair is conceptualized. However, Simpson is known more for her photographic and mixed media work which is often accompanied by words, frequently offer biting critiques of White supremacy. These ideas are particularly evident in Stereo Styles (1988), a combination of ten photographic prints and ten words/phrases. Each print showcases the upper back and head of a  Christina Sharpe, “Alison Saar: Alchemist,” in Alison Saar, 93.

66

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youthful Black woman. Wearing a simple white non-distracting garment, each image features a distinctly different hairstyle—from an impeccable French twist, to braids, to ribbons tied in different ways, to tiny buns with a few stray hairs, to styles where the hair seems to be untouched and unbrushed entirely. The words at first glance could be descriptors: “Daring; Sensible; Severe; Long & Silky; Boyish; Ageless; Silly; Magnetic; Country Fresh; Sweet.” No punctuation exists between the words, just a few spaces as the words practically blend into each another. It is unclear, however, which descriptor belongs to which depiction, and yet, each word clearly brings with it a sense of judgment—is the hairstyle meant to be attractive? Appropriate for work? For a child or an adult? In refusing to provide clarity, Simpson creates more questions for the viewer. In describing these types of works, she explains, “What I’ve tried to do with the photo work is create contradictions—an edge between the subject and the interpretations about how a ‘subject’ is viewed or contextualized.”67 In Stereo Styles, Simpson is connecting hairstyle and appearance to personality and identity traits, an idea she continues to investigate. In a larger work builds upon Stereo Styles, Simpson created Wigs (1994) is a combination of 21 lithographs on felt, accompanied by 17 text panels. The use of text and image moves further than Stereo Styles and resembles a scientific dissection of the objects on display, reinforced with the felt, which is affixed to the wall with pins. The text panels tell historical narratives related to appearances and connected to the wigs on display. This commentary, written by Simpson, creates stories about how wigs have been used by a variety of people—not just women, but also entertainers transgender people, as well as nonbinary or gender noncoforming people. Simpson includes phrases such as “The clothes make the man;” “What you see is what you get;” “If the shoe fits, wear it;” and “Strong desire to decipher,” adjacent to one reading “Strong desire to blur.” In addition, as she includes stories with these oft-repeated phrases, the relatability of this work grows. These are not instructions but ambiguous phrases, in line with the work seen before. Familiar phrases and brief aphorisms combined with short narratives connect to the viewer/ reader, drawing them in and focusing on the many ways wigs can work. Therefore, Simpson exposes the potential of the wigs to transform, hide, 67  Isaac Julien and Thelma Golden, “Conversation with the Artist,” in Lorna Simpson by Okwui Enwezor (New York: American Federation of Arts and Harry N.  Abrams, Inc., 2006), 134.

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enhance, or conform to any type of identity, and along the way allowing for endless possibilities. The images of braids and dreadlocks accompany pigtails and perfectly curled hair (in platinum and darker colors), and in addition to a mustache, a net of hair, tiny doll wigs to merkins (wigs that are used to replace or enhance pubic hair). Simpson went to Fulton Mall in downtown Brooklyn to source her wigs, exploring the broad range of materials and sizes and shapes that are used to create them and are shown to scale. Simpson herself explains how the wigs function: The wigs act as a surrogate for talking about the body or speaking about the presence of a person in the work. The wearer of the wigs can either become someone else or become closer to the person that one’s sees oneself to be in terms of either embracing or cutting across a particular stereotype, or in terms of gender blurring the lines between masculinity and femininity.68

Again, Simpson has created an open-ended work without any direct meaning, yet her questions force one to consider their own relationship to hair and hairstyles and what that says about their identity. Understandably, identity politics is inherent to the work of both Alison Saar and Lorna Simpson, whose careers began in the 1980s and who found success in the 1990s.69 Both Saar and Simpson exhibited their work at the 1993 Whitney Biennial, which was panned horribly at the time it debuted, only to have been reconsidered as one of the most important contemporary exhibitions in the past 50  years.70 After the popularity of abstraction and many artists’ focus on creating something universal, 68   Lorna Simpson, “Wigs” MoMA Learning, https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_ learning/lorna-simpson-wigs-1994/. 69  For further background information on both artists, see Enwezor, Lorna Simpson; and McGrew and Tsatsos, Alison Saar. 70  Christopher Knight, “ART REVIEW: Crushed by Its Good Intentions: Under the Banner of Opening up the Institutional Art World to Expansive Diversity, the Whitney Biennial Has in Fact Perversely Narrowed Its Scope to an Almost Excruciating Degree,” The Los Angeles Times, March 10, 1993. https://www.latimes.com/archives/laxpm-1993-03-10-ca-1335-story.html; Amelia Ames, “Can the Whitney Biennial Ever Live Up to Its Controversial, Politically-Charged 1993 Exhibition?,” Artspace, March 13, 2017. https://www.artspace.com/magazine/interviews_features/in_focus/the-whitney-biennial1993-the-role-of-institutions-in-a-turbulent-society-54620; and Jerry Saltz, “Jerry Saltz on ’93  in Art,” New York Magazine, February 1, 2013. https://nymag.com/arts/art/features/jerry-saltz-1993-art/.

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identity politics was a welcome return to making art people-centered again. More than that though, this type of art argued for inclusion, diversity, and equality. Women and people of color have for long periods been excluded from the art world and the art markets, but thanks to various forms of activism, by the 1990s these voices were beginning to be heard. It is worth examining contemporary evolutions of their ideas to fully see how they continue to address Black women and their hair. In one of her most recent installations, Alison Saar created several sculptural women with hair growing out of their head like twigs with cotton blossoms bursting through on top. These figures are all a part of Topsy Turvy (2018), which are all reconciled versions of the character Topsy in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Topsy was a Civil War era slave child, abused and dirty; she been raised in horrible conditions. Topsy was often depicted as a “pickaninny” with unruly hair emerging from her head at all angles. Compared to the White, saint-like Eva in Stowe’s novel, Topsy needed cleaning in more ways than one. At the time this work was made, shortly after the 2016 election of Donald Trump as president, Saar was infuriated by the state of race relations in the United States. The news seemed to be constantly reporting one murder after another of Black person by either police or White supremacists. Rebecca McGrew sees Saar dealing with these issues, explaining that “Saar gives her subjects, such as Topsy, agency and strength, often arming them with tools that transform their subjugation into tenacity, resilience, and communal significance.”71 In her use of the verb “arming,” McGrew is particularly astute. In creating an army of Topsys, each armed with their own instruments—a hoe, an iron, a sickle, a hook, and a machete—these Topsys are readying themselves to move forward. The Topsys’ metal bodies are made with ceiling tin tiles, which Saar has often used in her work since she moved to New York in the 1980s, when buildings were being renovated and the old ceilings were being taken down to raise the ceilings for fashionable loft apartments. The combination of the different materials echoes her past work, though the intensity of these newer works feels more immediate. Speaking of this installation, Saar says: Perhaps the difference between the latest body of work is that in the past my work has always viewed politics and the sword of healing approach, and I think this is the first time I’ve had a show that is just outright angry and  Rebecca McGrew, “Alison Saar’s Radical Act of Sustenance,” in Alison Saar, 15.

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maybe a little more aggressive in terms of pushing back. Often the work will look at contemporary issues through a historical lens.72

This is Topsy returning to save us, no longer trapped as the young slave child she used to be. She is armed and ready to confront the future, and with Saar at the helm. Lorna Simpson has also recently tackled the attention that natural hair has been given. Like Saar, there is an intensity to these newer works by Simpson. After finding her grandmother’s stash of Ebony magazines, Simpson began collecting issues of the magazine, along with Jet, another Black-focused magazine, focusing on the years from 1930s to 1970s. In series variously called Ebony, Jet, and Riunite & Ice, Simpson layers cut-­ outs of magazine photographs and advertisements and combines them with painted hair using brilliantly colored ink washes.73 These collages are filled with dynamism and life, and often boldly colored bouffants. In the combination of the two different materials, Simpson found exciting new paths, saying: But what’s just as important as the photographic components are the more tactile, immediate elements, such as the inks I use. With ink, there’s a free-­ form, spontaneous quality to it that complements the more methodical process that is involved in the selection and placement of the photographic or found image. Working with ink is very much about being in the moment, and as a result there’s a degree of subconsciousness that comes through.74

In these collages, men and women have hair that extends upward, doubling, tripling, or even quadrupling the height of their head. The poet Elizabeth Alexander beautifully describes the images, “The hair she paints has a mind of its own. It is sinuous and cloudy and fully alive. It is forest and ocean, its own emotional weather.” She continues, “In these pictures Black women’s phantasmagorical hair is like smoke, but nothing is turning 72  Gary Brewer, “‘I Wanted to Make Art that Told a Story’: Alison Saar on Her Eloquent Sculptures,” Hyperallergic, May 1, 2018, https://hyperallergic.com/440597/i-wanted-tomake-art-that-told-a-story-alison-saar-on-her-eloquent-sculptures/. 73  Riunite & Ice here refers to an Italian wine that was imported into New York in the 1950s, and still sold in cans and various types across the United States. Popular for their advertisements in the 1970s and 1980s, which used their popular tagline: “Riunite on ice, that’s nice.” Riunite, Riunite, https://www.riunite.it/en, 2022. 74  Joseph Akel, “A Photographic Memory: In the Studio with Lorna Simpson,” The Paris Review, October 15, 2015. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2015/10/15/a-photographicmemory-in-the-studio-with-lorna-simpson/.

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to ash. It is a non-consuming smoke, the mesmerizing beauty of smoke as it curls and wafts and draws a viewer inexorably near.”75 In Stereo Styles, the hair is styled in multiple ways, but it is all real and relatable Black hair. Here, in Ebony, this is voluminous, dynamic hair. It is swirling and lively, filled with blends and overlays and bleeding colors. What might appear as hairs astray becomes curling lines that recall the great art nouveau work of Aubrey Beardsley or Alphonse Mucha. In her unconventional artist statement for the work, Simpson compiles phrases that accompanied many of the images in the collages, such as “A beautiful head of hair is never an accident;” “Flirt;” “Nubian Queen;” “What are you doing tonight;” “Face Framing Style;” and “Put on your Afro Pony-Tail and swish those superflies away!” Monica Uszerowicz connects the words to the content by emphasizing, “Though we know their faces were once posed and designed to sell products to other Black women, in Simpson’s hand, none of them are indebted to any identity or occupation. They’re multitudinous.”76 These men and women are almost anonymous, yet they are consistently and identifiably Black. The hair that has historically been used to insult them, degrade them, and deride them is replaced with vibrant and luscious pools of color that surpasses even the idea of hair. These are Black people transformed, with hair that rises above beauty. When Vanessa Williams was crowned Miss America, her hair had volume but was clearly straightened. It was controlled and well maintained, neatly fitting in with the rest of the White competitors and past winners. Both Saar and Simpson are allowing for people like Williams to reclaim their natural hair, but also consider the possibilities of hair without limitations. The challenges that these artists have made by drawing attention to the problematic way that Black hair has been manipulated, colonized, denigrated, and forced to be made to look like White people’s hair illustrate the horrible histories that Black Americans have been forced to survive. Yet, simultaneously, Simpson and Saar have helped to further legitimize the beauty of Black hair, with the hopes that it would be more accepted and championed in mainstream society, but as well as in the pageant system. 75  Elizabeth Alexander, “Of the Black & Boisterous Hair,” in Lorna Simpson: Collages, by Lorna Simpson (San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 2018), n.p. 76  Monica Uszerowicz, “Lorna Simpson’s Glowing Collages of Women and Heads of Hair,” Hyperallergic, June 12, 2018. https://hyperallergic.com/445363/lorna-simpsoncollages-chronicle-books/.

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Miss America’s Legacies It’s quite possible that at 100, the Miss America pageant is fading into oblivion. The past few years of the event have been rough for the pageant, and its continued existence is repeatedly being called into question by broadcasters, advertisers, and even past contestants. The competition has bounced from different TV networks like TLC, CMT, ABC, just at the same time as the pageant would leave its beloved Atlantic City for Las Vegas and back again. Perhaps the toughest challenge the MAO faced were the actions of CEO and Executive Chairman Sam Haskell. In 2017, it was revealed that Haskell had written several negative emails which included the degrading the appearances and weight of current and former Miss Americas, belittling them with misogynistic slurs, and even threatening the death of a former winner. His actions caused a production deal with Dick Clark Productions to be cancelled and generally brought shame to the entire institution.77 After his suspension in December of 2017, Gretchen Carlson would become board chair in 2018. As Miss America 1989, she seemed like an appropriate choice for the role. In 2016, Carlson filed a lawsuit against her boss of 11 years at Fox News, Roger Ailes, accusing him of sexual harassment. Winning a $20  million settlement, and inhabiting her new role as a champion of women and a #MeToo hero, it was logical that she would be the face that fixed the problems that the Miss America pageant had found itself in.78 When Carlson came into the organization, she wanted to make big changes—ones that were overtly progressive and feminist. One of the first big moves she made was to eliminate the swimsuit competition, despite the rest of the board members’ protestations. Further, she also worked quickly to consolidate power and had herself installed as Executive Chairperson, which granted her more control and decision-making ability. Things quickly devolved into chaos—a lawsuit was filed against Carlson, some board members were forced out while others resigned, and Carlson was called a bully with thousands of people calling for her resignation in

77  THR Staff, “Miss America CEO Suspended After Vulgar Emails About Contestants Revealed,” The Hollywood Reporter, December 22, 2017. https://www.hollywoodreporter. com/news/general-news/miss-america-ceo-sam-haskell-suspended-vulgar-emailscontestants-revealed-1070061/. 78  Lyz Lenz, “The Heavy Crown of Gretchen Carlson,” Columbia Journalism Review, May 14, 2019. https://www.cjr.org/the_profile/gretchen-carlson-fox-miss-america.php.

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an online petition.79 Less than two years after taking her leadership role, she was pushed out and finally resigned in June 2019. With all this chaos happening, the pageant was left in a precarious position. For the first time, the pageant was moved to December and took place in a Connecticut casino (Mohegan Sun). Dubbed “Miss America 2.0” and newly airing on NBC, the evening gown and swimsuit competitions would no longer take place. The winner that year, Camile Shrier performed a science experiment for her talent and brought a new kind of energy to the pageant. And yet, just a few months after she was crowned, COVID-19 hit and the 2020 pageant ended up being cancelled. This temporary break from the annual competitions led many to hope that the competition would be reimagined; considering its terrible ratings in 2019, perhaps the pageant could find a new audience by becoming more relevant. Amy Argetsinger explains, “Some hoped that this pause would give the organization a chance to find its footing before its 2021 centennial—especially as the sudden end of the fundraising partnership with Children’s Miracle Network raised doubts about the future of the scholarship reserves. Others feared this pause would snuff the last embers of enthusiasm that kept the thing alive.”80 The 2021 pageant was held on December 16, 2021, again at Mohegan Sun. NBC bought the broadcasting rights, but instead of showing it live on their main network, the competition was only broadcast on their streaming service Peacock. Unfortunately, the entire production looked amateurish, and while efforts were made to celebrate the past Miss Americas, the tributes felt flat. The budget had clearly deflated, no major celebrity hosts or judges were present, and the new questions and interview format failed to captivate the audience as much as evening gowns and the swimsuit competition once had. Gone were the glory days of Miss America, and at 100 years old, it looks like the pageant is going to struggle to continue moving forward. While much different in history and origin, the party-like atmosphere of the pageants echoes the young Latinas/Hispanics celebrating their 15th birthdays with their quinceañeras (quince) These celebrations have persisted for centuries and have deep cultural significance, as Michele Salcedo elaborates, “It highlights the very best of our cultures: the celebration of family, music, dance, attention to the most minute detail, hard

 Argetsinger, There She Was, 262–275.  Argetsinger, There She Was, 297.

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work, homage to God, a wonderful feast, cooperation, and fun.”81 Here, a girl is being celebrated as she begins the transition from girl to young woman, while honoring her heritage and culture. This is a celebration of what it means to be a Latina or Hispanic woman, which continues to grow as the U.S. population diversifies. In this event, the girls don fancy gowns and have fairy tale-like celebrations that honor a specific kind of femininity, not unlike the Miss America pageants. Both the quince and the pageant have roots in religion, Christianity specifically, and involve the honoring of women from their looks to their speaking ability to choreographed dances to what makes them stand out from a crowd. While of course these events are not the same, it is easy to see how quinces and pageants can relate and how their popularity can reinforce the other. Further, both types of events call into question ideas about femininity and fashion, as stylish gowns take such a prominent role in each event. And indeed, fashion designers continue to wrestle with the questions of what makes someone an American beauty. For his tenth anniversary show, Prabal Gurung set out to push his buyers and critics to consider America broadly. Throughout his designs for this show he incorporated roses, the national flower of the United States, and denim, a fabric that has long been considered distinctly American. Per his usual preference, he used a diverse group of models which could now be recognized as the multicultural citizens that make up this country. The most significant part of his project was during the finale, where the models all walk out in their final outfits. Unlike previously in the show, these models had a new addition—a bold white sash with red lace bordering on each side and bright blue text proclaiming “WHO GETS TO BE AMERICAN?” Recalling the Miss America sashes (which, of course, refer to the suffragists sashes), he questions what qualifies someone to be of this country. In Gurung’s notes for the show, he elaborates: This is all deeply personal to me. Though my roots lay with my family in Nepal, this country is my home. America is where my heart is. I am an American. As immigrants continue to birth this “new America,” we must remember all versions of our history and take ownership of our past while forging a new legacy. Amidst the deep wounds that are severing the unity of our country, I continue to seek the America I came here to be a part of—the America that I know is

 Michele Salcedo, Quinceañera! The Essential Guide to Planning the Perfect Sweet Fifteen Celebration (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1997), xiii. 81

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still there. And so, with the Spring 2020 collection, we seek to celebrate hope, courage, and present an ode to the true American dream.82

Does participating in a quinceañera make one American? Competing in a Miss America pageant? Walking in an American fashion show? Gurung does not answer the question directly for his viewers, but he hopes through his words and actions he is pushing for a more inclusive understanding of who can be American. Another sash-wearing groundbreaker was Mlle Bourgeoise Noire (MBN, Miss Black Middle Class, Figs. 3.3 and 3.4), a persona created and performed by Lorraine O’Grady from 1980 to 1983. The artist had been frustrated by examinations of Black abstract art; she felt particularly strongly that art needed to say something. Her work was motivated, then, by her attempts to talk about and understand her idea of Blackness. This project was one of her first forays into the art world, but she had lived an entire life before becoming an artist: working for the government, translating, writing, multiple marriages, and being a mother. In her 40s, she was not creating work that would be safe; instead, her actions were meant to question peoples’ perceptions about race, gender, and expectations. Her performances were planned but also a surprise to their audience.83 Debuting on June 5, 1980, (the 25th anniversary of the fictional international beauty pageant held in Cayenne, French Guiana), MBN wore a crown, a cape, and a gown, all made of 180 white pairs of gloves sourced from secondhand shops all over New York City. For her bouquet, she carried a white cat-o-nine tails (a whip) decorated with white chrysanthemums that she handed out to guests at the event, while saying, “Won’t you help me lighten my heavy bouquet?” As the party continues, and the flowers are gone, she takes off her cape and puts on a pair of long above-­ the-­elbow gloves. O’Grady describes what happened next: “Back and forth she paces, like a caged lion and trainer all in one. She beats herself with the whip. All these years, she has been waiting for this 25th Anniversary 82  Lauren Alexis Fisher, ‘Prabal Gurung Asks “Who Gets to Be American?’ on the Runway,” Harper’s Bazaar, September 9, 2019. https://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/fashionweek/a28965513/prabal-gurung-spring-2020-show/. 83  The piece began as Miss Afro-American Abstraction in response to a show of that name held in Queens. At that point, however, it existed conceptually but not as a physically distinct entity as it would emerge later that year. For more information, see Zoé Whitley, “Mlle Bourgeoise Noir: Throws Down the Whip: Alter Ego as Force Critic of Institutions,” in Lorraine O’Grady: Both/And, eds. Aruna D’Souza and Catherine Morris (New York: Dancing Foxes Press and Brooklyn Museum of Art, 2021), 46–57.

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Fig. 3.3  Lorraine O’Grady, Untitled (A Skeptic Inspects Mlle Bourgeoise Noire’s Cape), 1980–1983/2009. Silver gelatin fiber print. 7  ×  9  3/8  inches (17.78  ×  23.83  cm). (Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New  York © 2022 Lorraine O’Grady / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York)

to give her subjects her conclusion. And stalking back and forth in front of the art in this 50%-Black gallery, beating herself with greater and great frenzy, suddenly she stops.”84 She recites a poem by a Cayenne writer, ending loudly with the phrase “BLACK ART MUST TAKE MORE RISKS!!!” And then she leaves the room. Incredibly layered and filled with different meanings and critiques, for the purposes of this chapter, a focus on how this piece relates to beauty and pageants is necessary.85 Stephanie Sparling Williams illustrates how 84  Lorraine O’Grady, Writing in Space, 1973–2019 (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2020), 10. 85  For much more in-depth discussion of this work, see Whitley, “Mlle Bourgeoise Noir,” 46–57; Stephanie Sparling Williams, Speaking Out of Turn: Lorraine O’Grady and the Art of Language (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2021). For more on her life and career, not only use those resources, but also see D’Souza and Morris, Lorraine O’Grady: Both/And.

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Fig. 3.4  Lorraine O’Grady, Untitled (Mlle Bourgeoise Noire removes the cape and puts on her gloves), 1980–1983/2009. Silver gelatin fiber print. 9  3/8  ×  7  inches (23.83  ×  17.78  cm). (Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York © 2022 Lorraine O’Grady / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York)

significant the performance aspect of this piece is, by saying “During each iteration of Mlle Bourgeoise Noire, O’Grady’s strange and disruptive performance produced a rupture in the logics of the New York gallery scene as her adorned Black body and her speech acts forced attendees to deal

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with the spectacle of both.”86 Claiming her space and crowning herself a beauty queen, MBN draws attention away from the exhibition and forces others to consider what she is even doing there. Smiling throughout the night, O’Grady appears happy, but more importantly she is poised and elegant, behaving as one would expect a beauty queen to behave. Yet in 1980, no Black woman had won Miss America; they had only been recently allowed to participate and had never been crowned. Her Blackness stands out against the white gloves, the same gloves that are historically worn by servers, attendants, and slaves. When she begins whipping herself, the pain of being Black is apparent to anyone who is present. One cannot ignore her skin color; rather, she forces the audience to confront it. Can Black women be beautiful? Can Black women win beauty contests? Can they wear the crown? MBN answers the questions for her audience, not just that they can win, but that they deserve to win. She also recognizes that the past cannot be forgotten; there is no escaping the history of how Black men and women have been treated. While Vanessa Williams would win the crown at the tail end of O’Grady’s use of MBN, O’Grady recognizes that winning the crown is just one part of a bigger recognition and reconciliation that needs to happen for Black women. As the Miss America pageant seems to be flailing, its legacies will live on. Its role in shaping the ideal Christian White role model for women persists, even as Black pageants and artists are trying to shift these ideals. Entering the third decade of the twenty-first century, this ideal is no longer holding up. Black women, more than any other group of people, have pushed the boundaries of the organization and questioned the problematic archetype that the organization has championed. Black pageants emphasized service and scholarship before the MAO would even consider the options, just as these competitions celebrated differences in hair, style, and identity. As Black pageants no longer exist in the mainstream, homecoming events continue with similar fervor. The impact of both events, however, is lasting as these organizations encouraged the MAO to look beyond outside appearances. Further, figures like Myerson and Williams pushed the boundaries by not fitting into the mold that the pageant had so well established as White, Christian, and more. As the outmoded Miss America fades, space has finally emerged for a new multicultural woman with all kinds of abilities to become the ideal.

 Sparling Williams, Speaking Out of Turn, 63.

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Impact In conclusion, two important political movements have resulted directly, but also obliquely, from the value placed upon the Miss America competition and its subsequent idealization of the White female body. First, in the past ten years, women’s bodies have been increasingly censored on social media, and many artists and activists have worked to publicize how these restrictions are unfairly used against women. While pageants have been debating the existence of the swimsuit competition, the amount of skin a woman can show is always a part of that discussion. As the ideas are questioned publicly and privately, it is not surprising to see the rise of one campaign in particular. #Freethenipple illustrates not just the biases facing women, but social media’s unwillingness to recognize cultural differences, artworks, and even the difference between men and women’s nipples. Companies like Facebook and Instagram have been known to delete posts that include any part of a woman’s nipple, while leaving male posts alone. In 2012, Lina Esco made the movie Free the Nipple, which, while fictional, showed real women gathering and protesting the frustrating rules promoted by social media companies. Emma Shapiro has noted that “‘Free the Nipple’ is the viral slogan which brought together artists, activists, and advocates from around the world, pointing out the double standard many of us deal with daily. The ubiquity of its presence in our society should emphasize the continued need for it.”87 In trying to justify their policies, Karina Newton, head of Instagram’s public policy, has stated that the site is not trying to “impose its own value judgment on how nipples should be viewed in society. We’re trying to reflect the sensitives of the broad and diverse array of cultures and countries across the world in our policies.”88 Newton is particularly concerned about the showing of nipples of living women, because she was worried if there was consent given for the images. That, however, does not prevent censoring pictures that women have posted themselves. As gender becomes more fluid, these issues are no longer so clear. Rain Dove, a gender  non-conforming model, faced a battle with Instagram 87  Emma Shapiro, “Free the Nipple: A History of a Hidden Movement,” Hyperallergic, October 15, 2021. https://hyperallergic.com/681937/free-the-nipple-a-history-ofa-hidden-movement/. 88  Julia Jacobs. “Will Instagram Ever ‘Free the Nipple?;” New York Times, November 22, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/22/arts/design/instagram-free-the-nipple.html.

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censors when they posted topless images of themselves playing basketball and drinking milk. They kept republishing the images after Instagram would take them down, emphasizing that since Dove did not identify as female, her nipples should not be considered female either. After repeatedly drawing attention to the issue, even going so far as to threaten a lawsuit, the images were allowed to remain up.89 While social media is often derided as frivolous, studies are increasingly showing how important it is to people’s self-worth and value. Sofia P.  Caldeira, Sandre De Ridder, and Sofie Van Bauwel have argued that “the creation of photographic self-representations is a central part of the everyday uses of Instagram, and a practice particularly associated with young women … These Instagrammable conventions have thus the political potential to expand the realm of public visibility, granting both aesthetic and political value to moments and people otherwise unrepresented.”90 As women try to bond and find community on Instagram and Facebook, these biases can have particularly negative effects on women. As Gretchen Faust has researched, “This type of gendered moderation of harassment has severe implications for women’s status on the internet, as it is a reflection of the inequality that exists in our physical world.”91 In defiance of these practices, artists have challenged these rules by photoshopping male nipples onto female ones and using photographs placed on real women that are not live nipples but photographs of nipples. Celebrities like Miley Cyrus and Rihanna alongside internationally renowned artists like Marilyn Minter have joined the campaign, as these artists are seeing their own artwork censored, and recognizing that while they might have acclaim, younger and up and coming artists are having their careers adversely affected. The struggle persists, and on October 21, 2021, well-known director Pedro Almodovar’s poster for his upcoming film Parallel Mothers was censored for featuring a lactating nipple. Almodovar and artist Javier Jaen later received an apology from Instagram, but only after considerable media attention. This ongoing fight, one that  Jacobs, “Will Instagram Ever ‘Free the Nipple’?”  Sofia P. Caldeira, Sandre De Ridder, and Sofie Van Bauwel, “Between the Mundane and the Political: Women’s Self-Representations on Instagram,” Social Media + Society (July– September 2020): 11. 91  Gretchen Faust, “Hair, Blood and the Nipple: Instagram Censorship and the Female Body,” in Digital Environments: Ethnographic Perspectives Across Global Online and Offline Spaces, eds. Urte Undine Frömming, Steffen Köhn, Samantha Fox, and Mike Terry (Bielefeld: transcript, 2017), 11. 89 90

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hopes to restore dignity to women, uniquely parallels the downfall of the swimsuit competition in the Miss America pageant. While forcing women to show their skin for scholarship money was finally changed, the idea was that women would be chosen more for their skills, their platform, and their personhood instead of a narrow conception of beauty. The forces behind “Free the Nipple” want equality and honesty in social media, and recognition that women’s nude bodies do not need to be censored or presented as wrong, overtly sexual, or offensive. Both Miss America and the “Free the Nipple” campaign are trying to refuse the continued objectification and sexualization of women. These ideas carry over into the second campaign that problematizes the standards set about by pageants like Miss America. As stated and in recent years, there has been a revival in celebrating natural hair for Black women and men. As Black beauty pageants and homecoming celebrations persist, more national competitions are open to diversity and there has been a concerted effort to be more understanding of how Black hair works. Brown Pellum smartly articulates, “Perhaps what makes the tradition of Black pageantry most rousing is its honestly about these issues and its coinciding earnest efforts to unravel and address them without being defined by them.”92 Today, this manifests in the call for states to pass The CROWN Act, with CROWN standing for Creating a Respectful World for Natural Hair. As discussed, Black hair has been extremely politicized, as well as being considered unprofessional, unkempt, and problematic. This campaign works to challenge these notions, arguing that natural Black hair should be respected and celebrated instead of being challenged. Begun in just 2019, the CROWN act was created by then State Senator Holly J. Mitchell of California along with Dove (the soap and beauty company), the National Urban League, Color of Change, and the Western Center on Law and Poverty. Now backed by hundreds of other organizations and political figures, the organization works to “ensure protection against discrimination based on race-based hairstyles by extending statutory protection to hair texture and protective styles such as braids, locs, twists, and knots in the workplace and public schools.”93 Eleven states have already passed the law, along with the House of Representatives, as well as several

 Brown Pellum, Black Beauties, 127.  “About” The CROWN Act, 2022. https://www.thecrownact.com.

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states currently pursuing the issue (though a few states have already failed to pass the legislature). #FreetheNipple and the CROWN Act can both be seen as huge strides for women and represent the new ideas of twenty-first century while the Miss America flounders in its outdated competition. The pageant directors have made strides to modernize, hiring more women behind the scenes, and even changing their motto to “To prepare great women for the world, and to prepare the world for great women.”94 What remains to be seen is if these changes Miss America has made are enough to keep the pageant going for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, through protests, art, fashion, and political actions, women can continue to challenge the ideal brought forth by Miss America.

 Argetsinger, There She Was, 264.

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CHAPTER 4

When Women Wear the Pants

On October 20, 2016, a new Facebook group was formed: Pantsuit Nation. Founded by Libby Chamberlin, her first post was simple: “Wear a pantsuit on November 8—you know why.” Accompanying the text was an image of Hillary Rodham Clinton from the third presidential debate held the night before. She was wearing a striking white pantsuit, an outfit that continues to inspire by recalling suffragists’ ideals and hopes for the future, and prefiguring Kamala Harris’ suit worn declaring victory after the 2022 election. The Republicans and Donald Trump often challenged Clinton’s clothing, her heels, her attractiveness, her voice, among other issues. These were simply strategies to distract from a woman who was more prepared for the presidential office than anyone else. Chamberlin focused on the pantsuit for Facebook, something Clinton had become well-known for wearing in a rainbow of colors. Speaking about her feelings regarding the 2016 election, Chamberlin says, “I didn’t own a pantsuit at the time. It didn’t matter. I knew that more than any other campaign pin, slogan, or log, the pantsuit symbolized this moment in history, and I wanted to wear that symbol—to embrace it and embody it and celebrate it—when I went to cast my vote in that historic election. It turns out I wasn’t the only one.”1 And 24,000 people joined the Facebook group one day after its creation. 1

 Libby Chamberlin, Pantsuit Nation (New York: Flatiron Books, 2017), xi.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. Newman, Fashioning Politics and Protests, Palgrave Studies in Fashion and the Body, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16227-5_4

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Significantly, the group succeeded only if friends passed the invite to their friends, as the group was private and only open to those who knew someone in the group already. This “secret” was imperative to the group’s success; after the presidential debates, while many people were degrading and denigrating Clinton for reasons unrelated to her candidacy, Chamberlin and others wanted to create a space where Clinton and womanhood were celebrated. At first, the group celebrated Clinton and rejoiced in having a space to be able to express their joy at her nomination and potential. Yet, within a few days, the groups’ main posts shifted. While still celebratory, women were sharing what Clinton’s nomination meant to them. For many, Clinton provided a glimpse of a future where women could have power and control, and where women would finally be able to see someone in the ultimate position of leadership that looked like them and shared their same experiences (Fig. 4.1). Chamberlin calls this a type of collective storytelling, one that grew from the hundreds to the thousands and to over a million participants in the final few days before the election. The

Fig. 4.1  Gage Skidmore, Hillary Clinton, Former Secretary of State speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at the Intramural Fields at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, November 2, 2016, Creative Commons license

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stories poured in, at once individual and specific to the person who posted, but universal in expressing their hopes and dreams for the country. They reclaimed the phrases that Trump had flung at them—Nasty Woman and Bad Hombres. After messages for more calls to action, Pantsuit Nation became a fundraiser, supporting Clinton’s campaign with a donation of over $200,000 raised in a few days.2 In her discussion of her fashion choices that inspired the Facebook group, Clinton brings up two points that are pivotal. The first is the importance of the pantsuit to become invisible around the men; by matching their type of clothing, she doesn’t distract from them fashion-wise, which allows her to feel both comfortable and confident. The second point she makes is about the ease of a uniform, something that is pre-­ planned, is quick to put on, and agrees with her fashion sensibility.3 The suit for men was in fact made with this intention, which will be explored in this chapter, as will how designers adapted the suit for women by creating their own signature suits and fashion trends. Clinton is not the first female politician to appreciate pantsuits; many women preceded her with the desire to wear pants in congress, which for years was strictly forbidden. Further, by looking at contemporary artists and celebrities, the pantsuit can also be used as a stand-in for class, sexuality, and importance. It can be used as a costume to command respectability as well as clothing choice that can embolden power. Through a thorough discussion of the pantsuit, readers will understand how this straightforward garment granted a set of opportunities that did not exist for women one hundred years ago.

Hillary Clinton’s Pantsuits On election day, the Facebook group Pantsuit Nation  surged to three million members, and the most popular posts, thousands of them, were photographs of members wearing their pantsuits going to the polls to support Clinton. A thousand posts were coming in for every minute, and the massive number of moderators could not keep up with approving the posts.4 Wearing their “I Voted” stickers and pantsuits of all kinds, women  Chamberlin, Pantsuit Nation, xiv.  Hillary Rodham Clinton, What Happened (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2017), 88. 4  Annie Correal, “Pantsuit Nation, a ‘Secret’ Facebook Hub, Celebrates Clinton” New York Times, November 8, 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/09/us/politics/ facebook-pantsuit-nation-clinton.html. 2 3

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wanted to share and commemorate the day. The group was a site of celebration, and then, as November 8th, 2016, became November 9th, 2016, it transformed into a site of collective mourning. In her concession speech, Clinton acknowledged her cheerleaders, saying, “And to the millions of volunteers, community leaders, activists, and union organizers who knocked on doors, talked to their neighbors, posted on Facebook— even in secret, private Facebook sites—I want everybody coming out from behind that and make sure your voices are heard going forward.”5 Here, even in defeat, Clinton honored those who greatly supported her and hoped that they would be able to move beyond hidden Facebook pages to become more vocal and demand their needs be met as women. The group did not disappear after the election; rather, in the months since the vote, more and more women continued to post and share inspiring stories about themselves, their lives, their communities, and more. These posts created deeper bonds between members, while also becoming a place to go and find not only solace but also hope. No one was giving up, other elections were won, and some changes were happening—this was to be a minor setback. The followers of Pantsuit Nation allowed readers to believe that change was still on its way, just delayed. The Facebook group and the publication of Pantsuit Nation (2017), just a few months after the election, were not without controversy. The book deal was announced by Chamberlin on the group’s site and was met with questions about the legality of sharing their private posts, to which Chamberlin clarified that nothing would be published without permission.6 Further, and more complicated, was the group’s issue with diversity, or as many saw it, a lack thereof. Erin Gloria Ryan has challenged the groups’ happy focus, as she argues it’s a space for White people to support other White people and their newfound “woke-ness.” While some people of color tried to challenge this perception, even expressing their discomfort, they were ignored or shut down “for interfering with the humming positivity machine.”7 Ryan saw the book as not acknowledging the real  Qtd in Chamberlin, Pantsuit Nation, xv.  Danielle Kurtzleben, “‘Pantsuit Nation’ Serves Up Nostalgia, Uplift, Heartbreak. But Why” NPR, May 9, 2017. https://www.npr.org/2017/05/09/527422101/ pantsuit-nation-serves-up-nostalgia-uplift-heartbreak-but-why. 7  Erin Gloria Ryan, “Pantsuit Nation Is the Worst: Why a Book of Uplifting Facebook Posts Won’t Heal America,” Daily Beast, April 13, 2017. https://www.thedailybeast.com/ pantsuit-nation-is-the-worst-why-a-book-of-uplifting-facebook-posts-wont-heal-america. 5 6

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­ roblems Clinton faced with attracting diverse voters, selecting posts that p whitewashed the situation and relied too heavily on nostalgia. If anything, however, the book acknowledges and showcases the diversity of Pantsuit Nation through its selection of photographs and posts and serves as an important record of what was happening in the days before and after the election. While not perfect, the group clearly found its place and provided a useful and supportive outlet for Clinton voters who were feeling pushed out or uncomfortable with the discourse of the combative 2016 election.8 During her politically active years, Hillary Rodham Clinton has consistently been dissected in the media in ways that male candidates rarely are, something that only seemed to escalate in the lead-up to the 2016 election against notorious sexist and misogynist Donald J. Trump. Describing what it is like to be a woman in politics, Clinton elaborates, “It can be excruciating, humiliating. The moment a woman steps forward and says, ‘I’m running for office,’ it begins: the analysis of her face, her body, her voice, her demeanor; the diminishment of her stature, her ideas, her accomplishments, her integrity. It can be unbelievably cruel.”9 For women, the attacks on their personal identity and the small, intimate details of their life are constantly analyzed in such a manner that male candidates never have to face. Susan Bordo has articulated this well: While male politicians can relax with a pretty standard professional dress code and are rarely criticized for being too ‘serious,’ gruff, or ‘ungracious,’ women have to calibrate their outfits carefully to avoid being both too schoolmarmish and too sexually provocative, and to regulate their emotional presence to be both warm and charming and ‘tough enough [sic] to handle the job.10

8  At the end of 2019, Supermajority announced that Pantsuit Nation was now a part of its organization. Dedicated to “creating a more equitable world for women of all backgrounds, races, and ages,” Supermajority would be able to provide better resources for women in the group as well as better fundraise and work to create a more lasting impact. Nonetheless, the Pantsuit Nation Facebook group would live on as a place for sharing stories and communing with other like-minded people. “Pantsuit Nation Joins Supermajority,” Press Release, Supermajority, December 20, 2019. https://supermajority.com/press/ pantsuit-nation-joins-supermajority/. 9  Clinton, What Happened, 116. 10  Susan Bordo, The Destruction of Hillary Clinton (Brooklyn, NY: Melville House, 2017), 41–42.

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Early in her career in 1992, while husband Bill Clinton was running for president, Hillary Clinton was confronted by friends intent on helping her spruce up her appearance. She had made mistakes earlier, refusing to take on her husband’s last name early in their relationship11 and making comments about wanting to pursue her career that many felt criticized stay-at-­ home mothers. Her clothes were something that could be modified and adapted, though Clinton herself had never thought of them as an issue. “For most of my life I had paid little attention to my clothes. I liked headbands. They were easy, and I could not imagine that they suggested anything good, bad or indifferent about me to the American public.”12 But her friends insisted, bringing her racks of clothing to try and convincing her to ditch the headbands. She explains, “What [my friends] understood, and I didn’t, was that a First Lady’s appearance matters. I was no longer representing only myself. I was asking the American people to let me represent them in a role that conveyed everything from glamour to motherly comfort.”13 At this point in her career, clothing came to be something that she was forced to consider as her fashion was now going to be a part of mainstream news. If she was going to have to deal with these issues, she was going to research them, discuss them with friends and boutique owners, and proceed full throttle with lightening and changing her hair as well as getting contact lenses. From then on, Clinton’s sartorial choices were careful and calculated. In her first memoir, Living History (2003), she details traveling to South Asia with her daughter Chelsea in March and April of 1995. The trip was 11  This is now considered to be a huge factor in why Bill Clinton lost his re-election to governor of Arkansas in 1980. Two years later, he would seek the seat again, this time successfully, and it has been suggested that this win, which happened after Hillary approached Bill and told him that she was going to change her name from Hillary Rodham to Hillary Rodham Clinton, was accomplished because of her name change. Connie Bruck wrote in 1994, “What Hillary was relinquishing, however, was in its way equally profound: in deference to her marital partnership and the local culture, she surrendered the notion that she could do things in her unvarnished way; and she set about repackaging herself—changing her name, her appearance, and her public demeanor.” For more see Connie Bruck, “Hillary the Pol,” The New  Yorker, May 23, 1994 https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1994/05/30/ hillary-the-pol; David A.  Graham, “A Short History of Hillary (Rodham) (Clinton)’s Changing Names,” The Atlantic, November 30, 2015. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/11/a-short-history-of-hillary-rodham-clintons-name/418029/; and Hillary Rodham Clinton, Living History (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2003). 12  Clinton, Living History, 110–111. 13  Clinton, Living History, 111.

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a huge undertaking, involving multiple countries including those who had very different ideas about modesty and fashion. She researched Jacqueline Kennedy’s trip to Asia, where Kennedy had worn a controversial stomach-­ bearing sari. Not wanting to repeat that mistake, she worked with the State Department to understand the different societal practices and craft a wardrobe that would be appropriate and respectful for her trip. She decided to pack lots of adaptable lightweight scarves and focus on wearing a shalwar kameez, a flowing tunic worn long over a pair of comfortable pants, with Chelsea wearing a similar outfit in different colors.14 There were no scandals from these travels regarding clothing; Clinton’s research had paid off, and she fit in appropriately. Unlike male politicians, who can fall back on a suit which protects them from the scrutiny women face, Clinton was having to scrutinize every item of clothing, jewelry, accessory, and hairstyle when she entered public space. Later in 1995, however, Clinton experienced an embarrassing incident after touring Latin America.15 A photo was taken of her seated on a couch, with her legs together as she wore a skirt suit. Yet, in the way it was captured on camera, the photograph looked slightly suggestive and revealed a sliver of her underwear. DuLoren, a Brazilian lingerie company, jumped at the chance to showcase this photograph on billboards across the city in Rio de Janeiro, which contained the phrase, “A tribute to one of the most important women of the decade.” Eventually, the American embassy was able to convince the company to pull the ad, but not after DuLoren claiming how they just wanted to “compliment” the First Lady. This event was accompanied by more situations where the then First Lady was made to feel uncomfortable, as she explains, “And then I also began to have the experience of having photographers all the time—I’d be on a stage, I’d be climbing stairs, and they’d be below me. I just couldn’t deal with it, so I started wearing pants.”16 This incredibly invasive upskirt photograph made clear how even as she monitored her fashions and wore appropriate tailored skirts and coordinating tops, as a woman she was still vulnerable.  Clinton, Living History, 275.  Hillary Clinton tells this story in the first season of her show Gutsy, completed with Apple and collaborated on with her daughter Chelsea Clinton. She says, “I used to wear skirts. And now I probably haven’t worn one since 1999.” Gutsy, S1E3, “Gutsy Women Seek Justice,” September 9, 2022, Apple TV+. 16  Qtd. in Ramon Antonio Vargas, “Hillary Clinton Reveals Lingerie Ad that Prompted Trademark Pantsuit Look,” The Guardian, September 6, 2022, https://www.theguardian. com/us-news/2022/sep/06/hillary-clinton-pantsuit-brazil-lingerie-ad/. 14 15

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Pants became the safe bet for Clinton, as they could completely cover her lower body and allow her the protection and respect from the press that she desired. Her wardrobe became even more specific when Clinton ran for Senate in 2000 and for president in 2008. Appropriating the reliability of her male counterparts, she describes her fashion choices of the time, “I basically had a uniform: a simple pantsuit, often black, with a colorful shell underneath. I did this because I liked pantsuits. They make me feel professional and ready to go. Plus, they helped me avoid the peril of being photographed up my skirt while sitting on stage or climbing stairs, both of which happened to me as First Lady.”17 Clinton followed the practice that many key figures have followed throughout the years, creating a uniform for herself of fundamental fashion pieces. She no longer had to make any tough choices when getting dressed, while the outfits made her feel confident, powerful, and ready for whatever she may encounter. She credits this idea to beloved fictional character Nancy Drew, who often wore trousers while she was out solving crimes.18 The choice of the pantsuit, however, was incredibly significant, and speaks to the point of this chapter. For Clinton, this was a strategic decision, as she argues: I also thought it would be good to do what male politicians do and wear more or less the same thing every day. As a woman running for President, I liked the visual cue that I was different from the men but also familiar. A uniform was an antidistraction technique: since there wasn’t much to say or report on what I wore, maybe people would focus on what I was saying instead.19

Here, Clinton makes clear that she wanted to blend in with her male colleagues. If she could follow the model of male politicians, whose fashion is seemingly never under question or attack, she would be able to do her job and focus on the issues that matter. For years, this strategy worked. Yet, in 2016, things changed. Bordo acknowledges that as Clinton’s fashion remained the same, the world had shifted around her. “In 1992, wearing a pantsuit would have been a radical act for a first lady; in 2016, young women who identify as radical may see Hillary’s pantsuits as  Clinton, What Happened, 88.  Clinton, What Happened, 88. 19  Clinton, What Happened, 88. 17 18

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symbols of her conventionality.”20 By this point, pantsuits had become Clinton’s signature certainly and helped her maintain her confidence, but now she was able to embrace them more than before. Unlike her previous run in 2008, Clinton was able to call on fashion designers to polish her look. Her pantsuits did not change per se, but they were now more fashionable than ever before. She explains: In 2016, I wanted to dress the same as I did when I wasn’t running for President and not overthink it. I was lucky to have something few others do: relationships with American designers who helped me find outfits I could wear from place to place, in all climates. Ralph Lauren’s team made the white suit I wore to accept the nomination and the red, white, and blue suits I wore to debate Trump three times.21

This was not about designers wanting visibility for their clothing, much as they do with celebrity clients, in that they are often not credited with the design of an outfit on the campaign trail whereas a celebrity’s outfit almost always gets acknowledged in photographs. No, this was about supporting a viable candidate for president, with the intention of making her look even more presidential. Leading fashion designers, including Ralph Lauren, Prabal Gurung, Marc Jacobs, and Joseph Altuzarra, reached out to Clinton to help her fundraise. Over a dozen American designers supported Clinton’s campaign by making designer T-shirts to raise money, as well as staging a major campaign event during New York Fashion Week. No longer was her fashion derided or ignored, but for the first time in her career, her fashion was being celebrated.22 Pantsuit Nation was formed to celebrate her choice to wear pantsuits almost exclusively; her pantsuits had now become iconic.

 Bordo, The Destruction of Hillary Clinton, 43.  Clinton, What Happened, 88. 22  Neha Prakash, “The Enduring Legacy of Hillary Clinton’s Style,” Marie Claire, March 12, 2020. https://www.marieclaire.com/fashion/a31275353/hillary-clinton-fashion-legacy/; Leah Bourne, “The Surprising Strategy Behind Hillary Clinton’s Designer Wardrobe,” New York Post, June 5, 2016. https://nypost.com/2016/06/05/hillarys-extravagant-campaign-wardrobe-costs-at-least-200k/; and, among others, Anne Quito, “Hillary Clinton’s Superstar Roster of US Designers is Making Campaign Swag Great Again,” Quartz, August 1, 2016. https://qz.com/745260/ hillary-clintons-superstar-roster-of-us-designers-is-making-campaign-swag-great-again/. 20 21

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The Gentleman’s Suit Suits emerged in the later seventeenth century as a loose, buttoned coat became preferred for men. Still including breeches, the overall garment was now loose and not laced or padded anymore. Under the coat was a cravat of some kind and a waistcoat; the coat could be left opened or buttoned up. For Anne Hollander, esteemed author of the pivotal Sex and Suits (1994), the emergence of modernity in fashion was the development of the suit for men. As she explains, “the defining element was not the use of one fabric—although that was certainly one meaning of ‘suit,’ and now the only one—but the abstract tripartite envelope with a unifying, loosely fitting shape, along with the shirt and tie.”23 At the same time and in contrast, women’s outfits fit more tightly, décolletage abounded, and no flaps, buttons, or pockets appeared.24 Over the next two to three hundred years, the suit would continue to evolve with modernity, in part because of the development of better tailoring and the use of wool in the early nineteenth century. Hollander argues, and most agree, that the suit, while being updated, has remained consistent enough over the past four hundred years to be considered the fundamental element of men’s fashion. Despite these unifying elements, fashion historian Emma McClendon points out that there “is the conundrum of the suit—while seemingly ubiquitous, there is actually such variety in the design of suits that it can make them tricky to define.”25 Fashion historian Christopher Breward’s detailed explanation of a suit from his appropriately titled book The Suit is critical: The suit as we know it now conforms to a basic two- or three- piece structure, generally made in finely woven wool or wool mix with a canvas, horsehair, and cotton (or synthetic cotton) interlining to provide structure, and a silk or viscous lining…. In made-up form, the suit is usually characterized by a long-sleeved, buttoned jacket with lapels and pockets, a sleeveless waistcoat or vest worn underneath the jacket (if three-piece) and long trousers. The simplicity of its appearance is belied by the complexity of its construction.26 23  Anne Hollander, Sex and Suits: The Evolution of Modern Dress (London: Bloomsbury, 2016) 63. 24  Hollander, Sex and Suits, 65. 25  Emma McClendon, Power Mode: The Force of Fashion (New York and Milan: Skira, 2019), 37. 26  Christopher Breward, The Suit: Form, Function and Style (London: Reaktion Books, 2016), 10.

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McClendon’s definition is direct, while allowing for more variety than Breward’s, as she outlines the suit as “a coordinated ensemble of tailored jacket and pants (or skirt) made from the same fabric. What is worn underneath can vary (tie or no tie, shirt or no shirt, vest or no vest). According to this definition, coordination and tailoring are the central design principles and the jacket is the most important part of the ensemble.”27 What both definitions take care to emphasize are the use of the same fabric for the outermost layers of the suit and the importance that construction and tailoring play in the design of the ensemble. The term pantsuit is a slight variation on suit and originally referenced suits worn with short pants for little boys who had not received their long pants. From the 1860s up until the twentieth century, the transition from boy to young man (usually around age 13) was symbolized by the ability to wear long pants. Jennifer Wright then comments, “So, the term ‘pant-­ suit’ in the 1860s was largely simply to indicate that someone who was not a full-grown man would be wearing a suit.”28 While not its intention, the term pantsuit became more preferred for women because it fit in the same way a young boy would wear a pantsuit—the suit could then remain a garment made entirely for men. By associating the term pantsuits with both women and little boys, it works to infantilize women as well, making it seem as if they are unable to wear the “manly” suits.

La Garconne’s Suit But the suit, and even the pantsuit, is more than just a fashion piece, as McClendon argues, stating the suit is a symbol that not only can convey power and influence but can also help the wearer blend or fit in. As she articulates, the suit “can convey both authority and subordination—individual importance and group belonging—depending on the setting and the wearer.”29 It may seem to be somewhat of a surprise that women would embrace a tailored suited look, but not as a means of passing or wanting to be masculine. For women then, the suit provides a unique opportunity—an attempt to try to equal the playing field with men by harnessing the power and stature that a suit can bring. Christopher  McClendon, Power Mode, 37.  Jennifer Wright, “Pantsuits for Women Were Once Illegal,” Racked, December 5, 2015, https://www.racked.com/2016/12/5/13778914/pantsuits-history. 29  McClendon, Power Mode, 39. 27 28

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Breward explains that some women made the “shocking” decision “to adopt masculine styles, not for reasons of disguise … or functional ease … but as a means of asserting a counterculture identity and deriving pleasure from the resulting dissonance.”30 He finds that artists, lesbians, performers, or even fashionable women were unsatisfied with their clothing options. With suits, however, Breward claims that “their interest was in the wholesale translation of the man’s suit as an object refitted for the female body and transformed by her desire.”31 Here, Breward is specifically referring to early female adopters of the suit, women emerging in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who often considered themselves outsiders, those who were willing to challenge the status quo. Women as early as George Sand (the pen name of Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin) wore suits in the 1830s, just as Sarah Bernhardt would wear a custom Worth pantsuit in 1870. Early adopters also included Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, or even Katherine Hepburn, who were often seen as both “sexy and subversive” according to Wright.32 As far as sexuality is considered, Breward and many others have aligned the modern development of women wearing the suit with queerness. He elaborates, “In fact, in some sense it could be argued that the male suit produced the image of the modern lesbian, allowing her to play with the fixed meanings of body, clothing and sexual orientation, disrupting the accepted, patriarchal understanding of all three to create something radical and empowering.”33 The suit, particularly the pantsuit here, provides a wide variety of options for the emerging “new woman.” An international conception, the new woman, referred to in France as la garçonne and primarily associated with the era from the 1890s to the 1920s, defines a rapidly changing idea of what a woman could look like and could be, one that was often perceived as a threat to men and the broader concept of masculinity. The new woman often had short hair, wore pants or masculine clothing, and had a vested interest in women’s rights, particularly in securing the right for women to vote. These women are also associated with flappers and the then-preferred body ideal: slender, small breasts, tomboy-type figure, and long legs. La garçonne is the French feminization for le garçon, meaning “boy,” which is formed by  Breward, The Suit, 158–161.  Breward, The Suit, 158–161. 32  Wright, “Pantsuits for Women Were Once Illegal.” 33  Breward, The Power Suit, 161. 30 31

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changing the pronoun and adding the standard feminine ending. The term itself is playing with gender and representation, combining the masculine and the feminine with ambiguous results, allowing for a variety of interpretations. Obviously rooted in France, Mary Louise Roberts describes la garçonne as “the bobbed-hair, pencil-thin sexpot who smoked cigarettes, drank cocktails, and danced to the rhythms of jazz bands. In the 1920s, the garçon became a symbol of a new cultural imposition— what came to be called ‘Americanization.’” She elaborates, “In this sense, la garçonne was a symbol of the increasingly transnational nature of French gender norms and, more generally, a French culture increasingly patterned by ideas and practices imposed from beyond its borders.”34 La garçonne, then, is the new woman influenced by the United States, pushing an agenda that included androgynous clothing and equal voting rights, yet, in the end, regardless of whether she is French or American, she is most recognizable by the suit she is wearing. As Breward has noted, “The man’s suit, in all of its supposed solidity, provided a remarkably unstable and thus suitably malleable vessel for such incendiary developments, which continued to shoulder throughout the remainder of the twentieth century.”35 This outfit, which had been around for over two hundred years at this point and which Hollander has defined as modern, was now being transformed by women, and thus continuing to push forward its modernity and relevance.

Coco Chanel’s Suits The next major period that saw women embracing the suit surfaced in the 1950s with the daring designs of Coco Chanel. Having already changed the way so many had thought about women’s bodies with her early sporting collections and her fascination with the all-important little black dress, late in life Chanel had one more idea to introduce to the public. Christian Dior’s presentation of his stunning “New Look” in 1947, dresses defined by their feminine, poofy skirts, tiny waistlines, and dreamy slim silhouettes, dominated fashion for the next few years. In February 1954, Chanel 34  Mary Louise Roberts, “Making the Girl Modern: French From New Woman to Éclaireuse,” in The Modern Girl Around the World: Consumption, Modernity, and Globalization edited by Alys Eve Weinbaum, Lynn M.  Thomas, Priti Ramamurthy, Uta G. Poiger, Madeline Yue Dong, and Tani E. Barlow. (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2008), 77. 35  Breward, The Suit, 162.

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Fig. 4.2  Chanel Haute Couture Jacket, F/W 1961, November 26, 2017. Jacqueline Kennedy’s pink Chanel suit was a line-to-line copy made by Chez Ninon in New York based on the original design. This is an original haute couture jacket made by Coco Chanel in Paris. Adnan Ege Kutay Collection, Creative Commons license

presented her first postwar collection, in which she wanted women to be “seized by a furious desire to throw off those waist cinchers, padded bras, heavy skirts, and stiffened jackets.”36 Instead, she replaced them with exquisitely tailored jackets and skirts, often in simple colors of black, cream, and pink, decked out with numerous long strands of pearls (for a similar example, see Fig. 4.2). This was not entirely out of the blue, as she had been working throughout her career to simplify women’s fashion, 36  Edmonde Charles-Roux, Chanel and Her World: Friends, Fashion, and Fame (New York: The Vendome Press, 2005), 354.

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ridding it of its rigidity. As Véronique Belloir explains, “It was goodbye to complicated drapery, unwieldy trains, outdated ideas, frills and furbelows, and excess of all kinds; goodbye to convoluted cuts, restrictive forms and asymmetrical outlines.”37 Chanel’s early beachwear designs had worked to make clothing more comfortable for women but were also based for a beach environment that had been given little attention in the fashion world. Her famous little black dresses played into the idea of similar silhouettes, with straight dresses complemented by beautiful jewelry. Edmonde Charles-Roux notes how significant Chanel’s new designs with suits were, saying, “It thus became essential that a skirt and jacket serve and, if possible, encourage the movements and gestures of modern life: walking, running, sudden sitting down and getting up.” Chanel had made outfits that women could actually move in, that didn’t constrict or alter the female body in any way, and that provided women with a freedom in their fashion that didn’t quite exist before her. Yet, her variations of suits are not masculine in nature, as Belloir confirms, “The feminine version was elegant, suitable for contemporary lifestyles, wearable throughout the day and also by women of all ages … In its classic form, the suit comprised a jacket with either two or four pockets, a skirt, and a blouse, sometimes with a tie neck or cufflinks at the wrists.”38 Chanel was more interested in breaking from the bounds of the corsets and restrictions placed upon women’s bodies through their fashion choices instead of bringing in masculinity. Further, these suits were created with numerous variants: colors could be changed; many different types of shirts could be worn underneath the jackets; and versions in shimmering fabrics could be produced for cocktail and eveningwear. The jackets functioned more like cardigans, as they didn’t have much underlying structure to them, so the fabric was able to keep its shape while maintaining flexibility. Chanel’s suits do not have the masculine energy that accompanied la garçonne; rather, Chanel’s suits retain their femininity and therefore they do not pose a threat to the business suits worn by men every day.

 Véronique Belloir, “The Chanel Suit: The Shape of Freedom,” in Gabriele Chanel: Fashion Manifesto, edited by Miren Arzalluz. (London and New York: Thames & Hudson, 2020), 145. 38  Belloir, “The Chanel Suit,” 146. 37

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Yves Saint Laurent’s Suits This was not the case in the 1960s for the designs of Yves Saint Laurent, who was looking at directly exploring menswear for women. Christopher Breward noted that “in 1966 he experimented for the first time with the man’s formal dinner suit, elongating its line to drape around the curves of the female body, finding in the tension and confusion between boy and girl a new freedom. ‘Le Smoking’ became a staple in Saint Laurent’s repertoire (Fig. 4.3).”39 Breward continued, saying that “sharp tailoring and a fetishistic spin on old-style dandyism” provided Saint Laurent with the tools to play with gender and femininity in the famously masculine suit.40 Saint Laurent was making suits for women, not altering suits to fit women as was done in the early twentieth century, and this is a crucial difference. Born in Algeria, Saint Laurent was adept at fashion from an early age and began his career working in haute couture with Christian Dior, taking over the brand after Dior’s death in 1957 when Saint Laurent was just 21. In 1962, he had split off on his own and produced his first collection that year. Florence Müller has argued, “Saint Laurent was no longer designing just for the elite but for the modern independent women as well. His collections drew their inspiration from street life and the creative excitement of pop culture.”41 He was immediately successful, but as noted, in 1966, Saint Laurent had his great breakthrough with his design of “Le Smoking,” also known as a Tuxedo. His feminization of the male suit for women, pairing it originally with a blouse and soft bow, was not immediately popular. People could not imagine a pantsuit replacing an evening gown, even though the world was rapidly changing around them. By contrast with his earlier work, the Tuxedo was met with mixed reviews. With Saint Laurent’s designs not being fully embraced by the wealthy women who supported haute couture, he started a new venture—a ready-­ to-­wear label and store, SAINT LAURENT rive gauche. Pierre Bergé, Saint Laurent’s business partner and life partner, explained, “We opted for the Left Bank in Paris, and we called the store ‘Rive Gauche’ which for us meant youth and freedom. It was the beginning of a wonderful adventure. Saint Laurent demonstrated that fashion is a dialogue between the designer  Breward, The Suit, 162.  Breward, The Suit, 162. 41  Florence Müller, Yves Saint Laurent: The Perfection of Style (New York: Skira Rizzoli, 2016), 39. 39 40

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Fig. 4.3  Eileen Costa, Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Smoking Evening Suit, Black wool, satin, and off-white silk crepe, c. 1982, France Gift from The Estate of Tina Chow, 91.255.4, YSL + Halston: Fashioning the 70s, Museum at FIT, Creative Commons License

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and women, between the designer and the street.”42 Here, it is important to note that Saint Laurent was thinking beyond the haute couture experience, focusing instead on how women exist in the public sphere and beyond the very wealthy. Rive Gauche was affordable and accessible and would become immensely popular, providing the framework for other designers to work in ready-to-wear. Nineteen Rive Gauche stores would open over the next few years. When his store in New York opened in September 1968, it was so successful that police were called to help manage the crowds.43 While Saint Laurent is a French designer, and his mark was made on the left bank of Paris and beyond, he left an indelible mark on American culture. Women in the United States were more ready than anywhere else in the world for the women’s suit. Women had been entering the business world for the past 20 years and were fed up with dress codes and pantyhose. While it would take a while for pants to be fully accepted, Saint Laurent offered a viable alternative. Further, in creating his ready-to-wear stores, he allowed for a different experience than big department stores or haute couture studios. Rive Gauche was filled with cheap prices, mix and match pieces, all in a variety of sizes. Surrounded by art and luscious rugs, visiting the store was an experience in and of itself. Breaking from the strict restrictions of runway collections, Saint Laurent could add a design to the store at any time, no matter the season. Ready-to-wear gave designers a freedom that had not existed before, which also benefited customers who needed cheaper clothing but still wanted stylish garments. With such success and his style firmly developed, looking back from 1991, Saint Laurent said about his Tuxedo, “I invented its past, I gave it a future and it will endure well after my death.”44 When French singer and songwriter Françoise Hardy found the Tuxedo in Rive Gauche, she helped create the visibility needed for the suit to be seen by the masses. First, she wore the suit in the United States at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and later at a gala in Paris. A photo of her at that event appeared on the cover of France Soir, a popular French newspaper. This led to a large increase in sales of the Tuxedo.45 It crossed over easily to ready-to-wear in 42  Pierre Bergé, Jéromine Savignon and Gilles de Bure, SAINT LAURENT rive gauche: Fashion Revolution (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2012), 11. 43  Savignon, SAINT LAURENT rive gauche, 42. 44  Qtd. in Müller, Yves Saint Laurent, 45. 45  Florence Müller and Farid Chenone, Yves Saint Laurent (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2010), 142; and Bergé, Savignon and Bure, SAINT LAURENT rive gauche, 35.

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Rive Gauche, as many of Saint Laurent’s clothes did. He did not treat couture and ready-to-wear hierarchically, or even as separate entries; they fed off and inspired each other. Because of his willingness to embrace this more accessible and affordable mass-produced type of fashion, his Tuxedo ensemble caused a sensation. The Tuxedo experienced a lasting longevity. It featured 230 times in Saint Laurent’s fashion lines and existed in endless variations.46 As Müller explains, “He allowed himself every combination, every mixture or fancy, creating tuxedos with shorts, skirt, knickerbockers, dress, kimono, pea jacket, safari jacket, and jumpsuit. Starting with a great classic of the male wardrobe, Saint Laurent created a look that was infinitely renewable.”47 Saint Laurent was building upon his fashion predecessors, and like Chanel, he was reacting against Dior’s ultra-feminine New Look. Bergé noted how he saw Saint Laurent surpassing Chanel: It is only a step from Chanel to Yves Saint Laurent. Chanel was the first to realize that women were not objects. She liberated them. Saint Laurent, in turn, saw that women had to be empowered. By taking clothes off men’s shoulders and putting them onto women’s, he gave them that power. But that result was not androgyny. Each to his own! Wearing men’s clothes brought out a woman’s femininity, her sensuality.48

Despite French social prejudice that women should not wear paints outside the home, Laurent created his Tuxedo, pushing women to go beyond social expectations and change the way that women were seen and understood in social spaces. As Minh Nhật has noted, “The design of ‘Le Smoking’ at that time was a costume of rebellion, not afraid to openly challenge stereotypes about contemporary male and female roles and positions.”49 Certainly, the Tuxedo was massively successful, but Saint Laurent would bring in other gendered clothing to transform it. For example, he was continuously inspired by male outfits—film noir gangsters, motorcycle jackets, aviator jumpsuits, and even safari clothing. His redesign of the  Müller, Yves Saint Laurent, 45.  Müller and Chenone, Yves Saint Laurent, 142. 48  Bergé, SAINT LAURENT rive gauche, 11. 49  Minh Nhật, “Inside Le Smoking, The First Suit for Women from Yves Saint Laurent,” L’Official Singapore, August 19, 2021. https://www.lofficielsingapore.com/fashion/ yves-saint-laurent-le-smoking-the-first-suit-for-women-from 46 47

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safari jackets took them out of Africa and into Europe and the United States, feminized them, and turned them into sensual dresses. Not only did he play with androgyny, as Diana Vreeland has argued, he addressed class systems, “Yves Saint Laurent’s modernity lay in demonstrating that haute couture for ladies who have lost everything but their wealth has gone out of fashion. That is why he changed the look of clothes on the street with such enthusiasm. Can an artist dream of anything better?”50

Mainstream Suits After Saint Laurent’s achievements with the female suit and ready-to-wear designs, it makes sense that the suit would start to trickle down to the masses, seemingly finding its best fit in the workplace. Writer, researcher, and former teacher John T. Molloy saw an opportunity here. Previously he wrote the quite well-known Dress for Success (1975), a guide to how men could look their best and succeed in the business world, so it was logical for him to update the book for women and address the ever-expanding and inclusive workforce of the 1970s. The Women’s Dress for Success Book was published in 1977, in which he introduced “power dressing,” a new term for women who wore clothing with the intent of achieving power and success in the workplace. The book begins directly and intensely, with Molloy writing, “This is the most important book ever written about women’s clothes because it is based on scientific research, not on opinion. The advice in this book will help women make substantial gains in business and in their social lives. It should also revolutionize their clothes-buying habits.”51 After outlining his goals of the project, he argues that most women are dressing for failure and making three fundamental mistakes: (1) being influenced by the fashion industry, (2) viewing themselves as sex objects, and (3) letting their socioeconomic background guide their choice of clothing.52 If this sounds potentially sexist and demeaning, that is because it is. The book is dated, and at times, dismissive of women’s voices while generalizing broadly about gender roles and rules. But Molloy attempted to address this at the end of his “Introduction,” saying the book is designed to be a “how-to” book, a way for American women to make fashion work for her. But then he clarifies:  Qtd. on Savignon, SAINT LAURENT rive gauche, 50.  John T. Molloy, The Women’s Dress for Success Book (New York: Warner Books, 1977), 15. 52  Molloy, The Women’s Dress for Success Book, 16. 50 51

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Sometimes this specifically involves dressing to make the right impression on men. This is not sexist. It is a stark reality that men dominate the power structure—in business, in government, in education. I’m not suggesting women dress to impress men simply because they are men. My advice to women is based on the same principle on my advice to men. Your clothes should move you up socially and in business, not hold you back. If women control a substantial hunk of the power structure in ten or fifteen years, I will write a book advising men how to dress in a female-dominated environment. It is not sexism; it is realism.53

The simple fact is that Molloy found a receptive audience, as evidenced by the swaths of women who followed his advice and wore simple suits to the workplace and drove this book repeatedly up the bestseller list. By doing research on office environs and studying bosses, colleagues, and all types of women, Molloy determined what combinations of clothing would work best for women to flourish in the workplace, something he calls “wardrobe engineering.” He recommended a “uniform”— described as variations of the same look everyday which included a dark-­ skirted suit and tailored blouse, as well as shoulder-length hair, a scarf loosely mimicking a necktie, and hems beyond the knee. He hoped that these tips would provide women with a sense of authority as well as confidence, and these arguments dramatically increased the sales of women’s suits.54 Molloy provides instructions to his reader, showing them pictures of what to do and what not to do, for instance, making clear how low a neckline could go or what a feminine fedora should look like. For him, the skirted suit was the best option for women in that it is not too much of a male-imitation garment and it allows for femininity. Once he establishes the ideal look, he then specifies variations based on job or event. This book eschews fashion designers and avoids the appearance of a look book; rather, it treats fashion with the same practicality as instructions for construction of a bird house. In discussing Molloy’s work, Breward recognized that with his earlier book, he had helped usher in a revival of the business suit, explaining that thanks to Cold War paranoia, economic uncertainty, conservativism, and an increase in business situations, “men knew what was best for themselves in the choice of clothing, and that the  Molloy, The Women’s Dress for Success Book, 32.  See Molloy, The Women’s Dress for Success Book; and Collins, When Everything Changed, 295. 53 54

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‘classic’ suit and tie were ultimate in authority, on what would become known as ‘power dressing.’”55 Molloy’s creation of this “power dressing” is crucial, as he coined a term to describe women’s determination to achieve status and upward mobility through her wardrobe. This term would later evolve to a “power suit,” but nonetheless, Molloy’s description here is significant. It was not about fashion or name brands. Instead, it was about the combination of garments, fabric choice, and tailoring (details that recall the main definition of a suit) and the way the clothing could enhance a woman’s working and social status. Years later, Emma McClendon would pick up on Molloy’s ideas in her Power Mode: The Force of Fashion (2019). She elaborates on power dressing, stating that it “is in fact about domination when we consider a uniform on a military base or a sharply tailored suit in a board room. These types of garments are designed to express authority, both literally and metaphorically.”56 McClendon also sees power clothing as extending beyond domination, describing it as a type of protective armor. Quoting the inimitable Bill Cunningham, she reminds readers that “Fashion is the armor to survive the reality of everyday life.”57 In this way, she connects women’s power suits to “a form of sartorial protection within the male dominated space of an office, giving the wearer strength by sheathing her body in the visual language of male authority.”58 With sexual harassment and assault still as problematic today as it was in the workplace of the 1970s, McClendon hints that more than just the push toward equality, the suit can provide a different type of protection. To her, the suit provides authority, but it also can de-emphasize femininity, de-sexualize the wearer, and perhaps even strip her of desirability. If wearing pants can protect against lewd comments and sexual advances, it is logical that women would take that simple approach when dressing. And indeed, women did push for the rights to wear pants, as well as other numerous changes that would make their working conditions better. The group 9to5 was founded by Karen Nussbender and Ellen Cassedy in Boston 1973.59 It began as Harvard office workers gathered to meet for  Breward, The Suit, 67.  McClendon, Power Mode, 11. 57  McClendon, Power Mode, 11. 58  McClendon, Power Mode, 11. 59  Information regarding this group was found in the documentary, Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, 9to5: The Story of a Movement (PBS Distribution, 2020) and the group’s website: https://9to5.org/about-9to5/. Additionally, a newly released book chronicles the 55 56

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several consciousness raising sessions where they shared stories about their workplace experiences, including sexual harassment, working with no job descriptions, and doing personal work for their bosses. They began sharing information and handing out flyers, working to build connections and find others in similar positions to themselves. More than ever before, women were entering the workplace: over the course of the 1970s, the number of women in offices grew by 12 million workers. Thanks in part to the rise of women’s liberation and their active protests and women’s need for financial gains, women became the largest new group entering the workforce, with over 20 million women participating.60 As the initial 9to5 group spread their message, more groups were founded across the country. These local groups would eventually join up with the main organization, causing the national group to swell in size. The women of 9to5 held lunches to recruit and connect with working women wanting to help women develop their skills to help enrich their life at work. By encouraging women to speak for themselves, they created a large group of women who were able to develop their voices and lead large conversations, all while the group built their own kind of “workplace feminism.” However, after seeing how feminists were often derided, the group distanced themselves from feminists even though they believed the same things—so instead of holding “demonstrations,” which reeked of feminism, they did “actions.” For example, they handed out balloons acknowledging that they wanted “raises instead of roses” on National Secretary’s Day. 9to5 helped women learn about sexual harassment and the laws that should have been protecting them that many companies were ignoring. They worked to get raises for women, who at the time were making about 50 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts. They worked hard to become a union, despite feminist backlash and anti-labor sentiments, and succeeded, becoming District 925. Perhaps their most famous act was inspiring the popular film 9 to 5 (1980), starring Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, and Lily Tomlin (Fig. 4.4). The movie went beyond a satire; it had elements of farce and outrageous fantasy scenes focused on women reacting against their discriminatory and lascivious boss (played by Dabney Coleman). As the movie came out, the well-known activist Fonda movement from its beginnings to the movie. See Ellen Cassedy, Working 9 to 5: A Women’s Movement, A Labor Union, and the Iconic Movie (Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2022). 60  Bognar and Reichert, 9to5.

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Fig. 4.4  Still from 9 to 5 (1980), showcasing actors Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, and Jane Fonda. Released by Twentieth Century Fox, directed by Colin Higgins, and written by Patricia Resnick (story) and Colin Higgins (screenplay)

promoted the film around the country, giving speeches and holding fundraisers wherever she went. The movie and these events helped women gain mainstream recognition for their concerns about workplace behavior. More women than ever reached out to 9to5, seeking advice and help to deal with harassment. The group continued to push for better laws and protection for women, but the rise of Ronald Reagan and union-busting, as well as changes in the business space, meant that the union did not last long. However, the group itself persists today and continues to work for women’s rights across the country. They have pursued several national policies including the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1991, the Family Medical Leave Act, and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

Giorgio Armani’s Suits Women workers also undoubtedly helped push the popularity of the suit further, boosting the suit to be better and trendier for women. Giorgio Armani is a key figure in this evolution who in the 1980s would take the lead on designing suits that changed the style for both men and women. Christopher Breward explains his importance, “His disarming practicality

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belied an attention to function, form and finish that revolutionized the direction of fashion from the mid-1980s. Armani famously eviscerated the structure of the formal business suit, sloping the shoulders, freeing the stiffened lining, lowering the buttons and lapels, and adopting fabrics that were lighter in weight, texture and color.”61 Germano Celant has argued that Armani disrupted the fashion world, which during the early 1970s was a vehicle of the dominant culture—one that was white, male, and European. Instead, Armani wanted to create work that undermined the controlling forces and build upon the 1960s when the world was shifting culturally. Armani worked in both menswear and womenswear, which allowed him to directly engage class politics and gender dynamics. Armani’s fashion career began in earnest in 1975, when he set off on his own with Sergio Galeotti, who had pushed him to leave Nino Cerruti and to create a menswear line by himself. Galeotti was the businessman in the relationship, taking care of contracts, while Armani could focus on designing. Armani discusses the beginning of his career, saying: Men all dressed in the same way. American industry called the shots, with its technicians scattered all over the world … all impeccably equal, equally impeccable … Everyone wore the same uniform, a bit wider here, a bit more tapered there, but the substance was always the same. You couldn’t tell them apart. They had no defects. But I liked defect. I wanted to personalize the jacket, to make it more closely attuned to its wearer. How? By removing the structure. Making it into a sort of second skin.62

Breward sees Armani bringing “a new sense of femininity in the presentation of Italian men’s clothing that was profoundly radicalizing; an abandonment, in the spirit of sprezzatura, to its tactical qualities, its soft, caressing feel on the body.”63 The stiffness and construction of the men’s suit of the 1950s and 1960s was inadequate for Armani, who said that he “wanted clothing that could bring out a man’s personality and compliment his body … The idea was to deconstruct the suit, providing more freedom and movement.”64 The best way to create freedom and movement was to find the perfect fabric, which would occupy Armani for his whole career. He has travelled  Breward, The Suit, 146.  Qtd. in Germano Celant, Giorgio Armani (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2000), xvii. 63  Breward, The Suit, 148–149. 64  Ingrid Sischy, “Interview with Armani,” in Giorgio Armani, 12. 61 62

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extensively and worked to find new styles of fabric, new colors, and particularly new textures. Patrick McCarthy notes how this was key to his success, as Armani would seek out the fabric mills of Lake Como shifting from the harder traditional fabric to “soft, sensual, downright sexy fabrics that caressed the body as clothes never had before.”65 Fabric was not just important for how it felt and how it would work with and around the body, but also for the cost. Armani was in tune with production costs and worked to apply the secrets of couture to ready-to-wear fashion. His focus was then on his silhouette, saying, “To emphasize the shoulders in jackets, but then let the rest undulate, adapt to the body, freed from all constraints. For the first time, a creased, deconstructed garment became elegant.”66 Not only that, but this type of suit changed the look of the body. Suzy Menkes has claimed that the older suits, that were more sculpted and defined, were now replaced by the physically molded bodies of models that have spent hours perfecting their figure in the gym. She reads Armani injecting the ease of sportswear into his suits so that “it was not just a reflection of how a new generation felt about clothes, but also a reaction to their gym-honed bodies. Therefore, the visualization of male pride in the 1980s became a body rippling through its light covering.”67 Armani was not just invested in menswear. He would also spend a significant portion of his career redefining what womenswear could be. To understand how he worked with women’s clothing, one must reflect on his history with men’s clothing. In fact, the first jackets he made for women were just men’s jackets he had made in women’s sizes.68 He was inspired by his sister and her friends, who discussed how they would just borrow their boyfriend’s jackets because they liked the look and feel of them. To be clear, Armani never made unisex clothing; he disliked the term and the idea. He strongly believed in difference in women and men’s clothes, and while he might pair them together on the runway or play with interchanging different pieces, he always maintained the distinction. As he says, My fashion is not unisex, but it does insist upon more gentleness for men, and more strength for women. I know that in every human being there exist  Patrick McCarthy, “The Menswear Revolution” in Giorgio Armani, 83.  Qtd. in Natalia Aspesi, “Milan in the 1970s and 1980,” in Giorgio Armani, 23. 67  Suzy Menkes, “Liberty, Equality, Sobriety,” in Giorgio Armani, 71. 68  Giusi Ferré, Giorgio Armani: Radical Gender (Venice, IT: Marsilio Editori, 2016), 84. 65 66

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both masculine and feminine components, and that they can be used to create a harmonious equilibrium, far from the extremist stereotypes of the macho man and the woman imprisoned in the squalid part of the doll-whore.69

While he maintained difference, he helped provide for women a jacket that functioned as soft armor for women’s bodies similar to the way that he did for men. Much of Armani’s clothes for men showed off the beautifully toned male bodies, while his womenswear designs coincided with the supermodel era, with its focus on stunning women and strong personalities. These women also worked out and created a strong silhouette of their own. Yet, again, Armani’s men and women were not mirror images of the other, and that is arguably why his suits appealed so much to women. As Molloy notes in his text, women were not meant to imitate the men, which is more associated with Yves Saint Laurent’s line of thinking, who used a more direct copy of a man’s suit with a female touch of jewelry, scarves, or high heels. But Franca Sozzani sees Armani doing the exact opposite, saying, “The men’s garment is taken to pieces and refashioned on a woman: the lapels are widened, the shoulders are rounded, and the bosom is emphasized—or sometimes even exposed with the front of the jacket plunges low enough.”70 So unlike the women’s suits by Yves Saint Laurent, women were drawn to Armani’s suits because they were the first credible option for a woman to buy a suit that was distinctive from the male suits, as Susan Cross explains this was because of “their soft, sensuous fabrics, fluid lines, and non-constricting cuts. But at the same time, Armani provided women a more conventional expression of femininity in the form of slinky dresses and flowery frocks. In other words, Armani allowed women to escape the burden of being either/or.”71 His womenswear became just as successful and recognizable as his men’s suits. Armani’s perhaps most enduring work came in the film by Paul Schrader, American Gigolo (1980, Fig. 4.5). For our purposes, looking at this film helps see how Armani’s suits establish the look for men and women in the 1980s. Further, by having a male sex worker wear his  Qtd. in Celant, “Georgio Armani,” xix–xx.  Franca Sozzani, “On Womenswear,” in Giorgio Armani, 76. 71  Susan Cross, “Changing Roles,” in Giorgio Armani, 127. 69 70

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Fig. 4.5  Still from American Gigolo (1980), showcasing Robert Gere. Released by Paramount Pictures, directed and written by Paul Schrader

clothing, there is an inevitable play on the gaze and how that reflects on gender ideals. Natalia Aspesi describes, “Those magnificent suits, perfectly cut to Richard Gere’s young, rippling body, his costly, high-society gigolo wardrobe, full of gray suits, light-colored shirts, hundreds of ties, became the symbol of a new and unscrupulous urban elegance.”72 In his design of these suits, Armani undoubtedly turned Richard Gere into a cult figure, beloved by both men and women. Here, we can see the evidence of Armani’s emphasis on the well-defined masculine form being demonstrated by Armani’s second skin suits. Not only did his dressing of Gere in the film make Gere a heartthrob, but it also cemented Armani’s own career as the master of the suit. Gere must constantly be desirable, but simultaneously unable to be captured or owned. The plot of the movie complicatedly reverses the typical female sex worker role, making it a novel experience showcasing a male sex worker, who is often seen as referring to the instability of masculinity in the early

 Aspesi, “Milan,” 23.

72

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1980s.73 In this case, Julian Kay (Gere’s character) works for two pimps— one White female and one Black man—and is fetishized throughout the film, as the camera so often pans and lingers across his body. Armani’s loose jackets and tight pants draw attention to his handsome figure in the prime of his life. It’s no surprise that Julian is in demand by both female and male clients. But beyond his desirability, there is a complicated play with his gender as a sex worker, as John Potvin astutely explains that Gere’s character has taken on the (typically female) role of a sex worker, and is therefore “exposed as a sex object left vulnerable to a scopophilic gaze, is fetishistically associated with fashion, is feminized consistently throughout the film by his power brokers, that is, his pimps who refer to him as Julie.”74 In the climatic movement of the film, Potvin recognizes that Julian Gere must seek out help and support from other marginalized figures: women and people of color.75 Armani’s suits, which are so often described as feminized, can play a role in better understanding his multi-­ faceted position in the film. As the film usurps gender norms, Julian’s own body and clothing help to complicate the narrative. The visibility of Armani’s work in American Gigolo launched his fashion career in film. His work has been seen in over 200 films, as well as television, and created an indelible legacy for Armani.76 Like Saint Laurent, Armani was immensely popular in the United States; his sales numbers show just how dominant he was. In 1976, the company’s total sales were $90,000; in 1981 they were $135 million, with $14 million coming from the United States.77 Wearing an Armani suit has become a signal for class and upward mobility. Potvin has noted that “despite his cultural cachet and prominence, for those who wear his Giorgio Armani collection ­understated elegance coupled with discretion has long been the attraction to his clothes.”78 A man or woman who has recently come into money knows that an Armani suit is a way to create a statement that demonstrates not only their wealth but also their power and importance.

73  Yvonne Tasker, Working Girls: Gender and Sexuality in Popular Culture (New York and London: Routledge, 1998), 118. 74  John Potvin, Giorgio Armani: Empire of the Senses (New York and London: Routledge, 2018), 63–64. 75  Potvin, Giorgio Armani, 63–64. 76  Ferré, Giorgio Armani, 112. 77  Aspesi, “Milan,” 24. 78  Potvin, Giorgio Armani, 129.

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Working Girl’s Suits While Armani certainly helped popularize power dressing, this fashion trend can also be clearly seen in comedic films of the era like Working Girl (1988), Baby Boom (1987), Big Business (1988), and more. By focusing on Mike Nichols’ Working Girl, we can see how costume designer Ann Roth perfectly uses power dressing to demonstrate success. The film featured two leading women: Katherine (Sigourney Weaver), who has a corner office but is constantly hoping for advancement, and Tess (Melanie Griffith), Katherine’s secretary who is educated, is smart, and wants to move beyond being an assistant. After Tess is fired from a stock market assistant position, she gets the job working for Katherine, and upon arriving the first day, the audience is given a great view of two types of working women as illustrated by their outfits. From Staten Island, Tess wears lots of gold costume jewelry to work, layers of make-up including colorful eyeshadow, extra-volumized hair that is often crimped, and wears tennis shoes as she takes the ferry before changing into heels at the office (Fig. 4.6). Roth navigated this world with accuracy, as she nailed the look

Fig. 4.6  Still from Working Girl (1988), showcasing Melanie Griffith and Joan Cusack. Released by Twentieth Century Fox, directed by Mike Nichols, and written by Kevin Wade

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of commuting women on the Staten Island Ferry as colorfully overdone yet without being too over the top.79 Meanwhile, Katherine seems to be following Molloy’s instructions to a tee, appearing in a skirted suit with delicate jewelry, shorter and more contained hair, and make-up that is based upon an enhanced natural look. The two women project their roles through their fashion—Katherine the sophisticated boss and Tess as the working-class typist. Roth sources her materials from the time period, avoiding modern replications when possible. She focuses on details that help the actresses establish their roles while also contributing the uniqueness of the character.80 On Tess’ first day at her new job, Katherine acknowledges the significance of the work wardrobe, alerting Tess to her expectations: “People’s impression of me starts with you … I consider us a team, Tess, and as such, we have a uniform—simple, elegant, impeccable. ‘Dress shabbily, they notice the dress. Dress impeccably, they notice the woman’—Coco Chanel.” When Tess prods Katherine, asking her how she looks, Katherine says she looks “terrific,” but then cuts her down by asking her to rethink her jewelry, which is a combination of bigger gold pieces, including many bracelets that clink and clank with every move, differing greatly from Katherine’s minimalist pieces. Through a series of events and a mistaken identity, Tess has an opportunity to advance her career. She also has access to Katherine’s wardrobe, so she transforms herself from a 1980s secretary with big, crimped hair, tons of make-up, and short skirts to a businesswoman with suits and couture dresses (Fig.  4.7). In changing her hair and styling herself like Katherine, Tess has become the ideal “working girl.” With polish, she would be listened to by key power players and eventually secure herself a corner office with her own assistant. Working Girl illustrated Molloy’s arguments about how one could actually dress themselves for success. Roth would go on to become a two-time Academy Award and Tony award winning costume designer and collaborated with director Mike Nichols 13 times. He speaks of her with admiration, positing that “her ideas are often invisible because they’re character-driven. What’s 79  Christopher Laverty, “Working Girl: The Culture of Power Dressing,” Clothes on Film, September 27, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20180730185329/http://clothesonfilm.com/working-girl-the-culture-of-power-dressing/. 80  Katie Betts, “She Spins the Gold of Character from Ordinary Threads,” The New York Times, March 16, 2003. https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/16/style/she-spins-thegold-of-character-from-ordinary-threads.html.

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Fig. 4.7  Still from Working Girl (1988), showcasing Mealnie Griffith and Harrison Ford. Released by Twentieth Century Fox, directed by Mike Nichols, and written by Kevin Wade

magnificent is you see the person and you say you know them.”81 As Tess becomes more empowered, her wardrobe is extended through her use of Katherine’s clothes, and she embodies the style of “power dressing.” She employs simpler but distinctive jewelry, more basic shirts under her blazers, and of course, a sleeker short hairdo. (Tess opines: “You want to be taken seriously, you need serious hair.”) Donning her new attire, she is able to make a deal and after movie shenanigans exposes her real identity and is eventually offered a job with her own corner office. While some may see the film as just another variation of a Cinderella story,82 the impact of the wardrobe in the film is significant. It allows the viewer to see how the power suits help Tess find the confidence to use the business smarts she already has and is an inspiration for other aspiring young women. One of the most defining features of Katherine’s wardrobes that Tess adopts is the blazers with shoulder pads. By 1985, shoulder pads were distinguishing women’s suit jackets from men’s jackets. Gail Collins elaborates, “While the padded shoulders undoubtedly sent a message of  Qtd. in Betts, “She Spins the Gold of Character from Ordinary Threads.”  Russell A. Peck, “‘Working Girl’, Cinderella and the New Jerusalem,” Christianity and Literature 6, no. 3 (Spring 1993): 464–478. 81 82

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solidarity and strength, their major attraction, in truth, was that they made the clothes hang better and waists look smaller.”83 In his history and analysis of shoulder pads, Kevin Almond explains that “shoulder pads are predominantly fabric, covered pads that come in a variety of shapes and thicknesses and are made from different fiber types. Shoulder padding is used in both male and female clothing and gives the illusion of a defined, shoulder shape that is different from the natural body shape.”84 Invented in 1877 by a Princeton football player, the shoulder pad can accommodate many sizes and shapes, basically whatever is preferred.85 In the 1930s, designers like Marcel Rochas and Elsa Schiaparelli championed shoulder pads for creating drama and transforming the shape of the female form, but after World War II ended, they disappeared as Christian Dior’s famously feminine “New Look” became all the rage. In the 1980s, shoulder pads found their popular culture moment, embraced by all who wanted to “dress for success.” As with all trends though, shoulder pads have gone in and out of fashion. In 2014, Tori Telfer wrote for Bustle: Sure, the shoulder pad is one of those items that’s intended to convey all the right things: Power! Capability! Confidence! Unfortunately, in real life, the shoulder pad often looks like all the wrong things: Clunky. Unflattering. Totally ‘80s. But no matter how many awful fashion mistakes have been made with shoulder pads in a starring role, there’s one thing they have going for them. Believe it or not, shoulder pads have something of a ­feminist history—in that they’ve always been used to help women keep up with the guys.86

While Telfer connects them to the 1980s, shoulder pads have never disappeared fully. They have shrunk and worked to just enhance shoulders more subtly, but thanks to stars like Lady Gaga they have emerged again. Now, however, it is not always so much as keeping up with men, but creating a bold and dramatic silhouette, one that often transcends the typical 83  Gail Collins, When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present (New York: Back Bay Books, 2010), 295. 84  Kevin Almond, “An Analysis of the Shoulder Pad in Female Fashion,” Fashion, Style & Popular Culture 6, no. 1 (2019): 32. 85  Almond, “An Analysis of the Shoulder Pad,” 35. 86  Tori Telfer, “The Weirdly Feminist History of Shoulder Pads,” Bustle, July 31, 2014. https://www.bustle.com/articles/33910-whatever-happened-to-shoulder-pads-spoileralert-theyre-kind-of-feminist.

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body. Recent shoulder pads are sculpted, shaped, and practically alien-like in form, recalling the playfulness of Schiaparelli. In addition, 1980s oversized blazers also have returned to popular fashion, and the shoulder pads of today appear both on the runways and in your local Target.

Artists’ Suits Just like the shoulder pads, suits cemented their place for women in the 1980s and have never disappeared. Though, in the 1990s and 2000s, they would become more updated and less staid. They have persisted in helping women find their footing in the business world and in politics. In the art world, however, wearing suits to openings and events has declined, as casual wear has grown in acceptance over the course of the twentieth century. In Nina Leen’s famous photograph, The Irascibles (1950), abstract expressionist Barnett Newman is shown wearing his classic suit, surrounded by other painters who he had successfully begged to dress up match his fine tailoring.87 This was not the ordinary clothing of the group, but Newman’s father worked at a menswear clothing company and Newman understood men’s clothing and how it could establish a mood and represent power.88 Others in his group, like Jackson Pollock, would often wear jeans and appear messy and splattered with paint. Pollock’s unpolished look, rather than Newman’s, however, would become the norm. Documented in Life magazine in August 1949, Pollock’s clothing seems unimportant, though it was carefully chosen—cuffed jeans, shoes splattered with paint, a dark jacket, topped off with a cigarette in his mouth; all elements showed signs of a working artist who was rebellious not only in the way he paints but also in the way he dressed. After that, many male artists would follow Pollock’s lead, lessening their outward attention to fashion and presentation and focusing more on their artwork. 87  Hedda Sterne, the one woman in this picture, wears a black dress with a high collar, which, while clearing matching the quality of the suits around here, also serves to emphasize her as the one woman. Her role in the group, as well as many other women who participated in the same painting style, was often minimized, dismissed, or completely absent from discussions about Abstract Expressionism. 88  Melissa Ho, “Chronology,” The Barnett Newman Foundation, originally published in 2002, 2020. http://www.barnettnewman.org/artist/chronology. For more information on Newman’s life and career, see Richard Shiff, Carol Mancusi-Ungaro, and Heidi ColsmanFreyberger, Barnett Newman: A Catalogue Raisonné (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004).

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Yet, like Newman, there were and are resisters: prominent painter and educator Charles White relied on his suits to demand respect, writer Tom Wolfe was committed to his infamous white suits, and Jeff Koons uses suits to help him create authority when surrounded by his numerous studio assistants. Outside of the United States, artist duo Gilbert and George (British), Alberto Giacometti (French), and Yves Klein (French) are just a few examples of the artists who chose to wear tailored suits to create a well-known and powerful image of themselves both in public and in their artistic endeavors. While wearing suits became a choice for male artists on how to present themselves, they were a much more significant choice for woman artists. Undoubtedly, the suit had been established to create a powerful look for men, and yet for women, historically, it did not create that same reaction until the 1970s and 1980s as mentioned. An early leader in wearing suits for women, Georgia O’Keeffe began her career in the 1920s; she often made her own clothes; she would later commission dressmakers and tailors with specific measurements and directions as her career took hold.89 O’Keeffe preferred simple clothes like tunics and long straight dresses and skirts in white or black, centered on clean lines and unbroken silhouettes (Fig.  4.8). In colder temperatures, she would drape her body in large black cloaks or capes that offered not only simplicity but also androgyny. Later in O’Keeffe’s life, she wore collection of “town clothes,” which for her meant a two- or three-piece suit. O’Keeffe used her suits to create an image of herself that defined her in the public sphere and also fits her needs of comfort and mobility. At the time of her death, she owned almost a dozen tailored black suits, as well as several white suits and one gray silk variation. They date from as early as 1940 to as late as 1983. These suits ranged from commissioned tailor-made pieces to a couture suit by Eisa (Cristóbal Balenciaga) to pieces from her travels in Asia. One of these custom suits was by Knize, a tailoring house that made suits not just for luminaries like Ludwig Mies van Der Rohe but also for Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, and Katherine Hepburn—all stylish actress and celebrities 89  Mexican artist Frida Kahlo also wore suits when she was young, fully embracing the masculine look they helped her achieve. However, when she was romantically involved with Diego Rivera, he preferred her in Tehuana clothing. Upon breaking up with him, she would go back to wearing suits, as demonstrated in her painting Self Portrait with Cropped Hair, 1940. For more, see Pablo Ortiz Monasterio, ed., Frida Kahlo: Her Photos (Birmingham, UK: RM Publishers, 2010) and Charlie Porter, What Artists Wear (New York: Penguin Random House, 2021), 41–43.

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Fig. 4.8  Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe, 1928, gelatin silver print, 4 5/8 × 3 9/16 inches, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Gift of the Georgia O’Keeffe Foundation

who were known for their perfectly fitting masculine suits earlier in the twentieth century.90 Art historian Wanda Corn elaborates, “O’Keeffe did not elect to soften her suit style, and everything she bought from this tailor was in black wool and masculine in style. Living full-time in New Mexico, she carved out time on her trips East to place orders and be fitted at Knize and became something of a regular customer.”91 When reporters met with O’Keefe and magazines came to photographer her, these suits came to embody her identity. She would dress them up with a brooch, flat black leather shoes, and a white handkerchief functioning as a pocket square. In her analysis, Corn notes that O’Keeffe’s disdain of feminine clothing, her “adoption of male clothing when female activists were doing the same helped give permission to women of all ages—not just the

90  Her entire archive, including her clothing, home, and material objects, is examined in great detail, for more see Wanda M.  Corn, Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern (New York; Brooklyn Museum of Art and Munich, Germany: DelMonico Books/Prestel Publishing, 2017), 243. 91  Corn, Georgia O’Keeffe, 245.

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young—to adopt pants.”92 O’Keeffe’s celebrity and society’s continued interest in her art and her appearance allowed her to illustrate her preference for male suits, with little connection to a political agenda. Indeed, for O’Keeffe, she preferred the comfort of trousers and relied on the ease and facility of suits to function as a uniform in the last 30+ years of her life. Yet, Charlie Porter also argues that there is no direct female equivalent of a suit in O’Keeffe’s lifetime, as he makes clear, “Any artist who wears a suit, whatever their gender position, must contend with this encoded meaning of male power. There is no way to escape it. It is up to them how they use, exploit, or challenge it.”93 This made O’Keeffe choosing the suit as her desired clothing item even more daring and ambitious. She was not necessarily relying on them for power, but that idea cannot entirely be separated from the style of the clothing she is wearing. French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle cultivated her fashion choices in her performances to make the event more controlled, orderly, and even more memorable. A former fashion model, Saint Phalle would live her life and artistic career as a woman whose beauty always threatened to overpower her artwork. Unsurprisingly then, her work often incorporated the idea of “womanhood” in various forms. Her first celebrated works were called Tirs (also known as her shooting paintings) in the early 1960s. She began the pieces by first filling white plaster bags and canisters with paint and attaching them to a flat surface. Then, in a dramatic fashion and performance, she shot them with a .22 caliber rifle. The surfaces for these paintings would become larger, more three dimensional, and more complex over time, which paralleled Saint Phalle’s formalization of the artworks. For example, in the first picture of her shooting one of her paintings in December 1961, she wore street clothes (paint-stained jeans and an oversized shirt), but that would change in later performances. Ruba Katrib explains, “She soon styled herself in a uniform; the image of a guntoting woman in a whRuba Katriite jumpsuit quickly entered the popular imagination.”94 This was more than a pantsuit: it was a skin-tight jumpsuit with boots and perfectly coiffed hair. Saint Phalle created a memorable, powerful look for herself.

 Corn, Georgia O’Keeffe, 245.  Porter, What Artists Wear, 41. 94  Ruba Katrib, “Niki de Saint Phalle: Building for the Future,” in Niki de Saint Phalle: Structures for Life, edited by Ruba Katrib, (New York: MoMA PS1, 2021), 12. 92 93

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While Saint Phalle started making Tirs in France, she expanded them to various locations all over the world, including prominent stops in California and New York in 1962.95 In her pristine white jumpsuit and dark heavy black boots, she shoots the paintings from a distance, so she is never dirtied. Nipped in at the waist so to accent her svelte figure, the garment is entirely white except with black cuffs by her wrists and a black turtleneck peaking above the white collar. Her body is in fact entirely covered, but her figure is completely revealed. In this outfit, she always appears pristine, and imminently powerful clutching the large rifle. The white was never marred by color, and she maintained its bright vitality. Her image-­ consciousness that she carefully honed by being a model was evident in her fashion savvy. Anne Dressen and Nick Mauss recognize her clothing choice as a branding strategy, saying, “Her highly photogenic 1962 gesture is still impossible not to conjure when the name Saint Phalle is uttered: the young vixen aimed a gun at her own paintings and shot them.”96 At the same time she was cultivating her image in her artwork, Saint Phalle was separating from her former life as a mother and wife, leaving behind her husband Harry Mathews in 1960.97 This moment was imperative for Saint Phalle as she focused on figuring out who she wanted to be as an artist. She declared her interest in fashion and controlling every aspect of her presentation with the Tirs. Saint Phalle would spend the rest of her life dressing fashionably and carefully crafting her image, even creating her own perfume line. Similarly, Laurie Anderson is distinctly aware of her image as her work has revolved around her presentation manner, her voice, and oftentimes optics. Known as one of the most influential sound artists of all time, 95  To be clear, Saint Phalle was not always the shooter of her Tirs. She was always involved in their creation (and their activation by shooting), but she did allow others to participate by shooting at some times. There have also been other pictures published lately that show she did wear other clothing at times while taking these pictures, but the white jumpsuit remains the most the prominent and remembered outfit of her entire career. These and other newer developments are discussed in Jill Dawsey and Michelle White, eds., Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s (Houston, TX: The Menil Collection and San Diego, CA: Museum of Contemporary Art, 2021). 96  In these performances, in which she was wearing her new sleek suit with the act of shooting at the heart of the event, it is inevitable that violence is invoked and much discussed. For more information, see Anne Dressen and Nick Mauss, “NANANERE! Niki de Saint Phalle’s Allover Strategy and Merchandising” in Niki de Saint Phalle, 12. 97  Catherine Dossin, “Niki de Saint-Phalle and the Masquerade of Hyperfemininity,” Woman’s Art Journal 31, no. 2 (Fall/Winter 2010): 29–35.

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Anderson creates works where she combines traditional elements like musical instruments with cutting-edge electronics. One example of this combination of elements is Duets on Ice (1975), where Anderson did street performances every day in different parts of Genoa, Italy. Her violin not only played music like any other violin, but it also had hidden speakers, so that she was essentially performing a duet with the prerecorded violin music. Complicating the piece, she was wearing ice skates encased in blocks of ice, melting until she ended the performance herself. For these performances she would wear a white, loose-fitting tunic over white pants that matched her white skates. Her most famous endeavor appeared a few years later in her 1982 album Big Science, with the hit song “O Superman.” Importantly, in all of her performances, Anderson can be seen playing with gender fluidity, as she visually preferred her hair to be short and spiky, and in most performances donned a dark suit. Anderson describes the 1970s as her “all-white Maharaji era,” referring to the long white tops and white pants. She connected her fashion choices to her interests in Buddhism, drugs, dancing, pacifism, and holding on to a certain kind of hippie-ism.98 Things changed in 1978, when she appeared on stage at a celebration for William Burroughs in a black tailored men’s suit. This was a carefully chosen fashion move, as beat poet and performer Burroughs himself always wore a tailored suit, and as she said, “I had to be an MC and introduce William Burroughs. It had to do with making fun of authority like Burroughs did.”99 This event, the Nova Convention, was also the first time that Anderson debuted a new voice, lowering her tone so that it sounded more masculine. She called this new sound “The Voice of Male Authority” and later turned it into the voice of her character Fenway Bergamot (who was additionally known for bushy eyebrows and a distinct mustache).100 For many years after, she would wear black tailored clothing with her short hair, which allowed her to maintain a masculine edge, if not full androgyny. Through their use of suits, Anderson, Saint Phalle, and Hillary Clinton relied on a repetition of straightforward tailored clothing to help shape their visual existence, which in turn helped create a brand that would further their careers.  Porter, What Artists Wear, 44.  Porter, What Artists Wear, 44. 100  Laurie Anderson, All the Things I Lost in the Flood: Essays on Pictures, Language and Code (New York: Rizzoli, 2017), 176–177. See also, Sam Anderson, “Laurie Anderson Has a Message for Us Humans,” The New York Times, October 6, 2021. https://www.nytimes. com/2021/10/06/magazine/laurie-anderson.html. 98 99

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Capsule Collection Suits This kind of repetition in wardrobe and styling became de riguer in the 2010s. In 2016, stylist Navaz Batliwalla noticed a “new” trend emerging in fashion, where people would buy a limited number of clothing items, only to style them in an infinite manner of ways. In actuality, this trend was a new twist on an old favorite, one that has existed for men for centuries. In her book, The New Garconne (which removes the cedilla from the traditional spelling of the word) Batliwalla focuses on the translation of the feminine garconne as a gentlewoman, taking a “pinch of inspiration from its male equivalent, while adding plenty more spirit, style and individuality.”101 Batliwalla recognizes that the first uses of the term gentlewoman was in the thirteenth century and referred to a woman of noble birth. However, Batliwalla redefines the term to encompass those who stood out for their accomplishments, intelligence, independence, and an overall sense of style—recalling women already discussed like Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel and actors like Dietrich and Hepburn, who pursued their careers the way they wanted to, with their own panache and style. She continues, “The essence of the New Garconne lies in a certain duality. A harmonious yin-yang of masculine and feminine influences; the highbrow complemented by the humble. Today’s informed aesthete appreciates the finer things that life has to offer but has an equal appreciation of the imperfect and utilitarian.”102 The women who typify the gentlewoman of today are women who own their own companies, design projects, engage in the arts, and are successful in their careers. A quick flip-through of The New Garconne shows a wide variety of women with important and valuable jobs, dressed in impeccable pantsuits. They describe looking for high-quality pieces, or clothing cut in a more unisex or masculine manner. Splurges often appear as shoes, focusing on comfortable but beautiful heels that can distinguish them from their peers. There is often a push-pull between masculine and feminine stylistic choices—like the combination of heels and trousers. Designer of her eponymous brand, Laurence Dacade notes, “I don’t like obvious sexiness but I like sensuality, which I find in masculinity and femininity mixed  Navaz Batliwalla, The New Garconne: How to be a Gentlewoman (London: Laurence King, 2016), 10. 102  Batliwalla, The New Garconne, 10–13. 101

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together … I like the way men’s clothes and shoes are manufactured. In one of my collections I have a lot of shoes like that; they were made in a men’s factory. But I don’t like when things are too masculine, because I like to be a woman.”103 Dacade discusses that desire for androgyny, which is similar to what we have seen before with women who chose to wear pants and suits. As Anne Hollander has explained, “Modernizing clothes for women has meant copying men’s clothes, directly or indirectly, one way or another.”104 Hollander was right, and women are still associating business suits with the masculine even though women have been wearing them in some way for over 100 years. The last third of Battiwalla’s book is focused on guiding readers and shoppers to the necessary pieces to have a “New Garconne” wardrobe. Classic pieces are on display, focusing on ones that will be stylish yet able to mixable with other pieces easily. Not one skirt appears and only one dress; rather, the focus is on pristine trousers, suits, blazers, oversized dress shirts, classic pieces of jewelry, and flat shoes. Brand names are listed, but then further expanded upon in recommended shops that end the book. Battiwalla is creating a guide for a type of uniform, a planned outfit that can be easily worn every day, yet with enough flexibility to avoid boredom or to feel stagnant while creating a positive and simple choice for clothing every day. Hollander predicted how popular uniforms would become, saying, “It’s in fact clear that ‘uniforms,’ so vigorously despised in much current rhetoric about clothes, are really what most people prefer to wear, garments in which they feel safely similar to their fellows.”105 Continuing, she notes that people can then use personal details to distinguish themselves from one another, allowing them to have a modicum of uniqueness. While it can be comforting to fit in and blend with peers and co-workers, there is a political sensibility to this behavior that Gabi Scardi has clarified. “Within the vast theme of fashion and dress, there is one category—the uniform—that is inherently and explicitly political. The uniform brings into focus the question of the forces that shape us—the forces to which we are subject. The uniform is a regulatory item of dress.”106 Scardi  Qtd in Batliwalla, The New Garconne, 89.  Hollander, Sex and Suits, 181. 105  Hollander, Sex and Suits, 185. 106  Gabi Scardi, “The Uniform, the Subject, the Power,” in Fashion and Politics, edited by Djurdja Bartlett. (New Haven, CT and London: Yale University Press, 2019), 141. 103 104

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acknowledges that the uniform can be a choice, one that affects people’s psychology and sense of self-being. She continues, “To adopt it, either compulsorily or spontaneously, is to conform to a code of belonging or behavior, norms that play a decisive role in the psychological and sociopolitical dynamics of individual and collective identity.”107 The uniform, as described in The New Garconne, is not the same as the military uniform or a school uniform, but rather has built-in flexibility. That being said, it often feels the same as a uniform, with just a limited number of pieces making up what has frequently been called a “capsule wardrobe.” Eva Astoul defines this kind of collection as “a limited selection of interchangeable clothing pieces that complement each other. These are often classic pieces that do not go out of style and are primarily composed of neutral colors. A capsule wardrobe allows you to create a variety of different outfits with a small selection of clothes.”108 The capsule wardrobe has several clear benefits: smarter spending, a preference for fewer high-quality items over cheaper fast fashion clothing, a hope to help the environment by buying less clothing, and even just a way to make less decisions every time one is getting dressed. Astoul reads two historical events as predecessors to the trendy capsule movement: Susie Faux opening a boutique in London in the 1970s called “Wardrobe,” which sold minimalist clothing that could easily be mixed and matched, and American designer Donna Karen’s creation of Seven Easy Pieces line in 1985.109 The capsule wardrobe provides a more modern and accessible alternative to the uniform, with many of the same results: less stress, less money, less decision-making, and limited versatility. This process has trickled down from more high fashion stores to mainstream stores, all of which are working with clients to create an easy yet chic wardrobe. TBC (To Be Created) is a styling service that works to help their client find 27 pieces to make up their wardrobe, whereas pioneering Universal Standard, a company focused on creating clothes for women of all sizes, packages three to five pieces of clothing together, as starter sets for capsule collections.

 Scardi, “The Uniform, the Subject, the Power,” 141.  Eva Astoul, “What is a Capsule Wardrobe? (& How to Build One),” Sustainably Chic, January 10, 2022, https://www.sustainably-chic.com/blog/what-is-a-capsule-wardrobe. 109  Astoul, “What is a Capsule Wardrobe?” 107 108

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Congresswomen’s Suits Often, a key component of these capsule collections is work wear; after all, dress codes or perceived clothing requirements are still valued significantly. In 2020, Cori Bush was elected US representative for Missouri’s first Congressional district, which includes St. Louis. On November 10th, Bush tweeted, “The reality of being a regular person going to Congress is that it’s really expensive to get the business clothes I need for the Hill. So I’m going thrift shopping tomorrow. Should I do a fashion show?” (@ coribush). Here, Bush is acknowledging the problematic position of elected representatives who don’t come from the wealthy upper-class which has historically dominated American political representation. Yet, this is also an exciting question, as many see Bush and other young representatives as the future of the American government. Bush, in her quest for affordable but appropriate clothing, illustrates many of the problems that young people face when entering the workforce. The sweatsuits and pajamas that might have served them well in college no longer meet the necessary standards of office jobs. Through these types of posts, Bush emphasized her relatability to the Millennial and Xennial generations. Bush’s comments were quickly picked up by young superstar Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents the Bronx and Queens (NY-14). She responds, saying, “Thrifting, renting, and patience as you get your closet together sis. Capsule wardrobe will be your best friend. @AyannaPressley has the accessory game down. Good news is that all these practices are very sustainable and good for the planet!” She continued, “You can also thrift and buy second hand online, which helped me get higher quality, longer-lasting things that would normally be out of budget. Good luck!!” (@AOC). After being tagged, Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) joined in, posting, “Also. @CoriBush for all those media hits, don’t sleep on the lashes or HD make-up products at CVS. Black Opal, NYX, Wet N Wild are the truth!” Fellow young congresswomen and businesswomen joined in the conversation including Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), Pam Kieth, and Nikema Williams (GA-05).110 These women built the core of legislators who were nicknamed “The Squad” in the media and around Capitol Hill. Originally composed of 110  These tweets are all reproduced and discussed in Sari Li, “AOC and Cori Bush Had the Best Fashion Exchange on Twitter,” Teen Vogue, November 11, 2020, https://www.teenvogue.com/story/aoc-and-cori-bush-had-the-best-fashion-exchange-on-twitter.

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Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, Pressley, and Ilhan Omar (MN-05), the group expanded after the 2020 elections to include Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman (NY-16). Of note, this group champions people of color, progressive politics, media savviness, and anti-establishment beliefs, all policies and ideas that are reflected in themselves and in their bases. Ocasio-Cortez posted a picture of her with the other three original members to her Instagram with the simple caption “Squad.” After going viral, the media began to pick it up and use it in questioning Trump and Senate Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s stances. Nadia Brown has emphasized, that a squad is “a self-chosen group of people that you want to identify with.”111 She elaborated that by using the term, Ocasio-Cortez was intentional and wanting to connect to her young constituents. As Brown explains, “You understand the terminology and you’re using it in the correct way. It’s a shorthand,” that is reaching out not to just her base, but to those who also connect with this type of language and belief system.112 Pressley has pushed this even further, stating, “We are more than four people. We ran on a mandate to advocate for and to represent those ignored, left out, and left behind. Our Squad is big. Our Squad includes any person committed to creating a more equitable and just world.”113 This squad has noble intentions while being seriously committed to bring about progressive change in the country. One of the Squad’s most visible actions, and one that certainly helped them solidify their nickname, was the State of the Union on February 5, 2019. There, they participated in a call by Representative Lois Frankel, who tweeted earlier that day, “At State of the Union tonight, @realDonaldTrump will look out at the House Chamber and see a sea of #Suffragette white sending the message loud&clear that @HouseDemWomen are fighting for the economic security of women & families” (@ RepLoisFrankle). Described as “political theatre” by Vanessa Friedman of The New York Times, the women dominated the space in their white clothing that ranged from a shirt to a vest to a suit. Friedman continues, “And there was no way that either the president or the viewing public could miss them or miss the message in what they wore: one of gender equality and 111  Qtd. in Anna North, “How 4 congresswomen came to be called “the Squad,” Vox, July 17, 2019, https://www.vox.com/2019/7/17/20696474/squad-congresswomentrump-pressley-aoc-omar-tlaib. 112  Qtd. in North, “How 4 congresswomen…”. 113  North, “How 4 congresswomen…”.

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pride, the long arc of history and the fight for women’s rights, commitment to an agenda and, in the background, joy.”114 Of the 102 women in the House, 89 are Democrats, and while all women had been invited to wear white, these Democratic women contributed to a dominant field of white in the audience. They were unavoidable and unmissable, standing out particularly strongly in comparison to the women of the Trump family, who dressed in black. Inspired by past political actions with the white suits, this action undoubtedly recalls Shirley Chisholm’s choice to wear a white outfit on her first day in office as the first Black congresswoman (NY-12) in 1969 or Geraldine Ferraro’s acceptance of the vice presidential nomination for the Democratic Party in 1984 in a white suit, as well as other more recent events like Pantsuit Nation.115 The first woman elected to Congress, Jeannette Rankin, drew public attention for what she would wear in 1917. In her election to an important government seat, she was seen as threatening masculinity and male power, and thus citizens needed to be assured that she remained feminine in her clothing and behavior, something that the press of the time went out of their way to emphasize.116 She wore long dresses, and delicately styled hair, attempting to be fashionable but not trying to distract from her position in the House of Representative. Rankin could never even consider wearing pants.117 Yet, over the course of the century, the pantsuit was embraced fully by women in the working world, but not in Congress. In a 1960 article in the Washington Post, “Rep. Reid in a Pantsuit” covered Representative Charlotte T. Reid (R-Ill.) in a “shocking” expose. Nancy L. Ross described the situation in detail: The 56-year-old widow, a striking brunette who once sang on Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club under the name of Annette King, showed up on the House 114  Vanessa Friedman, “The Lessons of the Women in White at the State of the Union Address,” New York Times, February 6, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/06/ fashion/state-of-the-union-white.html. 115  “This Day In History: Shirley Chisholm Becomes the First Black Congresswoman” HuffPost, December 6, 2017, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/this-day-in-historyshirley-chisholm_n_4218398. 116  Elizabeth Segran, “The Outrageous, Deeply Sexist History of the Pantsuit,” Fast Company, October 15, 2019, https://www.fastcompany.com/90393935/the-outrageousdeeply-sexist-history-of-the-pantsuit. 117  History, “Whereas: Stories from the People’s House: A Womanly Woman with Womanly Ambitions,” History, Art & Archives: United States House of Representatives, April 17, 2017. https://history.house.gov/Blog/2017/April/4-17-Womanly-Rankin/.

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floor in a black wool, bell-bottomed pantsuit. Her appearance marked a first in the annals of the U.S. Congress. How did her male colleagues react? One incredulous congressman told her, “I was told there was a lady here in trousers, so I had to come over and see for myself.” Of the dozen or more men who spoke to Mrs. Reid about her outfit, none had other than compliments, she said. (There were no other congresswomen on the floor to comment.)118

Later in the article, Reid comments on how seriously she took her position in Congress, not wanting to deride it by wearing such a progressive garment, as Reid says, “I wouldn’t want to do anything that seemed facetious. Neither would I want to do anything to take away from the femininity of the women in the House, even though I think pants are feminine-looking.”119 The suit had been a gift from her staff, and since it was her last day of the session, she figured it would not matter to her peers. For a congresswoman who had not received much press attention before this incident, wearing her new pantsuit caught the attention of several of her colleagues and The Washington Post. However, the Senate would prove more challenging, and it was not until 1993 that women would officially be allowed to wear pants on the floor. Maddeningly, the dress code for the Senate was never officially written down or made directly clear. The Senate doorkeepers enforced dress code rules just by controlling access to the chamber. In 1972, a group of female Senate aids wrote a letter to the chairman of the rules committee, frustrated by the fact that the doorkeeper did not apply the same fashion rules across the board and argued for a written dress code. The rules committee ignored their request.120 Twenty years later, in 1992, four women won Senate seats and, when combined with the two other sitting female senators, were the largest number of women ever in the Senate. Senator Carol Moseley-Braun had worked in the Illinois state Senate for years, and her win for Senate was historic, becoming the first Black woman to serve. In early 1993, she 118  The Reliable Source, “Update: First woman to wear pants on House floor, Rep. Charlotte Reid,” December 21, 2011, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliablesource/post/update-first-woman-to-wear-pants-on-house-floor-rep-charlottereid/2011/12/21/gIQAVLD99O_blog.html. 119  The Reliable Source, “Update, First Woman …”. 120  Jocelyn Sears, “Why Women Couldn’t Wear Pants on the Senate Floor Until 1993,” Mental Floss, March 22, 2017, https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/93384/ why-women-couldnt-wear-pants-senate-floor-until-1993.

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chose a pantsuit, much like the ones she had worn on the floor in Illinois, to work. Gasps were audible when she stepped into the chamber. Moseley-­ Brown had no way of knowing that she had broken the unwritten rule about women wearing pantsuits on the Senate floor, as she later said, “nobody was talking to me about these things, so I had no clue.”121 Up until a female staffer told her about the ban on pants, Moseley-Braun had no idea what was wrong. Around the same time, Senator Barbara Mikulski wore pants to maintain her comfort on a snowy Washington day. She did know about the rule, and in fact, approached a leader in the Senate to check that she was not violating any written rules. It was only after she wore pants, like Moseley-Braun, that she was surprised by the audible reaction of her peers.122 After the two women’s defiance of the unwritten dress code, the first woman sergeant at arms in the Senate, Martha Pope, circulated a memo to the doorkeepers and all her staff, saying, “Women are required to wear business attire, i.e., dress, skirt/blouse, business suit, coordinated pantsuit (slacks and matching blazer; no stirrup pants).”123 Finally, with this change made more official, senators of all genders had more freedom to choose what they could wear, and many women quickly began to embrace pantsuits as their attire for Congress. The wearing of pantsuits politically swelled, culminating with the myriad of colored pantsuits of Hillary Clinton, Pantsuit Nation, and the Squad. In an astute statement, Cassidy Zachary argues, “Suits have been one of the most gendered garments in history, but they have lost some of that symbolic power because they have been universally adopted across the spectrum. We’re at a point now where women are no longer wearing suits to project male power, but rather the power and autonomy inherent in themselves.”124 I would argue they have not lost any of their symbolic power, rather they have just made it stronger. In September 2022, 121  Bridget Quinn, She Votes: How U.S. Women Won Suffrage, and What Happened Next (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2020), 180–181. 122  According to this article, “While there are no official Senate records showing which woman wore pants on the Senate floor first, newspaper accounts suggest Mikulski’s act followed Moseley-Braun’s.” I support this argument and agree, though it is clear that both women helped loosen the rules. Moseley-Braun’s choice was accidental but received extra attention because of her mistake and her race, whereas Mikulski’s act may have more help through her attention to the rules. For more, see Sears, “Why Women Couldn’t Wear Pants.” 123  Sears, “Why Women Couldn’t Wear Pants.” 124  Qtd. in Segran, “The Outrageous, Deeply Sexist History of the Pantsuit.”

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Supermajority, an organization supporting women’s equality, partnered with Argent, a company known for its clothing geared toward working women. Releasing a bold, hot pink pantsuit, the two groups wanted to draw attention first to Voter Registration Day (September 20th), while also campaigning for women to vote under the slogan “Voting Suits You.” Founder and CEO of Argent, Sali Christeson has championed women’s rights and encouraging women to take up space, elaborating, “That’s what Argent has always celebrated and it’s why we created a bold, joyous pink suit. But this is more than just a suit: It’s a statement and a symbol of what it looks like when women across generations, identity, and geography stand in their power and vote together.”125 A pantsuit remains different than that of men’s clothing—you are less likely to find women wearing a tie or bowtie, cufflinks, or pocket squares, and yet, increasingly women are adopting pantsuits in bold colors and stylish modifications and it is only a matter of time before women adopt these details as well. Women’s fashions are still considered a viable topic for discussion and analysis in how women can do their jobs. These pink suits are an intentional symbol of women claiming their power as one of the largest voting blocs in the country, which reinforces the reading of suits as associated with power. Because suits are still able to be seen as symbolic for women to wear, it emphasizes that women are still being assessed by their clothing. There may be progress in what we can wear, how we can wear it, and where we can wear it, but culturally we have not yet reached the point where women can be spoken about in the same manner as men, free of discussion about their appearances.

125  Supermajority and Argent, “Supermajority and Argent Announce Launch of ‘Voting Suits You’ on National Voter Registration Day,” Supermajority and Argent Press Release, September 20, 2022, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/supermajority-andargent-announce-launch-of-voting-suits-you-on-national-voter-r egistrationday-301627757.html.

CHAPTER 5

What’s New Pussyhat?

November 8, 2016. A day that many in the United States will remember with a mix of anger, sadness, and astonishment. I woke up excited for the day. I had voted early but saved my sticker for election day. Placing it carefully on the specifically chosen blazer, I joined many women across the country who were wearing pantsuits in support for Hilary Clinton. To top things off, I even dressed my dog Fred up in a little pantsuit. While I had considered having a celebratory party, after some thought, I decided against it. I would witness the historic event of electing the U.S. first female president at home, with my Hilary Clinton 2020 mug filled with wine and my pup by my side. Gleefully, I took my place on my couch to watch the returns. Quickly though, things were not going in Clinton’s favor. I was genuinely shocked and felt my world spinning. As more networks were beginning to interview Donald J. Trump supporters, it became clear not only that things were not going to go in Clinton’s (or my) way but also that sexism was more alive and well in the United States than I had imagined. By 8 P.M., the race was practically over, and I retreated into the solace of my bedroom. I was overwhelmed with sadness and a deep pain. My heart was broken that the most qualified candidate for president was not elected due to a combination of misogyny, ignorance, and a host of other problematic reasons. The next few weeks went by in a daze.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. Newman, Fashioning Politics and Protests, Palgrave Studies in Fashion and the Body, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16227-5_5

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As life tried to return to normal, I would meet the eyes of another woman and could see we shared the feelings of a deep-seated depression. In the short time since the election, one of the few things that helped me feel better was the idea I was not alone in my political frustrations. I’ve read countless accounts of women’s experiences in the aftermath of that election day. Publications like Why We March: Signs of Protest and Hope— Voices from the Women’s March (2017), Together We Rise: Behind the Scenes at the Protest Heard Around the World (2018), Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump’s America (2017), Women of Resistance: Poems for a New Feminism (2018), and others helped me see that my response to the election was valid and important. While I read about and was excited about the Women’s March in early 2017, I just could not make myself attend. My friend made me a pussyhat, which my dog wore as we watched the various marches across the world take place. Seeing people from all over the world creating seas of pink as they marched, I started to return to my old self. My activism was not going to come from marching like these amazing women; instead, I was going to write about these marchers and their pussyhats. The physical presence of these bright pink hats has dominated the powerful and aggressive calls for change which includes better leadership, a return to supporting the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), human rights, and more. And what better way to argue in support of equal healthcare for women, abortion rights, and reuniting families than by utilizing a color that has historically been connected to women. Further, ideas stemming from feminist protests and the Women’s March were incorporated by esteemed fashion designers at companies such as Missoni (Angela Missoni), Dior (Maria Grazia Chiuri), and even cheekily by Chanel (Karl Lagerfeld). When these pussyhats are connected to the work of feminist art and performance precedents of the 1970s, artists like Carolee Schneemann, Tee Corrine, and Judy Chicago, the hats can be seen as demonstrating the continued necessity of showing and presenting the female physique. The acceptability and dominance of vulvas and pussyhats would not have been possible without the feminist artists of the 1970s who threw their bodies into the work. In addition, the easily knittable pussyhats were inspired by the rise of craftivism, in which crafts and objects are made with an activist spirit by people around the world. The pussyhat pattern was accessible to all, the instructions were easy, and people were donating the yarn and the hats freely. In repurposing the actions of artists and craft activists, all the while re-inserting the actual, physical female form into the political sphere, people are using these tools to demand their equality and their rights.

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Pussyhat, Pussyhat In just a few short months, hundreds of thousands of pussyhats were made by people across the world. Knitted from all different shades of pink, the hats created a unified look amidst the marchers (Fig. 5.1). In the fall of 2016, Krista Suh originally came up with the idea for the headwear; she was planning on protesting and knew that she would need the warmth a hat provides. She had been taking a crochet class with her friend Jayna Zweiman, who wanted to attend the marches, but an injury prevented it. Together, the two would create the Pussyhat Project. Kat Coyle, the owner of the Little Knittery in Los Angeles where the two women had been knitting, created the design for the hat. Intentionally simple, the basic pattern encouraged knitters to make a rectangle (11″ × 17.5″), fold it in half, stitch from the crease, and put it on your head. Because of the shape of the human head, cat ears will naturally appear.1

Fig. 5.1  Woman with Pussyhat, March on Washington, January 22, 2017, Creative Commons license

 Jayna Zweiman and Krista Suh, “Our Story,” The Pussyhat Project. https://www.pussyhatproject.com/our-story. 1

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The name of the hat emerged fairly organically. In a now-infamous video clip from 2005 that emerged in the months leading up to the 2016 election, Donald J. Trump was talking to entertainment host Billy Bush on the show Access Hollywood about the control over women that he was able to exert because of his celebrity status. When talking about his relationships with women, he is heard saying, “And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything… Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.” The graphic slang about female genitalia suited the name of the hat and the project because it drew attention to the vulgar and crass language Trump used. Having been accused numerous times of sexual assault, Trump was a candidate that many people (particularly, and wisely, Black women) had trouble supporting. Suh and Zweiman also hoped to be able to de-stigmatize the word pussy, shifting it from being a negative description of a woman’s vagina or vulva to a word that could now be about empowerment and women rising up and claiming their equality. Pushing the explicitness further, some find the shape of the pussyhat (when viewed from above) reminiscent of women’s genitalia. More directly, in its definition as an alternative word for a cat, the “pussy”-hat would recall and symbolize the cat “ears” of the design itself. The Pussyhat Project’s mission statement helps unite these ideas: “The Pussyhat Project is dedicated to advancing women’s rights and human rights through the arts, education and respectful dialogue. The pussyhat is a symbol of support and solidarity for women’s rights and political resistance. Make a hat! Give a hat! Wear your hat! Share a hat!”2 For some, the pussyhats were controversial. The name and what some consider a slur for female genitalia did ostracize people. Jack Santino has pointed out, “Before the march, many women objected to [pussyhats] for many reasons—women shouldn’t be associated only with their genitalia; the pink hats were too ‘girlish’; or the term ‘pussy’ was offensive, not suitable for children; it was even said that the hats resembled a women’s reproductive system.”3 Specifically, many felt that the pussyhat and its focus on female genitalia would not include any kind of transwomen or a  Zweiman and Suh, The Pussyhat Project.  Jack Santino, “Pussies Galore! Women, Power, and Protest at the 2017 March,” in Pussy Hats, Politics, and Public Protest, edited by Rachelle Hope Saltzman (Jackson, MI: University of Mississippi Press, 2020), 9–10. This book offers a very personal look at the protest, as it has been compiled by a folklorist. Seeking to compare the protests to Mikhail Bakhtin and his idea of the carnivalesque, the authors also work to show how the protests connect to broader narrative ideas and stories. Additionally, this book features numerous pictures of the signage and protests held at the Women’s March in Portland, Oregon, in 2017. 2 3

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person who identified as a woman without traditional female genitalia. Instead of being a symbol for a positive project united with like ideals, many were feeling left out. These ideas were presented in a discussion of a second Women’s March (held in 2018) by the organizers of the Women’s March in Pensacola Florida. Having the time to reflect on what happened the year before, the organizers could better articulate some of the problems they associated with the march, which they posted on Twitter in early 2018: The Pink P*ssy Hats represent a very concentrated and thus, exclusionary sect of feminism that ignores, neglects, and ultimately harms the fight for global women’s liberation. The entire concept is based around the idea of biological essentialism and shared womanhood … The right to self-­ determination, a concept that all feminists must get behind, allows transgender women to be women. Thus, not every woman has a vagina, and with the right to self-determination existing for transgender men and non-binary transgender people as well, not every person who has a vagina is a woman. The Pink P*ssy Hat reinforces the notion that woman = vagina and vagina = woman, and both of these are incorrect. Additionally, the Pink P*ssy Hat is white-focused and Eurocentric in that it assumes that all vaginas are pink; this is also an incorrect assertion.4

In this effective and straightforward statement, the Pensacola leaders articulated many issues that people had with the pussyhats—points that absolutely need to be discussed. While the creators of the pussyhats never intended for their hats to be exclusionary, many felt like the inability to visualize how hurt some transwomen and others might be reinforced the often racist and essentialist attitude that was so problematic of feminism in the 1970s. There is no reconciliation for these women that feel left out. Despite attempts at inclusivity and intersectionality, that most deemed were somewhat effective, the pussyhats do have essentialist elements in them. The connection between women’s genitalia is key to understanding the importance of the pussyhat, this is undeniable. But celebrating that connection to “women” does not fully allow all people who identify as women to support the cause.

4  Qtd. in Julie Compton, “At 2nd annual Women’s March, some protesters left ‘pussy hats’ behind,” NBCNews.com, January 23, 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/ nbc-out/2nd-annual-women-s-march-some-protesters-left-pussy-hats-n839901.

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It is worth acknowledging that many women supported the pussyhat for the same reasons that people distanced themselves from it. Santino sees the use of “pussy” as an example of a subaltern group that is seizing this fraught word and changing it from one that has been used as a weapon of power by the dominant group and reclaiming and reversing its value.5 Now, the group who was devalued had taken the power. Yet, there is no easy solution on how to interpret the pussyhat and who they can adequately represent, and it is extremely unfortunate that any kind of woman feels excluded by them. Intended or not, this is unable to be ignored. The pussyhats, like most symbols, are not perfect objects and are unable to sufficiently relate to and celebrate all types of women. While problematic, their impact cannot be ignored and is therefore still worth acknowledging and perhaps even celebrating, even if their faults must accompany their successes. On the day of the Women’s March, Krista Suh describes going to the National Mall and seeing the pussyhats worn by people across Washington, D.C. as a dream. Suh had no way of knowing exactly what to expect that day. “The pussyhat has gotten criticism, but that’s fine with me. It represented something greater than a pink hat. The pussyhat shows you’re not alone.”6 While Suh saw the hats as powerful, Ginny Russ, a producer, activist, and one of the organizers of the march, initially hated the idea of the pussyhats, in particular because of the choice of the obviously feminine color pink. She later changed her mind, noting: But I will say that I have to give them credit. Because when I looked up at 6 A.M., four hours before we were going to start the rally, and saw … those hats, and you looked out at this sea of pink hats everywhere, it was really an incredible way to unify a super-diverse and disparate crowd of women and men marching. That it was a woman offering up a pattern, and that all of these people had made them by hand all across the country—that was very cool. I didn’t realize that until afterword.7

The pussyhats were created completely separately from the organization of the Women’s March itself. It was a grassroots idea that spread by word of  Santino, “Pussies Galore!” 10.  Cassad Fendlay, Sarah Sophie Flicker, Cindi Leive, and Paola Mendoza. Together We Rise: Behind the Scenes at the Protest Heard Around the World (New York: Dey Street Books, 2018), 257. 7  Fendley et al., Together We Rise, 166. 5 6

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Fig. 5.2  Women’s March on Washington, January 21, 2021, Creative Commons license

mouth and social media. Not only did women and men wear the pussyhats, but they made them for friends and others. On the day of the march, large trash bags and boxes filled with pussyhats were positioned all around D.C. in case anyone needed one. Subsequently, the Women’s March and the pussyhats became inextricably linked (Fig. 5.2). Two million people participated in the Women’s March in D.C. The event came together perhaps unusually, but organically. So many people were upset about the election, and Teresa Shook, a Hawaiian grandmother and retired lawyer, wanted to act. She decided to take her simultaneous outrage and sadness online by creating a Facebook event page for a march on Washington the day after Trump’s inauguration, and after just 24 hours, 300,000 women had jumped on board. Eventually, four powerful and diverse activists came on board to co-chair the national march: Bob Bland, Tamika Mallory, Carmen Perez, and Linda Sarsour.8 The journey from November 8, 2016 to January 17, 2017 was long and hard-fought. People from all kinds of activist backgrounds got on 8  Paula vW.  Dáil and Betty L.  Wells, eds. We Rise to Resist: Voices from a New Era in Women’s Political Action (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2018), 17; and Together We Rise, 13.

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board, but it was younger women (in their 20s and 30s) who led the way. While the March would go on to embody intersectional feminism and all that entails, the original name, Million Women’s March, led many to be concerned about how things would turn out. Unaware of that title’s historical references to Black people, the founders quickly worked to change the name to the Women’s March, which would be both distinct and more inclusive. These were tough conversations and not everyone was satisfied, yet in the end, the March was stronger because of its troubles and forced many leaders and activists to clarify and expand their positions, from disability rights to trans-activism and more.9 The March provided men and women with the necessary space to unite over their frustrations with the current political system. Elizabeth Currans has smartly articulated what is so important about demonstrations like these, saying, “Protests can provide rare opportunities for public copresence among people with diverse experiences and perspectives who are nonetheless committed to addressing a particular issue. Being with each other in public is valuable for those of us who live and work in institutions and communities where we remain outsiders.” But more than that, she also argues that marching allows for a diverse group of people, who come from different backgrounds and do not agree on all topics to come together and support one another. She continues: Working with others across difference to hold space for each other and for whatever concern brought us together can be powerful. These small 9  This article demonstrates how effectively intersectionality can be seen in the Women’s March by examining what causes marchers were showing up for and emphasizing. In the overlap of multiple causes, the March was effectively able to bring people of color, sexualities, and identities together. Dana R. Fisher, Dawn M. Dow, and Rashawn Ray, “Intersectionality takes it to the streets: Mobilizing across diverse interests for the Women’s March,” Science Advances 3, no. 9 (September 2017). This is further emphasized by Michael T. Heaney, who notes the repeated critiques that the movement faced, particularly rooted in the Whiteness of previous feminist movements, noting “Using evidence from surveys at five Women’s March rallies and four other protest events in Washington in 2018, my findings show that the Women’s March has indeed been successful in mobilizing people who support intersectional activism …. This finding suggests that the Women’s March has made good on its commitment to intersectional activism. By creating a diverse leadership and talking about intersectionality at events, it has attracted people with a commitment to this cause—or persuaded people in its movement to care more deeply about intersectionality.” See Michael T. Heaney, “Is the Women’s March focused on white women—or does it promote intersectional activism?” The Washington Post, July 8, 2019.

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glimpses into other ways of being together provide inspiration to continue working toward social change…. Holding space both requires and allows people to be together in service of a collective goal despite differences in experience and political persuasion.10

The Women’s March provided a unique outlet for a protest, particularly in its size and quick materialization. Overall, seven million women (and men and children) marched that day, around the world and on every continent.11 In D.C. alone, crowd scientists believe that the Women’s March had at least three times the attendance of Trump’s inauguration, which came in at around 600,000 people.12 Pam Kidd, who traveled to D.C. for the March, described her experience that day, “The throngs of people were growing. The energy was flowing out. It was as though everything I had dreamed humanity might be coming together, moving forward, fixed on the destination ahead. When we exited the train station and stepped out into the streets, we saw thousands of women in pink hats. Pink hats everywhere, as far as I could see.”13 The pussyhats became a unifier for everyone, easily recognizable and immediately celebrated. But the hats were not the only important art or fashion element of the day; significantly and perhaps unexpectedly, the National Museum of Women and the Arts was open and free to the public. Collection tours called “Nasty Women” and “Fierce Women” were extraordinarily popular that day.14 The arts themselves became an important part of the March, fully epitomized by the witty and humorous posters that protestors carried. The signs declared, “Not my president,” “I shouldn’t have to protest this shit again,” “Girls just want to have fun-damental rights,” “We are the granddaughters of the witches you weren’t able to burn,” “Trump wears poorly tailored suits,” “Super Callous Fascist Racist Extra Braggadocius!,” “I’ve got 99 problems and white heteronormative patriarchy is all of them,”

10  Elizabeth Currans, Marching Dykes, Liberated Sluts, and Concerned Mothers: Women Transforming Public Space (Champaign and Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2017), 182–183. 11  Dáil and Wells, eds., We Rise to Resist, 6. 12  Tim Wallace and Alicia Parlapiano, “Crowd Scientists Say Women’s March in Washington Had 3 Times as Many People as Trump’s Inauguration,” New York Times, January 22, 2017. 13  Dáil and Wells, eds., We Rise to Resist, 28. 14  Dáil and Wells, eds., We Rise to Resist, 22.

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among so many others.15 It is not surprising, though, that these poetic phrases and artistic accompaniments would leave such an important visual legacy of the March. Art historian Basil Rogger states, “Protest is aesthetic. The aesthetic demarcation of majority norms is a key strategy in protest. In fashion and art, music and graphics, image and text, narration and performance, protest movements have developed a unique, ever-­ changing language of their own.”16 From the hats to the posters, these arts, or some might say crafts, have left an indelible mark on history.

Craftivism Crafts have often been viewed as less than art, a type of making associated with women, the informal, and the homemade. Yet that undersells craft, which has the potential and power to be just as significant, if not more so, than fine arts. For many people, crafts can be an outlet for activists. Betsy Greer first acknowledged the term “craftivism,” which she defined as a “way of looking at life where voicing options through creativity makes your voice stronger, your compassion deeper.”17 Greer continues that craftivism gets people to ask questions and encourages discussion about the intent of their creations. As she says, “As craftivists, we foment dialogue and thus help the world become a better place, albeit on a smaller scale than activists who organize mass demonstrators … the small scale of craftivism is vital. It turns us, as well as our work into vessels of change.”18 Craftivism appeals to those whose activism is not suited to marching and pounding the pavement. Sarah Corbett turned to craftivism when she felt like the usual activism no longer suited her needs, as she elaborates:

15  For examples of these signs and more, see Women’s March Organizers and Condé Nast, Together We Rise; Artisan, Why We March: Signs of Protest and Hope (New York: Artisan Books, 2017); Abrams Books, Why I March: Images from the Women’s March around the World (New York: Abrams Image, 2017); Greta Jaruševičiūtė, “235 of the Best Signs from Women’s Marches Around the World,” Bored Panda, 2017, https://www.boredpanda.com/ best-protest-signs-womens-march-washington-donald-trump/?utm_source=google&utm_ medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic. 16  Basil Rogger, Jonas Voegeli, and Ruedi Widmer, eds. Protest: The Aesthetics of Resistance (Baden, Switzerland: Lars Müller Publishers, 2018), 39. 17  The term was first used by her friend Buzz at a knitting circle, see Betsy Greer, “Craftivism Definition,” Craftivism 2020, www.craftivism.com/definition. 18  Betsy Greer, Craftivism: The Art of Craft and Activism (Vancouver, British Columbia: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2014), 8.

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By 2008 I felt like a burnt-out activist. I’m an introvert; so going to marches and meetings drained me. I didn’t like shouting, demonizing people or telling people what to do, and I didn’t feel as though I fitted [sic] into some groups. And so much of my work as a professional campaigner and as an activist in my own time was online and not very creative. I really missed using my hands to create and make things.19

For people who want to work outside the conventional mode and mainstream types of protest, craftivism can be a logical fit. Further, by choosing their subject matter, they can choose to advocate for change, as Kirsty Robertson argues, “Political craft … was about an escape from the monotony of daily life, about connecting with other women and other artists, and about challenging the boundaries of the art world—in terms both of what was being made and what was being archived in the annals of art history.”20 Craftivists, then, in the process of choosing materiality and subject, can not only make a political statement but also one that calls attention to the problematic nature of the art world that often seeks to ignore them. Many craftivists practice gentle protest, as Corbett further articulates the idea that artisans can “effectively protest against harmful structures, attract people to protest, and reflect on the way we want our world to be, challenging injustice and harm through values of love, kindness, and humility.”21 That does not mean that the works created are not beautiful objects, rather quite the opposite. As Corbett posits, “And if the gift exudes beauty in spirit as well as in its appearance it can make a lasting impression that will help you in your campaign. So how do we weave beauty through every part of our gift to help encourage decision-makers to make the choice to help and not harm our world. One element is appearance.”22 The pussyhats, in their simple but distinct style, can easily be seen as thoughtful, considered objects with style and art applied to them—varied by whoever made them.

19  Sarah Corbett, How to Be a Craftivist: The Art of Gentle Protest (London: Unbound, 2018), 3. 20  Kristy Robertson, “Rebellious Doilies and Subversive Stitches: Writing a Craftivist History,” in Extra / Ordinary: Craft and Contemporary Art, edited by Maria Elena Buszek (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2011): 184–185. 21  Corbett, How to Be a Craftivist, 30. 22  Corbett, How to Be a Craftivist, 125.

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Additionally, craftivism emphasizes the importance of standing in while not standing out, as well as solidarity in protests, such as how the pussyhats provided unity during the Women’s March. Objects like these can effectively make it easier for protests to happen because they allow protestors feel included and part of a group.23 A hat can be worn by anyone, does not discriminate based on size or disability, and can therefore allow more people to be welcomed into the group and more comfortable participating. Rebecca E.  Schuiling and Therésa M.  Winge cite the pussyhat as an example of the Pink Craftivist Movement (PCM), where crafting is made primarily of pink materials and meant to address the concerns of women, as well as responding to feminine spaces and the broader female identity. Unlike craftivism, which has emerged as a larger group, connecting over the internet as well as face-to-face activist meetings, PCM is largely a group of crafters who are put together because of the color and subject of their work, as they explain: “Crafters are aware of the symbolism of pink hues and the association with girls/women, as well as marginalized positions of crafts and to transform them as political weapons and invest the wearer with pink agency.”24 While these crafters can be connected in their goals and materials, they are largely individualized. Pussyhat designers can function as part of the PCM movement but are not limited by it, as both individual and groups came together to work on the same design. Another reason that the pussyhats easily belong in the craftivist spirit is because of the smart use of social media and the internet. By connecting to other marchers via Facebook groups and making the pattern readily available and free, the Pussyhat Project was able to quickly spread their messages, and encouraged the spirit of giving. The group advocated for people to make extra hats to share not just with family and friends but with anyone who might need one. Collection boxes were distributed across the country at various craft stores and centers, and many people brought extra hats to the march to help those who hadn’t somehow gotten one already. Crafter, ceramicist, and Professor Garth Johnson effectively points out how crafters depend upon online connection, “Show me a crafter without a website, and I’ll show you a crafter who will probably have a website  Corbett, How to Be a Craftivist, 212–219.  Rebecca E. Schuiling and Therèsa M. Winge, “Penetrating Knits: Feminists Knit ‘Cunty First’ and ‘The Pussyhat,’” in Fashion, Agency, and Empowerment: Performing Agency, Following Script, edited by Annette Lynch and Katalin Medvedev (London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2018), 132–133. 23 24

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within six months. The handmade nation wields the internet just as effectively as it does a knitting needle or a roll of duct tape.”25 There is no doubt without the ease and facility of social media that the Pussyhat would have not been as successful. Pussyhats were not the first politically motived knitted project in the United States. In March 2012, knitted and crocheted uteri were sent in the mail to Congress by members of Government Free VJJ.26 The women’s rights activists wanted the pink uteri to discourage members of Congress who were intent on passing laws and regulations on women’s bodies.27 As the group said, “Let’s knit a uterus for each male rep in congress. If they have their own, they can leave ours alone!”28 Both the knitted pussyhats and uteri can be seen as a necessary parallel to the interest in protecting women’s bodies in the second-wave feminism of the 1960s and 1970s. Even the materiality of these objects recalls that period, further uniting the importance of the second wave feminism with the current moment. While first wave feminists were concerned with getting the right to vote, second wavers worked to provide women with career options besides that of homemaker and promote the development of feminism. These were the women who fought for the Equal Rights Amendment and worked to limit sexual harassment in the workplace, chanted “the personal is political,” and fought for sexual equality. For our purposes, though, they also helped women discover their own sexuality, and in the pussyhats and uteri’s blunt recall of female genitalia it is easy to see how these objects can connect to the push for equality and openness of feminists working in the 1970s. Feminism progressed into the third wave in the early 1990s, where intersectionality forced White feminists to deal with the groups’ problematic relationships with Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), 25  Faythe Levine and Cortney Heimerl, Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY, Art, Craft, and Design (Princeton, NJ: Princeton Architectural Press, 2008), 35. 26  VJJ is not acronym; rather, it is pronounced va-jay-jay and is another word for vagina. This nickname was created by Shonda Rhimes for Grey’s Anatomy (“As We Know It,” Season 2, Episode 17, ABC, February 12, 2006). At the time, Rhimes explains the network was limiting the number of times the characters on the show could say “vagina,” while they had much more freedom with the word “penis.” By the time this specific episode came up, the network was further cracking down on the use of “vagina,” and in frustration, Rhimes and the writers’ room came up with vajayjay for a pivotal scene where Dr. Bailey is giving birth and telling an intern not to look at her vagina. Alanna Vagianos, “How Shonda Rhimes Unwillingly Coined the Term Vajayjay,” HuffPost, November 12, 2015. 27  Schuiling and Winge, “Penetrating Knits,’” 127. 28  Government Free VJJ, “About the Group,” Facebook.

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as well as lesbians. Many thirdwave women, like Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards, were daughters of the second wave feminists and had grown up in a revolutionary time for women.29 However, their work was not over. In the third wave, feminism was forced to reconcile its past and work to revive feminism in the public eye. The work of bell hooks, Riot Grrrl, Rebecca Walker, and Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw helped feminism develop and shift, work and grow, and better accommodate more women.30 By the 2010s, many women and men believed that feminism had achieved many of its goals, now allowing for the space for woman to choose to be housewives or strippers, or whatever they preferred. Called post-feminism, the fourth wave allows for choice and agency in feminism, unlike ever before.31 And yet, politically right now, the post-feminists are having to fight for control of their bodies again, something the second wave feminists already fought for intensely in the 1970s, as both then and now conservative branches of the government are trying to limit birth control access and ban abortion. The oft-spotted sign “I can’t believe I still have to protest this shit” perfectly encapsulates the current political moment for feminist protestors right now.32 As Lauren Downing Peters has explained, “Once again, we are fighting for the right for agency over our bodies. Appropriately, these concerns have trickled down to our dress practices—or how we adorn these bodies that are suddenly, inexplicably in the political crosshairs.”33 By connecting the way these projects are directly 29  For more information on this, see Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards, Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism and the Future, Tenth Anniversary Edition (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010). 30  For key resources, see bell hooks, Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism, 2nd Edition (New York and London, Routledge, 2014); Rebecca Walker, ed., To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism (Norwell, MA: Anchor, 1995); and Stacy Gillis, Gillian Howie, and Rebecca Munford, eds., Third Wave Feminism: A Critical Exploration, Expanded Second Edition (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007). 31  For more see Ariel Levy, Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture (New York: Free Press, 2006); Mikki Kendall, Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot (New York: Viking 2020); and Laurie Penny, Bitch Doctrine: Essays on Dissenting Adults (New York: Bloomsbury, 2017). 32  For more on the use of this phrase and its importance at the Women’s March, see Patricia Sawin, “I Can’t Believe I Still Have to Protest this Shit: Generational Variation and Solidarity Among Women’s March Participants,” in Pussy Hats, Politics, and Public Protests. 33  Lauren Downing Peters, “Reading the Subversive Stitch on the Eve of the Inauguration,” Fashion Studies Journal, January 20, 2017, http://www.fashionstudiesjournal.org/longform/2017/1/20/reading-the-subversive-stitch-on-the-eve-of-the-inauguration?rq= subversive%20inauguration.

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tied to politics and the fight over control over women’s bodies, Peters effectively positions these craft pieces as inextricable from the “personal is political” belief that has dominated discussion of women’s rights since the 1970s. These craftivist hats cannot and should not be extrapolated from their feminist background and the emerging consciousness of Millennial and Generation Xennial. An earlier project, Afghans for Afghans, is an example of a similar successful project that hoped to move beyond political beliefs. Started by Ann Rubin in 2001, the project was a response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York. Rubin’s idea was to send warm wool clothing and blankets to Afghan children and people, playing on the dual meaning of Afghan as the people of the region and the blankets themselves. It created positivity out of such horrific events, while also allowing people to engage in a more positive and hopeful response. Nancy Gildart elaborates, “Participatory textile actions … provided a space for actual and metaphorical conversation, and made those participating feel that they were part of a larger whole.”34 Afghans for Afghans, which has been described as a kind of Charity Knitting, creates a positive response out of a negative situation.35 While the pussyhats did not have such a clear charitable benefit to them, they did unite and create solidarity among a group of frustrated and arguably grieving men and women. Knitting, itself, is a critical component of the pussyhats. Sandy Black chronicles the significance of knitting and how it has evolved into something that was once intimate and personal to a process that can now be transformed and utilized in the public space. Hand-knitting had long been a favorite past time for women, but Black recognizes that at the start of the twenty-first century it moved into a more social realm. She explains how it appealed to a new generation who was seeking a more entertaining craft that was fast and simple. It is less about passing down ideas and more about becoming an “antidote to modern technological society.”36 Women and men were meeting up both physically in public spaces and virtually in online communities to have fun, develop their knitting skills, and collaborate on bigger projects. 34  Nancy Gildart, “Torn and Mended: Textile Actions at Ground Zero and Beyond,” in The Object of Labor: Art, Cloth, and Cultural Production, eds. Joan Livingstone and John Ploof (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007), 252. 35  Sandy Black, Knitting: Fashion, Industry, Craft (London: Victoria & Albert Museum, 2012), 154. 36  Black, Knitting: Fashion, Industry, Craft, 153.

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A great example of this is Debbie Stoller’s Stitch ’n Bitch series of books that encouraged American women to get involved in knitting and knitting circles, which she published after starting her own group in 1999.37 Consciously recalling nineteenth- and early twentieth-century practices, Stoller wanted to create a fun way for women to build friendship and fellowship. In fact, the name “Stitch ’n Bitch” was not Stoller’s invention: knitters had been using the term since World War II. These groups were just that, smaller groups that met on a very local level, just as Stoller’s book could be used to stoke individual interests. Importantly, Stoller revived a beloved pastime and made it cool. Yet she also made it overtly feminist, saying, “The very fact that kitting, sewing, crocheting and other skills of the happy homemaker have been considered too girly to be done in public is proof that these crafts need to be reclaimed by the same feminist movement that initially rejected them.”38 Stoller backs up these ideas by her own work, not just the books that teach knitting, but by being an editor of the niche feminist magazine Bust. Highlighting news, art, and popular culture, Stoller works to include strong feminist leaders and artists, with the magazine even sponsoring an annual Craftacular in New York. Perhaps more publicly, and arguably, politically, yarn bombings and knit graffiti have gained in popularity and visibility in the past 15 years. In an article titled “Graffiti’s Cozy, Feminine Side,” Malia Wollan of the New York Times writes that yarn bombing takes that most matronly craft (knitting) and that most maternal of gestures (wrapping something cold in a warm blanket) and transfers it to the concrete and steel wilds of the urban streetscape. Hydrants, lampposts, mailboxes, bicycles, cars—even objects as big as buses and bridges—have all been bombed in recent years, ever so softly and usually at night.39

Written in 2011, the article makes clear that the process has been a global phenomenon for years already, with knitters documenting their work through photography and film. Yet, Wollan also plays into stereotypes 37  The first book was published in 2003. See Debbie Stoller, Stitch ’n Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook (New York: Workman Publishing, 2003). 38  Qtd. in Robertson, “Rebellious Dollies and Subversive Stitches,” 191. See also Jennifer Baumgardner, F’em! Goo, Gaga, and Some Thoughts on Balls (Berkeley, CA: Seal Press, 2011): 73–82. 39  Malia Wollan, “Graffiti’s Cozy, Feminine Side,” New York Times, May 18, 2011.

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about knitting itself, calling it both matronly and maternal, while positing that yarn bombing distanced itself from that feeling to be more challenging and powerful. Wollan proclaims Magda Sayeg as the “mother of yarn bombing,” who perhaps started the whole movement by knitting a cover for her door handle at her boutique shop in Houston in 2005.40 The act garnered some attention, which encouraged her to decorate the pole of a stop sign and later lamp posts. She began working with others under the name “Knitta Please.” By 2011, her work had been assimilated into the art world, and demonstrating that appreciation, she was commissioned to cover tree trunks at the reputable Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas. By moving yarn bombing into the museums, artists like Sayeg and Agata Oleksiak (who goes by the name Olek professionally) are validating the craft of knitting in the art world. Olek modernizes and builds upon these past ideas creating full body-knitted mermaid outfits and other wearable art objects, leading the way for this modern resurgence. What was first deemed craft evolved into a celebrated art form. Further, its uses in performance and yarn bombing, once initially subversive and illegal, have now been institutionalized and commercialized. This is not completely unheard of; rather, it recalls the rise of the fiber arts movement in the 1960s and early 1970s. Knitted wall hangings and patterns that could be used to create sweaters were all the rage.41 But for both Olek and knitters in the 1960s, getting recognition and respect in the museum world has not always been easy, in large part because of the feminine nature associated with the process (and evidenced by The New York Times article). In his study of fiber arts, knitting, and other handmade practices, Roger Dunn outlines why fiber arts, particularly by women, have traditionally been neglected in the art and museum world, listing several of these factors: • the patriarchal structure of most societies and the subordinate role of women and hence their achievements; • a categorization of the arts in the Western world that gives top rank to those areas of visual creativity practiced by men, especially those of advanced education; 40  Lauren Marmaduke, “Catching Up with Magda Saveg (a.k.a. Knitta Please),” Houston Press, July 26, 2011. 41  This is discussed in depth in Jenelle Porter, Fiber: Sculpture 1960–present (Munich: Prestel Publishing, 2014).

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• the fact that the criteria, assessment, and writings on the arts have been dominated by White males of European or American lineage.42 Indeed, gender and craft are intimately tied together, so women (and even more so for women of color) have struggled to achieve success and recognition. In fact, through practices like yarn bombing, women were able to work outside the traditional practice and find recognition in their own way. The museums and institutions instead had to catch up to them. The subject matter of women’s knitted projects has often been concerned with their own identities, which is particularly significant because for so long many women artists struggled to be heard. Dunn addresses this, by saying, “for any women artists the traditional feminist medium of fiber arts has become a way to address on-going traumas of social and gender inequality, and to deal with other issues dear to their hearts.”43 He gives the example of Wombs for Washington (2004–2005), a project created by a group of women called Knit4Choice. Inspired by a knitted womb pattern created by M.S. Carrol, the women wanted to create knitted wombs to drop them on the Supreme Court building, with hopes of drawing attention to the frequent challenges to Roe v. Wade. While the project never materialized, it fostered debate and expanded community building.44 Knitting, and by extension any sewing endeavor, has opened the door for women, giving them a different medium with which to speak for themselves. As the preeminent scholar Rozsika Parker has elucidated: “For women today the contradictory and complex history of embroidery is important because it reveals that definitions of sexual difference, and the definitions of art and artist so weighted against women, are not fixed. They have shifted over the centuries and they can be transformed in the future.”45 Parker’s pivotal idea of the “subversive stitch” provided a key articulation of how women held power with the medium. While sewing and knitting may have been derided and discriminated against by curators 42  Roger Dunn, “The Changing Status and Recognition of Fiber Work Within the Realm of the Visual Arts,” in Stitching Resistance: Women, Creativity, and Fiber Arts, ed. Marjorie Agosin (Tunbridge Wells, England: Solis Press, 2014), 45. 43  Dunn, “The Changing Status and Recognition of Fiber Work,” 52. 44  Marilyn Kimmelman and Rebecca Leavitt in “American Women Crafting Cloth: From Bees to Blogs,” in Stitching Resistance, 62. 45  Rozsika Parker, The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine (Toronto, Canada: Women’s Press Ltd., 1984), 215.

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and museums in the past, for more than 50 years women have strategically been arguing and demonstrating for more recognition and support of their powerful projects, like the Wombs for Washington or the pussyhats.

Blending Craft into Fashion Beyond craft and knitting projects, the pussyhats are also connected intimately to fashion itself. This is not completely unheard of, as craft and fashion themselves are intimately connected, as Otto von Busch articulated, “Craft resistance in the world of fashion would mean withdrawal of fear from fashion, while not withdrawing from fashion. Instead, resistance is simultaneously crafting alternative forms of togetherness through fashion.”46 He refers specifically to projects like the Milan-based Openwear, which freely shares patterns and provides education for designers. He continues, “It is through action that we test our democracy and government, as we touch the seams of society. Craft may, in this sense, act as a resistance to obedience. It is a training camp for empowered autonomy … Craft can be a tool for overcoming fear. It is a way to be free.”47 By allowing the pussyhat pattern to be completely free and accessible to all, like Openwear, it can be seen as a direct challenge to the more commercial and capitalistic world of fashion. Uniquely, while pussyhats can be seen as a challenge to capitalism, fashion mogul and designer Angela Missoni wanted to incorporate the pussyhat in her fashion show that year as a way to support the Women’s March. In her presentation of her autumn and winter 2017/2018 collection (which she called “Pink is the New Black”), she choose to do just that, explaining, “I wanted to have a regular show, but at the same time I thought that when I have a show my voice is louder, so I can use it for a good cause … to support the women march and movement, and for everybody who believes that we need to raise a voice for human rights.”48 On every seat in the audience was a pink hat for each guest, which she encouraged everyone to wear to show support as she ended her

 Greer, Craftivism, 81.  Greer, Craftivism, 81. 48  Giulia Segreti, “Missoni Talks Politics with Pink Cat-Eared Hats at Milan Show,” Reuters, February 24, 2017. 46 47

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presentation at Milan Fashion Week by saying, “Let’s show the world that the fashion world is united and fearless!”49 Her speech and gifts were not enough though, as she wanted her points to be clearly and deliberately made. On the show’s program, it notes that as the head of the Missoni house for almost 20 years, Angela Missoni “communicates the femininity of our times, prepared to confront the conflicts and dilemmas of our contemporary society: the conditions, needs and rights of all women and all minorities.”50 The hats were not just for the fashionistas and critics in the audience; indeed, in the final runway walk all the models and Missoni herself wore pussyhats. Yet, this was a distinct variation; the Missoni versions had the same basic form in a bright bold pink, but the base of the hat had a rim made with recognizable Missoni fabric that includes zigzag and striped prints. After the show, the Missoni variation of the pussyhat could be bought on their website for a steep $190, which Zweiman and others have found frustrating as it contradicts the spirt of the larger project.51 While Missoni has noted that some of the proceeds went to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the UN Refugee Agency, it is obvious that Missoni is trying to walk the very thin line between commercialism and activism.52 Hettie Judah and Zweiman have acknowledged that Missoni’s work is similar to a kind of armchair activism, in which the supporter tweets statements of solidarity and re-blogs powerful videos: [B]uying a T-shirt or sweater, wearing yellow clothing or a pink hat are not the equal of hands-on help, but they do have a role to play. As the Pussyhat Project acknowledged, not everyone is in a position to engage in person. The pussyhat, and projects like it, allow the body itself to become the site of protest and symbol of solidarity, to be visible and counted when others perhaps would prefer you not to be. It is a powerful gesture to embody your beliefs.53

 Segreti, “Missoni Talks Politics.”  Segreti, “Missoni Talks Politics.” 51  Hettie Judah, “After the Year of the Pussy Hat, Can Fashion Activism Effect Change?” Artnet News, January 3, 2018. 52  Janelle Okwodu, “The Women’s March Pussyhat Takes Milan Fashion Week,” Vogue, February 25, 2017. 53  Okwodum “After the Year of the Pussy Hat.” 49 50

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While it might not be as dramatic or significant as protest in public, buying a hat or t-shirt is not a completely insignificant act, not just because many of the proceeds often go to charity but also because it visually aligns oneself to a protest group.

Pink Missoni logically kept and emphasized one of the most important features of the pussyhat: the color. The vibrant pink that appeared in a range of shades at the Women’s March is commonly associated with women and femininity today, but that has not always been the case. While “pink” as a named color has existed for over a thousand years, its symbolic associations and power have shifted numerous times. Noted fashion historian Valerie Steele has argued that in the West, pink became fashionable in the eighteenth-century French royal court for both men and women.54 In the nineteenth century, men began to wear more somber and neutral colors, while women still availed themselves of the full spectrum of colors, notably including pink. Thus, it was not that pink itself began to be associated with femininity; rather, it was color in general. Surprisingly, it was not until the twentieth century that gender was firmly beginning to be associated with a color, as in blue for boys and pink for girls. But it was complex, because as early as the 1860s, French fashion magazines were arguing for blue ribbons in baptismal bonnets for boys and pink ribbons for girls. Yet, this conflicted with other countries in Europe, particularly Catholic ones, who connected blue to the Virgin Mary’s rich gowns that dominated painting. In that instance, blue seemed to be the natural color for girls. In 1927, Time Magazine found that American department stores in the area were split on which colors represented which sex. Steele argues that it was two major artistic purchases (that were well covered in the press) by millionaire Henry Huntington in 1921 that solidified the association of girls and women with pink. The American acquired two paintings of children: Thomas Gainsborough’s The Blue Boy (1770) and Thomas Lawrence’s Sarah Barnett Moulton: Pinkie (1794).55 These two paintings, which unambiguously associated blue with boys and pink with girls, were used as historical justification for 54  The information in this section regarding the history of pink is taken from this important book, unless otherwise noted. Valerie Steele, Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful Color (New York: Thames & Hudson, 2018). 55  Steele, Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful Color, 9–100.

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those ideas, despite the fact that paintings from the same time by the same artists also show boys in pink. Because the prominent Huntington was so powerful and the press covered his every move, the sheer attention spent on his acquisition of these two masterworks shaped the way U.S. citizens viewed color and gender. Fashion has also worked to embrace pink in the twentieth and twenty-­ first centuries, including Coco Chanel and Cristóbal Balenciaga, but perhaps no more so than Elsa Schiaparelli whose “Shocking Pink” was her signature color.56 After Schiaparelli, pink would continue to rise and fall in popularity in the fashion world, but it seems that it never completely disappeared from showrooms entirely. While Schiaparelli used the color for her clothes and decorations for her perfume bottles, it was not until 1977 that the world’s most popular doll began her love affair with the color. While Barbie is often associated with pink, Mattel did not fully embrace the color until 1977 with the release of the Superstar Barbie.57 Pink was also popular within African-American communities. Dapper Dan regularly used pink in his designs for Harlem’s significant artists and celebrities, noting that in the 1970s, the Black community fully embraced all colors for men and women.58 Notably, when rapper Cam’ron showed up in an outfit composed almost entirely of bright pink at the 2002 Fashion Week in New York, pink became rather popular in the hip hop communities, embraced by men and women alike. Brands as diverse as Phat Farm, Louis Vuitton, Nike, and Supreme all began embracing the color for men.59 Pink’s surge in popularity in 2002 by different diverse music communities never stopped its popularity and association with girls and women.60 56  Steele, Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful Color, 9–100; and Susan Golman Rubin, Hot Pink: The Life and Fashions of Elsa Schiaparelli (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2015). 57  Steele, Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful Color, 9–100. 58  Steele, Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful Color, 9–100. 59  Gregory Babcock, “TBT: How Cam’ron Got All of Hip-Hop Wearing Pink,” Complex, October 1, 2015. 60  The color pink was and is unifying factor for a political group, as made clear in their name: CODEPINK. They define themselves as “CODEPINK is a women-led grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism, support peace and human rights initiatives, and redirect our tax dollars into healthcare, education, green jobs and other lifeaffirming programs.” At protests they wear pink and carry pink signs and even accessories (umbrellas, hats, and gloves); essentially, anything pink belonged. Yet, the group is not about fashion, nor craftivism, their use of pink is rooted in the color itself. For more information, see https://www.codepink.org, 2022.

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In fact, Legally Blonde’s (2001) premiere solidified the value of pink for young women. Sorority girl turned promising young lawyer Elle Woods had tried to de-pink her wardrobe and her life to better fit into the legal world. Of course, throughout the film she discovered that she needed to let her true self (including her love of pink) back into her life and her wardrobe to really be the best woman she could be. One of the most famous lines from the film, “Whoever said orange was the new pink was seriously disturbed,” illustrates her opinion on how pink is always in vogue, but arguably echoes society’s broader feelings on the color. From actress Marilyn Monroe’s iconic pink dress in Gentleman Prefer Blondes (1953)61 to the bold Pink Ladies in Grease (1978) to Pretty in Pink’s memorable prom dress (1986), women have made numerous iconic appearances in memorable pink gowns in film. Who can forget Julia Roberts’ character of Shelby’s unforgettable “pink is my signature culture” line in Steel Magnolias (1989)? It doesn’t even have to be a film, as evidenced by the quick success of Pinkalicious (a series of children’s books began in 2006 by Victoria Kann, television series in 2018), which follows a spry young girl who loves pink so much she eventually turns pink herself. Pink’s attachment to the female gender is not going anywhere. Unsurprisingly, then, pink continues to return to the catwalks and plays a significant role in fashion history.

Pink in Fashion While Missoni’s celebration of the pussyhats contributed to this conversation on pink, it also emphasized the potential role of bringing the protest to the runway as well. Just a few years before Missoni’s hats debuted, Karl Lagerfeld had piggybacked on the increasing revivals of discussions about women’s rights in the 2010s.62 For the Chanel Spring/Summer 2015 show, he replicated a distinctly Parisian boulevard in the cavernous Grand Palais on September 30, 2014. At the conclusion of a conventionally presented runway show, he joined his models to walk en masse down the 61  For a significant examination of the importance of Marilyn Moore’s pink gloves and dress, see Tom Fitzgerald and Lorenzo Marquez, “The Iconic Look: Marilyn Monroe’s Pink ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”’ Gown in ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ (1953),” Tom and Lorenzo: Fabulous and Opinionated, May 22, 2020. 62  Events such as the UN banning female genital mutilation in 2012, Malala Yousafzai’s Nobel Peace Prize win in 2014, the rise of Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton in political spheres, just to name a few.

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“boulevard” as they carried protest signs and engaged in call-and-response chanting. The fashion show was largely ambiguous; it recalled 1970s protests for sure, but some signs and chanting seemed to mock the act of protesting himself. In speaking to Elle, Lagerfeld responded to questions about his interest in feminism, saying, “I’m very much into that, and my mother was also a great admirer of a certain feminist of the 19th century.” He purposely wanted this collection to speak to every woman, continuing, “It was less fashion—it was more ‘mode de vie’ (clothes for life).”63 His repeated vagueness in both words and actions prevents this fashion show or collection from being championed as any kind of feminist revolution. Nonetheless, the casting of the show did focus on a range of models, both in race and age, if less so in size diversity. Established models Gisele Bundchen and Joan Smalls joined then rising stars Karlie Kloss, Cara Delevingne, and Kendall Jenner. They held placards that heralded a wide variety of ideas: “Ladies First,” “Be Your Own Stylist,” “Feminism not Masochism,” “Boys Should Get Pregnant Too,” “Votez pour Vous,” and “Make Fashion Not War,” among many others. As Whitney Houston’s “I’m Every Woman” played, the models marched wearing clothing that featured a range of influences, from historical references to popular Chanel styles to masculine pin stripe trousers to an abundance of tweed (which paired well with one chant—“What do we want?” “Tweed!”). But many people questioned if the protest was actually a feminist statement or rather an event trying to garner press and attention at the expense of the cause. In fact, one of Lagerfeld’s most oft-cited quotes, “Everything I say is a joke. I myself am a joke,” appeared in numerous reviews of the show.64 The show veered more into a spectacle than a respected fashion show, and many agreed with reporter Megan Gibson’s assertion that it was a “faux-feminist” protest.65 Alexander Fury insightfully reviewed the show: A few of the models had the good grace to look embarrassed; most seemed to think it was a bit of a laugh. Which also summarized the audience’s reaction [sic]. Maybe Lagerfeld was cynically poking fun at the whole idea of fashion commenting on culture at large, intentionally reducing its protests 63  Qtd. in Rebecca Lowthorpe, “Dispatches from Paris: Chanel,” ELLE UK, September 30, 2014. 64  Jess Cartner-Morley, “Karl Lagerfeld’s New Look for Chanel: Feminist protest and Slogans,” The Guardian, September 30, 2014; and Megan Gibson, “Chanel Closes Fashion Show with Faux-Feminist Protest,” Time, September 30, 2014. 65  Gibson, “Chanel Closes Fashion Show with Faux-Feminist Protest.”

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to facile fashion commandments rather than an attempt at genuine change. But the co-opting of protest polemic as a tool instigating you to buy, as opposed to question why, struck a bum note.66

Whereas Missoni stood among her models wearing her own pussyhat and thus created an authentic, viable engagement in a feminist protest, Lagerfeld’s attempt falls short and embodies insincerity. While the clothes in the show generally received good reviews, the protest parody was problematic, if not troubling. Maria Grazia Chiuri has had more success in terms of creating fashion and shows that engage more than just the idea of a protest aesthetic. Chiuri had built up a powerful and impactful career, working for Fendi and Valentino before taking the prestigious creative director position at Dior. Her first collection with them, Spring 2017, was held in September 2016, just months before Trump was elected. Memorably, her show included two relevant t-shirts: one with the phrase “We should all be feminists” in reference to noted Black feminist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s essay of the same name, and another shirt with the title of Linda Nochlin’s pivotal art historical essay, “Why have there been no great women artists?” Adichie’s essay derived from her popular TEDx Talk from 2012, where she defines feminism in terms of intersectionality and its relevance today in an extremely accessible manner.67 By addressing long-standing institutional biases in the art world, Nochlin draws attention to a few great women artists while also positing that circumstances worked against woman’s success (lacking options for education, access to guilds, unions, or apprenticeships, subject matter availability, among other barriers).68 Both essays strive to demonstrate the problematic nature of women in the world today, one that Chiuri herself was having to confront as she was the first female head designer of the renowned Dior house. Emma McClendon acknowledges this, stating, “Chiuri was consciously adopting the sartorial language of resistance to make a clear break with the past and assert a new woman-for-woman outlook for the brand under her direction.”69 In this 66  Alexander Fury, “Paris Fashion Week: Karl Lagerfeld Leads a Feminist Riot on ‘Boulevard Chanel,’” Independent, September 30, 2014. 67   Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, We Should All Be Feminists (New York: Anchor Books, 2015). 68  Linda Nochlin, “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” ARTnews, January 1971, 22–39. 69  Emma McClendon, Power Mode: The Force of Fashion (Milan, Italy: Skira, 2018), 78.

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respect, Chiuri articulated her plan for leadership from her first designs for the company: she wanted to imbue her collection with authentic feminism. However, Dior was not and is not a company that was accessible to many; the t-shirts cost $800. As luxury items, these shirts were only affordable to the wealthy, but that does not mean they were not Instagram-­ worthy. Unsurprisingly, celebrities flocked to buy them and proudly wore them in pictures plastered all over their social media accounts. The exclusivity of the shirts due to their price point exacerbates a well-known problem in feminism: it is available much more easily to the wealthy and the White. Chiuri would change her approach moving forward, particularly in her Spring 2020 couture show, held in January 2020. For this presentation, she would commission widely recognized feminist artist Judy Chicago to design the space for her runway show. Held in the gardens of Musée Rodin and titled The Female Divine, Chicago designed a 225-foot-­ long inflatable sculptural environment that rose to 45 feet high, based on a goddess figure design that she made in the late 1970s that emphasized a woman’s bulbous and curving forms. The space was not Chicago’s only contribution,70 as The Female Divine also contained 21 banners made by hand-appliqué and embroidery. Each contained a phrase that prompted viewers to question the stability of their world views, including a centralized banner asking, “What If Women Ruled the World?” Off to the side were the other banners (ten in French on one side, and ten in English on the other) that built off this initial question, like “Would There Be Violence?” or “Would God Be Female?” Chicago’s work has consistently focused on bringing notoriety and attention to feminist leaders and artists, ideas, and subject matter, and at the age of 80, she continues to address these issues today. When asked why, she simply replied, “The issue of changing attitudes toward women and imagining ‘the female divine’ is something that hasn’t happened yet, has it?”71 Luckily for her, Chiuri was able to give her an avenue to continue to explore her ideas on a large scale. Looking to the art world was nothing new for Chiuri, as she had previous collaborated with artists Penny Slinger and Mickaline Thomas. Seamlessly, she blends art and fashion, while still allowing both her and her 70  To be clear, Bureau Bétak helped facilitate and construct Chicago’s design for the large form, though complete credit is repeatedly given to Chicago. 71  Alice Cavanagh, “Inside Judy Chicago’s Monumental Goddess Sculpture for Dior,” New York Times Style Magazine, January 20, 2020.

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collaborators’ work to shine. Chiuri explains her choice to work with Chicago by saying, “Femininity and creativity have a paradoxical relationship: I wished to place this question at the center of my collection. As a key player of the feminist art movement, Judy Chicago was the artist I wanted to have this conversation with.”72 The curving anthropological form was white on the exterior, with bright purple carpet with a mille-fleurs motif, juxtaposed against the vibrant white banners decorated with jewel-toned designs of silhouetted figures and abstract designs.73 The lightening was low and soft, giving a warm tone to the banners. Chicago describes her desired experience for viewers: “Viewers will literally walk into the body of the goddess and the viewers and the models will be enveloped in the warm, golden light of her divinity.”74 During the show, people sat on either side of the runway, as the models walked down the center of the entire structure. What made this project especially unique though was that after the presentation of the collection, Dior opened The Female Divine to the public for five days, January 21–26, 2020. The runway was no longer left open; instead, it was filled with a long table set with plates designed by Chicago for Dior Maison, Dior’s home line.75 Important to both Chicago and Chiuri (and by extension, Dior) was the charitable component to the project. Chicago does not make the banners herself, though she does design them. The two artists decided that they would commission the banners from the Chanakya School of Craft. This non-profit is based in Mumbai, India, and ensures that women are taught the challenging techniques to make these massive embroideries, something that historically would have been open to only men.76 Beyond their interest in the materiality and process of the project, their choice to build The Divine Female at the Musée Rodin was a statement of its own. While married to another woman, the artist Auguste Rodin was involved  Jennifer Sauer, “What if Women Ruled the World?” CR Fashion Book, January 23, 2020.  Mille-fleurs is a type of design motif, popular originally in the early mid Renaissance period in Europe. Translated as a million flowers in French, the motif is simply the repetition of one or many kinds of flowers and flowering plants. Famous examples include the Lady of the Unicorn tapestry (circa 1500) and later adaptations in the works of William Morris in nineteenth-century England. 74  Sauer, “What if Women Ruled the World?” 75  Héloïse Salessy, “Dior Dreams Up Giant Goddess for its Haute Couture Show?” Vogue Paris, January 20, 2020. 76  Julia Roxan, “Dior Presents the Female Divine in Collaboration with Judy Chicago,” Luxuo, January 23, 2020. 72 73

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in a complicated and troubling relationship with artist Camille Claudel. An impressive and powerful sculptor in her own right, she often assisted Rodin only to eventually be institutionalized and never given the respect that she deserved.77 While her works are shown in the Musée Rodin, she often appears as secondary to Rodin or as an afterthought. Even though the museum has done significant work to elevate her status and champion scholarship on Claudel, the museum remains Musée Rodin. With Dior’s intervention in the gardens, they are helping to reclaim that space for women, not just for The Female Divine but for Camille Claudel as well.

Contemporary Art Beyond The Female Divine, Chicago has dealt with the questions present in this work her entire career. In fact, celebrated art historian Lucy Lippard has argued that Judy Chicago has worked to collapse the gap between high and low arts, reviving quilting, knitting, china painting, and needlework, which can all be seen in her famous and also notorious piece The Dinner Party (1974–1979).78 This sprawling work encompasses 39 full dinner settings with elaborate embroidered table coverings and artistic plates that are tied to the 39 women (ranging from goddess and saints to more contemporary figures like Natalie Barney and Virginia Woolf) who are welcomed to take a seat at the triangular table. These women were chosen by Chicago based on three determining questions: (1) did the woman contribute to society? (2) did the woman attempt to better conditions for other women? and (3) did the women epitomize a significant aspect of an event of women’s history or could they be seen as a model for equality in the future? Not only does Chicago choose 39 women to provide a sumptuous table setting with a tapestry, plate, and utensils, an extra 999 women’s names are written on the floor in gold. A total of 1038 women are honored, further recognized by the historical entries that are included as part of the larger exhibition.79 As one walks around the table admiring the detailed embroidery and incredible porcelain designs, the dedicated place settings progress in time, 77  For more information, see Reine-Marie Paris, Camille: The Life of Camille Claudel, Rodin’s Muse and Mistress (New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1988). 78  Lucy Lippard, “Busywork: The Real thing,” in Textiles, Community and Controversy: The Knitting Map, edited by Jools Gilson and Nicola Moffat (London: Bloomsbury, 2019), 49. 79  This information is reproduced and detailed extensively in Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party: From Creation to Preservation (New York: Merrell, 2007).

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beginning with the Primordial Goddess and ending with Georgia O’Keeffe. As the viewer inches move from prehistoric times to the Reformation and the Women’s Revolution, the plates become increasingly three dimensional. All featuring vulvic imagery, the plates become increasingly fragile and visible, but work to reinforce the femaleness and femininity of the women represented at the table.80 There have been many criticisms and challenges to this piece, but the most shocking issue when the work debuted in the late 1970s and early 1980s was the direct and unmissable use of female genitalia. Hilton Kramer of The New York Times wrote one of the cruelest reviews, stating: The fact is, “The Dinner Party” reiterates its theme … with an insistence and vulgarity more appropriate, perhaps, to an advertising campaign than a work of art. Yet what ad campaign, even in these “liberated” times, would dare to vulgarize and exploit the imagery of female sexuality on this scale and with such abysmal taste? For its principal image, “The Dinner Party” remains fixated on the external genital organs of the female body … [It] is very bad art, it is failed art, it is art so mired in the pieties of a political cause that it quite fails to acquire any independent artistic life of its own. To this male observer, it looks like an outrageous libel on the female imagination.81

So disturbed by The Dinner Party and its “vulgarity,” Kramer can barely tolerate the piece as an artistic endeavor, nor can he even bring himself to write the words “vagina” of “vulva.” And yet, that is one of the key ideas of the work, encouraging men, but especially women, to be able to see their own bodies reflected in the art. Prominent art historian Amelia Jones would go on to argue, “The Dinner Party can enable us to take seriously our own feminist art history, as much as we may not like its fledgling assumptions … [T]his piece has become a central—if often 80  Notably, there is one exception to this, and that is the Sojourner Truth plate, the only African American represented with a plate setting has an Egyptian-inspired plate decorated with mask-like faces. Alice Walker criticizes, “All the other plates are creatively imagined vaginas … The Sojourner Truth plate is the only one in the collection that shows-instead of a vagina—a face. In fact, three faces. … It occurred to me that perhaps white women feminists, no less than white women generally, cannot imagine that Black women have vaginas.” Qtd in Jasmine Weber, “Judy Chicago Responds to Criticisms About the ‘Dinner Party,’” Hyperallergic, August 13, 2018. 81  Hilton Kramer, “Art: Judy Chicago’s ‘Dinner Party’ Comes to Brooklyn Museum,” New York Times, October 17, 1980.

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invisible—monument with the history of contemporary art.”82 The vulgarity and challenging aspect to its pieces are for many problematic, but, at the time, they were also the great success of the artwork. In their physicality and materiality, they also recall many of the craftivism projects, perhaps with just a more accepted art-based skillset, yet the tone and the graphicness of The Dinner Party can be easily read as an influence of the craftivist. Creating visibility for female genitalia in art was an important part of the feminist discourse in art in the 1970s. As women artists were beginning to receive more recognition for their artwork and more opportunities as artists, they used their own narratives, stories, and bodies in their artwork.83 But more than that, they sought to add the female experience to an art world that had been so male-dominated that women’s point of view was largely absent. Joanna Freuh makes clear: In the 1970s, feminist artists, wanting to reclaim the female body for women, asserted women’s ability to create their own aesthetic pleasures by representing women’s bodies and women’s bodily experiences. The resulting positive images of the female body are a critical part of feminist aesthetics of the 1970s. They also show that women could become makers of meaning, as opposed to being bearers of men’s meaning.84

She continues to argue that younger artists have since challenged these ideals but argues that these works’ authenticity necessarily informed their work. In line with not only the directness of the 1970s but also the freedom and expressiveness of the period, artists like Judy Chicago capitalized on illuminating women’s experiences and bodies. In her clear depictions of vulvas in The Dinner Party and beyond, she boldly put female bodies on display. Shocking but necessary, this artwork helped fill a void in the art world. 82  Amelia Jones, “The ‘Sexual Politics’ of The Dinner Party: A Critical Context,” in Sexual Politics: Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party in Feminist Art History,” edited by Amelia Jones (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1996), 87. 83  Indeed, as Lucy Lippard has pointed out, at this time feminist artists were on the forefront of exploring and incorporating their lives into their artwork. Lucy R.  Lippard, “Sweeping Exchanges: The Contribution of Feminism to the Art of the 1970s,” Art Journal 40, nos. 1–2, (Autumn–Winter 1980): 362. See also Lucy R.  Lippard, “The Pains and Pleasures of Rebirth: European and American Women’s Body Art,” Art in America 64, no. 3 (May–June 1976): 122. 84  Joanna Frueh, “The Body Through Women’s Eyes,” in The Power of Feminist Art, edited by Norma Broude and Mary D. Garrad (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1994), 190.

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Other feminist artists helped bring female genitalia out into the public sphere, even prior to Chicago. Tee Corrine explored the female body straightforwardly in her Cunt Coloring Book of 1975. As she said: In 1973 I set out to do drawings of women’s genitals for use in sex education groups. I wanted the drawings to be lovely and informative, to give pleasure and affirmation. I organized the drawings into a coloring book because a major way we learn to understand the world, as children, is by coloring. As adults many of us still need to learn about our external sexual anatomy.85

Filled with intricate line work, the coloring book showcases a variety of explicit female genitalia of different shapes and in different views. Ultimately, Corrine was right—women needed to better see and understand their bodies, and they were not often afforded that opportunity in the masculine world of healthcare at the time. Roughly around the same time as Corrine was creating her coloring book, the Boston Women’s Health Collective was formed. Developing out of a simple workshop and feminist conversation where 12 women discussed their bodies and experiences with doctors, they went on to publish a pamphlet called Women and their Bodies in 1971. This early work would evolve into Our Bodies, Ourselves, which radically changed the idea of women’s health, providing a necessary, helpful manual for women’s bodies.86 The intricacies of the female body itself became an important subject for learning, discussing, and representation. While Corrine and the Boston Women’s Health Collective helped women explore and learn about themselves, other artists took to explore the physicality of female genitalia, going so far to explore their own bodies. In her powerful sculptures which began in the early 1960s, Hannah Wilke used ceramics first, then plastic and a variety of different sculptural materials, and finally, most memorably, chewing gum to create a variety of models of female genitalia. Like Chicago or even Corrine’s coloring books, Wilke is playing with her use of materials. Sometimes, these are often materials that fit into the crafter’s closet or cupboard today. An early appearance of this form was in Wilke’s

 Tee Corinne, Cunt Coloring Book (San Francisco, CA: Last Gasp, 1988), foreword.  For a fuller history and exploration of the book and the organization itself, see Kathy Davis, The Making of Our Bodies, Ourselves: How Feminism Travels Across Borders (Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press, 2007). 85 86

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Needed Erase-Her series (1974), where she used gray erasers and then shaped, or kneaded, them into vulvic forms. Saundra Goldman elaborates, By folding and pressing it into vaginas, Wilke meant to rub out unwanted marks in order to make her own marks, specifically female marks. They are a refusal to be erased. After her initial “Needed Erase-Her” series, Wilke applied the vulvic eraser forms to nostalgic postcards, making marks on the landscape and often covering patriarchal or phallic monuments with symbols of a female presence.87

Wilke was particularly interested in documenting herself, her body, and her presence. She wanted to create works that lasted and that people would remember. From the tiny eraser vulvas, she would move to chewing gum, creating a series of works called S.O.S.—Starification Object Series (1974–1982). Perhaps her most iconic work, Wilke designed painstakingly beautiful vulvas with different color chewing gum. She then took a series of pictures of herself, donning model poses with the gum vulvas stuck all over her body (mainly her face, breasts, arms, and torsos). Wilke was undeniably beautiful, which certainly was noticed as she was often referred to and treated as a sexual object. However, her work has been reevaluated in the past 20 years by art historians like Amelia Jones and Anna C.  Chave, who have instead posited that she in fact was both the subject and the object at the same time, and writers missed the opportunity to understand how she was, in fact, critiquing the very system that was interested in objectifying her.88 Chave has argued: While Wilke referred to her use of gum as a signal of the disposability often associated with women, her gummy labia were not, in fact negligible wads, but… colorful, exquisite little sculptures meant for sale. By marking virtual polymorphously perverse entryways all over Wilke’s body, moreover, they represented a super-added orgasmic potential unique to women—represented women’s jouissance—and so further fulfilled her stated aim, to revalue the denigrated cunt.89 87  Saundra Goldman, “Gesture and the Regeneration of the Universe,” in Hannah Wilke: A Retrospective (Copenhagen: Nikolaj, Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, 1998), 16. 88  Anna C.  Chave, “‘I Object’ Hannah Wilke’s Feminism,” Art in America 97, no. 3 (March 2009): 104–8, 159; and Amelia Jones, Body Art: Performing the Body (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998), 151–196. 89  “‘I Object’ Hannah Wilke’s Feminism,” 108.

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Her use of gum can also be seen as “scarring” her body, in a way that recalls scarification processes in Africa, which can be used to enhanced beauty there in contradiction to the United States or the larger Western world, where scars can be seen as defiling beauty. She vibrantly rejects easy beauty and wants her viewers to question their own notions of what beauty is and is not. Wilke intentionally wanted to reclaim her body and her agency with S.O.S., and succeeded by combining her nudity with vulvic representations. In her early work, when she was working with clay and more straightforward materials, she noted, “Nobody noticed them. If you do little things and you’re a woman, you’re doomed to craft-world obscurity.”90 By working to combine these little vulvas with her body through a combination of object and photographs, and later performances, Wilke was able to refute viewers’ easy objectification of her. Around the same time that Wilke was exploring representative vulva forms, Shigeko Kubota had just moved to the United States from Japan to have more freedom in the development of her artwork with George Maciunas and the rest of the Fluxus artists. Known for relying on instructions and the ideas of the projects, Fluxus was often an extremely conceptual practice, and Kubota’s work certainly aligned with this mentality. On July 4th, 1965, Kubota performed Vagina Painting. While she would become more known for her video work, this performance enmeshed her in an early discourse surrounding women’s bodily engagement with materiality. She assumed a crouching position directly over a sheet of paper on the floor. With a brush affixed to the crotch of her underwear, she moved slowly across the paper surface, painting abstract lines in blood red paint.91 The piece is often seen as a response to Jackson Pollock’s drip paintings of the late 1940s or Yves Klein’s Anthropometries of the 1950s, where he dragged women’s bodies across a canvas, but also as a commentary on women’s bodies and the process of menstruation.92 This idea carries over

90  Qtd. in Judith E.  Stein and Ann-Sargent Wooster, “Making Their Mark,” in Making Their Mark: Women Artists Move into the Mainstream, 1970–1985, edited by Randy Rosen and Catherine C. Brawer (New York: Abbeville Press, 1989), 135. 91   Oral History Interview with Shigeko Kubota, conducted by Miwako Tezuka, October 11, 2009, at Kubota’s residence in New  York City. https://post.at.moma.org/ content_items/344-interview-with-shigeko-kubota. 92  Alex Greenberger, “Shigeko Kubota, a Fluxus Artist and a Pioneer of Video Art, Dies at 77,” ARTnews, July 28, 2015.

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into a video piece made in 1974 called Video Birthday Party for John Cage. In that, she proclaims: Man thinks, “I think, therefore I am.” I, a woman, feel, “I bleed, therefore I am.” Recently I bleed in half-inch… 3M or SONY… ten thousand feet long every month…. Video is Vengeance of Vagina. Video is Victory of Vagina.93

While Vagina Painting was her only performance, in exploring female genitalia in her career, she would continue to speak for her own distinct female experience, one that she would not directly find in Fluxus art and would only begin to see very infrequently until the late 1970s. It was in this time, in 1975, that Carolee Schneemann used her vagina as an integral part of her performance piece Interior Scroll.94 After carefully painting and preparing her body, she proceeded to slowly pull out and read a scroll from her vagina. For her, this action is pivotal, as she unfurled the scroll she read a feminist text from it. The text challenged her position as an artist, specifically as a female artist. Her reading centered on a conversation she was having with a male filmmaker, someone who would be and should be her equal. But this man could not comprehend their unequal position in the art world: “he said we can be friends / equally tho we are not artists / equally I said we cannot / be friends equally and we / cannot be artists equally.”95 About this project, she has said, “I thought of the vagina in many ways—physically, conceptually, as a sculptural form, an architectural referent, the source of sacred knowledge, ecstasy, birth passage, transformation.”96 Schneemann speaks from her vagina of the inequity she has faced, while commanding the attention of everyone around. In this work, she could force a crowd to listen to her and make her narrative, her body, and her vagina the center of the artwork. 93  Qtd. in Connie Butler, ed. WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution (Los Angeles: The Museum of Contemporary Art and Cambridge: MIT Press, 2007), 256. 94  This piece was performed twice, once in Easthampton, Long Island, New  York on August 29, 1975, and once at the Telluride Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado on September 4, 1977. See Bruce R. McPherson, ed., More than Meat Joy: Carolee Schneemann: Performance Works and Selected Writings (Kingston, NY: Documentext/McPherson and Company, 1997), 234. 95  The entire text is quoted in More than Meat Joy, 238–239. 96  More than Meat Joy, 234.

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While these artists are certainly not the only ones exploring female genitalia in such explicit ways, I wanted to draw attention to some of the most famous artists in an attempt to connect the dots between these artists, performers, designers, and protesters.97 The pussyhat owes much to these earlier artists who were willing to explore these ideas in such an explicit manner. Much of the backlash against Judy Chicago and the feminist artists of the 1970s was critical of their interest in so completely and directly representing the female body, deriding their work as essentializing and too obvious to contribute to advancing the role of women in the art world.98 Yet, I would argue that these artists’ depictions and literalness was in fact completely necessary, because these artists were willing to depict the parts of the female body that were for so long hidden, covered, abused, and sexualized by men. The women’s point of view was missing, and making visible their bodies served as a critical component to advancing women’s position in society. The pussyhats, in name and shape, make visible female genitalia.

Back to the Present To return to 2016, with the election of Donald Trump, it seemed as if the stars aligned for a resurgence of the explicit female body via the pussyhat. The future president of the United States had repeatedly and painfully derided and objectified the female body, and over 25 women have accused him of varying degrees of sexual assault.99 Trump and the Republican party have moved farther right, increasingly prioritizing their control over women and their reproductive systems in their party platform, and enacted 97  For a full exploration of the vagina in art, I urge you to seek out The Visible Vagina. Anna C. Chave, The Visible Vagina (New York: Francis M. Naumann Fine Art and David Nolan Gallery, 2010); and Amelia Jones, ed., Sexual Politics: Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party in Feminist Art History,” (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1996). 98  Jo Livingstone, “Who’s Afraid of Judy Chicago?,” The New Republic, September 17, 2021; and Noreen McGonigle, “Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party: Contextualizing the Critical Reaction,” Art Journal 1, no. 5 (2019). https://digitalcommons.providence.edu/cgi/ viewcontent.cgi?article=1102&context=art_journal. 99  Among many other sources, see Eliza Relman, “The 25 Women Who Have Accused Trump of Sexual Misconduct,” Business Insider, May 1, 2020; Clark Mindock, “Trump’s Sexual Assault Allegations: The Full List of Women Who Have Accused the President,” Independent, December 2, 2019; and Lisa Desjardins, “All the Assault Allegations Against Donald Trump, Recapped,” PBS News Hour, June 21, 2019, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/assault-allegations-donald-trump-recapped.

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these goals with conservative judge appointments, attempts at new abortion restrictions, and aggressive strategies to overturn the Affordable Care Act.100 A viable, over-qualified female candidate had won the popular vote, but not the electoral college, and along the way she (and it seems the entire female gender) suffered years of egregious sexism.101 Trump, however, had his own version of the pussyhat: the bright red Make America Great Again baseball cap. Choosing the universally adored ballcap was a logical choice for Trump and his associates. Robin Givan notes its ordinariness, “The all-American baseball cap is one of the most banal mass appeal articles of clothing in existence. It’s unisex and ageless, worn by people of all ethnicities, sexual orientations, and races. It’s a one-­ size fits all. It doesn’t matter if you’re short or tall, skinny or fat. My baseball cap will fit you. Yours will fit me. Baseball caps unite us.”102 Further, the choice of the color red, in its association with the Republican party, was also a natural choice. During the 2016 campaign, prior to the rise of the pussyhat, Trump had popularized the phrase “Make America Great Again,” claiming that the Democrats before 2016 had ruined the country. He wanted to return to the white-picket fence era of the nuclear family, one that was free from feminism, civil rights, trans-rights, and more. As the campaign continued, the phrase was abbreviated to just its initials: MAGA. As Givhan notes, “it became a governing philosophy of isolationism, nationalism, trade wars, and threats of closed borders. Soon enough, just the sight of a red MAGA hat was a rallying cry, fighting words, red meat patriotism.”103 For his supporters, the site of the red cap meant spotting someone with similar extreme conservative beliefs, while to his opponents it was a sign of hatred and pain.

100  For more information on these actions, see Peter Beinart, “The New Authoritarians Are Waging War on Women,” The Atlantic, January/February 2019; Michael Scherer and Josh Dawsey, “As Trump Slumps, His Campaign Fixes on a Target: Women,” Washington Post, June 22, 2020; Ritu Prasad, “How Trump Talks about Women—and Does It Matter?,” BBC News, November 29, 2019; and Danielle Zoellner, “Five Major Things Trump Has Done to Roll Back Women’s Rights,” Independent, March 6, 2020. 101  Jonathan Knuckey, “‘I Just Don’t Think She Has a Presidential Look’: Sexism and Vote Choice in the 2016 Election,” Social Science Quarterly 100, no. 1 (November 2018), 342–358; and Valerie Rothwell, Gordon Hodson, and Elvira Prusaczyk, “Why Pillory Hillary? Testing the Endemic Sexism Hypothesis Regarding the 2016 U.S.  Election,” Personality and Individual Differences 138 (February 2019): 106–108. 102  Robin Givhan, “The MAGA Hat vs. Public School,” in Power Mode, ed. McClendon. 103  Givhan, “The MAGA Hat vs. Public School.”

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The contrast between Trump’s red hat and the Women’s March embrace of the pussyhat is extreme. Both are championing political ideals; however, those ideals exist on opposite ends of a spectrum. Trump’s MAGA hat has come to embody White privilege and White supremacy, while the pussyhat stands for the opposite. Embraced by many women and men, people of color, disabled people, activists, and those fighting for a more inclusive worldview, the pussyhats were not meant to divide the country like the red hats have so often done.104 Instead, and as one can see just looking at pictures of the March, the pussyhat unified the crowd visually and ideologically. Attempts were made to give anyone who wanted or needed a pussyhat, whereas MAGA hats were always available for purchase online and at various rallies. The hats were not handmade and were accompanied by tags that stated they were made in China. It is useful to discuss these two different hats together to see how much their political agendas differ, but also how thoughtful the pussyhats are in comparison. From where and how they are made, to the diversity of the people both behind the scenes and the ones wearing them at the protest, the pussyhats symbolize the generation that wants change and betterment for the world and refutes regressive politics. Additionally, the pussyhats, in particular, fuse the feminist artists’ reclaiming female genitalia with political ideas. In inserting the actual, physical female form into the political discussion and protests via the pussyhats, people are refusing to allow their rights to be stripped easily while asserting their political voice. While this can be seen as possibly excluding transwomen and others, hopefully, it can at least also be read as critical to emphasize reproductive rights. Seven million people protested the election of Trump on January 7, 2017, not just in the United States but around the world. And many of those people wore

104  I am attempting here to view the pussyhat as inclusive, even while some disagree as discussed earlier. Here, I see the pussyhat representing the opposite of Trump and someone who believes supported progressive politics. I still recognize the problematic perception that many have seen with the essentialism of the pussyhats as well as the problem with the name, but hope that instead of seeing the hat as polarizing within the community I want to encourage a reading where the pussyhats could be seen as thinking about the idea of woman as broadly inclusive and meant to include transwomen, non-binary folks, and anyone who identified as a woman. Simultaneously, I do not want to deny any person of their identity, but I hope a broader conception of the pussyhat can be considered.

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pussyhats.105 Significantly, protests become known by their visuality; wearing certain type of clothing or bearing signs with slogans is one way to create a memorable experience of the event. As Basil Rogger articulated, protests are preeminently aesthetic.106 In 2017, the pussyhat became the protest accessory, while also standing in for defiance of a sexist and racist new president.

 Dáil and Wells, eds., We Rise to Resist, 6.  Rogger, Voegeli, and Widmer, eds., Protest, 39.

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CHAPTER 6

Epilogue: The Future is Female … and Intersectional, Gender-Fluid, and Unexpected

On January 20, 2021, Kamala Harris was inaugurated as vice president of the United States wearing a stunning purple dress ensemble designed by Black designers Christopher John Rogers and Sergio Hudson, accessorized with brilliant pearl earrings and matching pearl necklace (the accessories can be seen in Fig. 6.1). It was an incredible historic moment— she was the first woman vice president and the first vice president of color (Black and South Asian American). The COVID virus prevented crowd attendance, but her fans still celebrated by viewing her inauguration on television with watch parties and fancy outfits. This was years in the making, and after an especially hard-fought win, women and women of color especially wanted to be able to commemorate the event. And celebrate they did. On that day, women everywhere took to the streets, their work offices, their dinners, or whatever plans they had wearing “Chucks” (Converse-brand sneakers) and pearls. What had initially been the idea of a few exploded on social media in the month before inauguration. Retired navy chief Hope Aloaye started the Facebook group “Wear Pearls on Jan 20 2021” as a way to honor Kamala Harris, but also to bring women (specifically Black women) together. The group’s membership spread like wildfire: within 3 days, there were 1000 followers, and within a week, it reached 30,000. By the time of inauguration, the group boasted around 500,000 members. Posts rolled in each day with women

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. Newman, Fashioning Politics and Protests, Palgrave Studies in Fashion and the Body, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16227-5_6

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Fig. 6.1  Gage Skidmore, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, June 1, 2019, California Democratic Party State Convention at the George R. Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California (as of 2021, vice president)

planning their outfits.1 More memorable were the stories the women told—ranging from narratives about the pearls in their family to what Harris’ win meant to them, recalling in many ways Pantsuit Nation. As COVID was ravaging the world and many were either trapped inside their homes or working at-risk jobs, reading these kinds of stories could brighten a day. Sandra Broome-Edwards was one of the women in the Facebook group who used the posts to help her stave off a mini-­depression, spending a few hours on the site every day. She said, “Finding this group has given me a new focus. Looking at all these photos has taken my mind off what is occurring in the world.” She planned to wear her grandmother’s pearls, who was, as she described, “a very avid poll worker. She would 1  Alyson Krueger, “Kamala Harris Has Always Worn Pearls. Now, in Sisterhood, So Will They,” New York Times, January 19, 2021. https://nyti.ms/35RHWAL.

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be so proud of Kamala Harris.”2 Even in a red state like Oklahoma, my mother donned her pearls for the big event and wore them to work. When she spied another woman wearing pearls and said how much she liked her necklace, the two smiled at each other, silently acknowledging their excitement for the incoming vice president. Stories like this abound concerning the inauguration in 2020: hopeful narratives united with a break in historical precedents. The Chuck Taylors worn by so many that day were Harris’ favorite shoes, who said they were comfortable and her “casual go-tos.”3 Her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, has even said, “When I met her, it was Chucks and jeans.”4 The pearls, however, are both more important to Harris and more symbolic. In her autobiography, Harris writes, “I also cherish the memory of one of my mother’s mentors, Howard, a brilliant endocrinologist who had taken her under his wing. When I was a girl, he gave me a pearl necklace that he’d bought back from a trip to Japan. (Pearls have been one of my favorite forms of jewelry ever since!)”5 She’s worn them at campaign events, presidential debates, important Congressional moments, and on graduation days. On top of that, pearls are often linked to her sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha, which she joined at Howard University, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). Her sorority sister Jill Lewis explained, “Pearls symbolize our founders, and pearls symbolize the elegance of women. But, also, pearls are forged in oysters, and oysters come from irritation. They come from challenge, so they represent resilience, and that’s who we are as Alpha Kappa Alpha women.”6 Expanding that out, the pearls can represent the challenges that women and, specifically, women of color have faced and survived. Harris’ election to vice president was a triumph for many women everywhere.

 Krueger, “Kamala Harris Has Always Worn Pearls.”  Qtd. in Alisha Ebrahimji and Scottie Andrew, “Women and Girls are Wearing Pearls and Converse to Honor Vice President Harris,” CNN Style, January 21, 2021. https://www. cnn.com/style/article/pearls-converse-kamala-harris-inauguration-trnd/index.html. 4  Qtd. in Christopher Rosa, “Why Kamala Harris’s Pearls and Chucks Are Being Worn by Supporters on Inauguration Day,” Glamour.com, January 2021. https://www.glamour. com/story/kamala-harris-pearls-chucks. 5  Kamala Harris, The Truths We Hold: An American Journey (New York: Penguin, 2019), 9. 6  Chanel Vargas, “Thousands of Kamala Harris Supporters Will Rock ‘Chucks and Pearls’ on Inauguration Day,” Popsugar, January 19, 2021. https://www.popsugar.com/fashion/ kamala-harris-inauguration-chucks-pearls-trend-48116794. 2 3

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While the usual parties surrounding Inauguration Day could not be held in 2020, the Facebook group and various social media outlets allowed for a shared experience. There was joy in the thousands of pictures that were posted to the “Wear Pearls on Jan 20 2021,” which went up so quickly that even when trying to refresh the page it was impossible to keep up and you would still miss new pictures. What was remarkable, though, was how the community continued to thrive long after election day. Almost two years later, dozens of people still post each day, sharing their pictures of pearls that they are wearing for special events and celebrations. To be clear, they do not have to be the fanciest and most expensive pearls or embellished with diamonds, they can be faithful reproductions or even Mardi Gras beads. Any day is a day for pearls now, and they can be posted anytime to the group page. More than the individual postings, though, are the likes and comments. The Facebook group has transitioned into a place filled with happy posts about birthdays and various accomplishments, all punctuated with women of all ages wearing pearls. Even as political approval ratings may dip and we have moved farther away from that Inauguration Day, the desire to be seen and connect with others about a pretty and fun piece of jewelry persists. The site provides validation, hope, and positivity along with that sense of community connection that so many seek and need in these increasingly troubled times. These anecdotes about the Harris campaign show that fashion accessories, when paired with far-reaching social media groups, and online communities, can be helpful and powerful spaces. Fashion itself can help encourage community as well, as like-minded shoppers often seek out each other—with the same social and class backgrounds, as well as similar styles and tastes. Fred Davis argues that identity is unstable, as it is “prodded by social and technological change, the biological decrements of the life cycle, visions of utopia, and occasions of disaster, our identities are forever in ferment … It is upon these collectively experienced, sometimes historically recurrent, identity instabilities that fashion feeds.”7 Kamala Harris’ election campaign and eventual inauguration as vice president represent the end of four years of political upheaval, dominated by angry White supremacists with periods of racism, police violence, and painful negativity. This can be seen as one of those moments that Davis mentions, a time when identities might feel like they are under attack or changing, 7  Fred Davis, Fashion, Culture, and Identity (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), 17.

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and for many, fashion could be a welcome respite from all the chaos. Women and particularly, women of color, after Harris was elected, connected via social media and local meet-ups, buying t-shirts, and celebrating finding allies to bond with during this tumultuous time. In this case, fashion led to building community experiences. But just as fashion can inspire fellowship, fashion is so often wrapped up in a person’s individuality, simply due to the fact that each day people chose what clothes to wear. How a person dresses can help people proclaim or allude to their gender, their class, or their sexuality. Raphaëlle Orsini elaborates: A t-shirt says much about our relationship with the world and with fashion. It can suggest a quiet introverted nature or a loud, outgoing one. It displays our musical, social, political, and stylistic tastes. In short, the humble t-shirt very much expresses a part of our identity. And if everybody has at least one t-shirt, it’s because the T-shirt is a monument, a kind of holy object that has experienced all eras and styles, without flinching.8

A t-shirt, in its great simplicity, seems one of the most obvious types of clothing to present direct information to whoever will surround the wearer. From simple text to logos to beautiful designs, each shirt can become iconic and present ideas to the public. The history of t-shirts is straightforward, much as the garment itself is. In the 1800s in Annapolis, Maryland, workers unloaded tea boxes from boats in the harbor wearing a short-sleeved shirt that resembled a T, hence t-shirt. Naval soldiers wore the shirts in the 1880s because they dried so quickly, which continued with the U.S. Navy approving the t-shirts as part of the uniform in 1913. The mass production of the Industrial Revolution capitalized on the straightforwardness of the clothing item and helped increase its popularity.9 By the 1940s, t-shirts were beginning to appear in political campaigns but were still not quite accepted by the masses. Until the 1950s, t-shirts were mostly regarded as undergarments in their ability to contain sweat and protect the layer of clothing above it. The popularity of the t-shirt would not be solidified until its embrace by movie stars such as Marlon Brando and James Dean. In the film A 8  Raphaëlle Orsini, 1000 T-Shirts That Make a Statement (New York: Rizzoli Universe Promotional Books, 2019), 12–13. 9  Lou Lv and Zhang Huiguang, The T-Shirt: A Collection of 500 Designs (Beverly, MA: Rockport Publishers, 2006), 10.

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Streetcar Named Desire (1951), the manly Brando was shown wearing a white t-shirt which was a moment that Orsini called “a symbol of unbridled virility and a disquieting charm.”10 Lydia Lunch elaborated on Brando’s display of power: Blame it on Brando. The original slob. His seething portrayal of Stanley Kowalski … oozed sex and violence. Brando’s arrogant swagger, while sporting little more than sweat stained t-shirt tightly hugging his torso, defined a brute machismo that was both slightly irresistible and slightly repulsive. It transformed the average street-corner working-class zero into a potentially tough-as-fuck superstar sex symbol.11

The desirable sexiness was further solidified by Dean’s performance of a tortured young man in Rebel Without a Cause (1955). The t-shirt worn under his red jacket became a symbol of rebellion.12 With its ability to be a blank slate, the t-shirt can conform to anti-war sensibilities as well as hippie themes, civil rights movements, and even the sexual revolution. As the Baby Boomers came of age, they welcomed a fashion revolution by wearing jeans and t-shirts to challenge authority. Screen-printing advanced in the 1960s and with that came the popularity of t-shirts for bands and other brands. After all, t-shirts can be seen as a form of advertising by supporting and wearing a band’s album cover or a favorite type of soft drink. T-shirts offered a way of expressing fandom, spirit, honor, and power in numbers. Using the t-shirt, we can begin to explore the ways that three organizations worked to combine fashion, feminism, art, and activism. In the 2020s, feminist political needs sound like they are emerging out of the 1960s—the challenges put to reproductive rights, the increasing need for intersectionality through diversity and inclusion, and the restrictions that are being placed on voting rights are strikingly familiar. However, unlike at that time, today you can buy a fashionable t-shirt that includes a charitable donation while connecting to other women with similar political agendas and all the while performing a new kind of activism that harnesses capitalistic needs and desires for a greater good.

 Orsini, 1000 T-Shirts, 18.  Lydia Lunch, “Introduction,” in Cesar Padilla, Ripped: T-Shirts from the Underground (New York: Rizzoli Universe Promotional Books, 2012), 6. 12  Lv and Huiguang, The T-Shirt, 27. 10 11

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Fig. 6.2  Liza Cowan, Photo of Alix Dobkin wearing “The Future is Female” T-shirt. (Photo © Liza Cowan 1975)

Yet a charitable t-shirt is not entirely new, albeit much more popular than it was in the 1970s. Perhaps one of the most notable feminists designs and one of the first t-shirts that would shape this type of outreach is the one proudly proclaiming, “The Future is Female” (Fig.  6.2). In 1974, Labryis Books, the first women’s bookstore in New York City, created a simple shirt with their slogan emblazoned on it, wherein the t-shirt would both help spread their name and make proceeds for the store. Within feminist circles, a now-well-known picture circulates regularly, showing Alix Dobkin wearing the shirt; her photographer-girlfriend Liza Cowan captured the moment in 1975. Less known is that on the back of the shirt, the phrase was repeated, but next to Labyris’ logo. This photo was

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originally for a slide show that Cowan was working on, which evolved into a feature in a lesbian magazine called “What the Well Dressed Dyke Will Wear?” that she published called COWRIE Lesbian Feminist.13 In this series, Cowan played on archetypes of lesbians, depicting various women who fit into conventional ideas about lesbians, including pictures of pants-­ wearing, stiff postured, and short-haired women. Cowan has since recognized the importance of t-shirts. Besides being great ways to raise money, commemorate an event, or celebrate an event, she explains, “T-shirts also acted as a way to signal other women. Wearing a T-shirt that said ‘Amazon Expedition,’ for example, was a cue to let other women know that you’d been at that wonderful event, and the word ‘Amazon’ let other women know that you were probably a Lesbian without actually broadcasting a message to everyone.”14 “The Future is Female” phase and t-shirt are evident of an important moment in the 1970s in that they not only created a visibility for lesbians and women but also could benefit the influential bookstore. While the image of Dobkin was never mainstream, the slogan has bounced around in popular conversation. In 2015, Rachel Berks posted the Dobkin photograph on her Instagram account “herstory,” which shared pictures of contemporary and modern lesbian history. Berks decided to print a very limited run of the shirts, with permission from Cowan. Those 24 t-shirts sold out in two days, so she made another run of the shirts, but decided to donate 25% of the proceeds to Planned Parenthood.15 She would later expand the design to tank tops and sweatshirts. As to be expected, knock-offs now proliferate the market, but the historical importance and charity benefit has driven feminists and celebrities to seek out Berks’ contemporary incarnation of this historical document. When asked what she thought the phrase “The Future is Female” means, Cowan replied:

13  The history of this t-shirt is discussed thoroughly in ““What The Well Dressed Dyke Will Wear” at The Museum Of Modern Art,” Dyke Quarterly, December 9, 2017. https://www. dykeaquarterly.com/people-liza-cowan/. 14  “What The Well Dressed Dyke Will Wear.” 15  Marisa Meltzer, “A Feminist T-Shirt Resurfaces From the ’70s,” New York Times, November 18, 2015. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/19/ fashion/a-feminist-t-shirt-resurfaces-from-the-70s.html.

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The beauty of the phrase is that there is no precise meaning. We are asked to absorb two powerful archetypes, and to imagine them in relationship to each other. It is a dynamic phrase, a lively phrase …. ‘The Future is Female’ reminds me that all life formed in a matrix. Matrix means womb, matrice, mother. Life springs from the female. Whether the future starts right this second, or in a million years, it emerges from the female body …. I have also said that the slogan is a call to arms. While I think this is true, it is also true that it is an invocation. If we are to have a future, it must be female, because the rule of men.16

This slogan fits a multiplicity of needs: it is hopeful, positive, specific, defiant, open-ended, and more. The resurgence of this shirt in 2015 parallels an important resurgence of feminist beliefs as positive cultural figures like Beyoncé reclaimed the term feminism. A burgeoning market of stores has popped up selling clothing geared toward women and men who want to challenge the state of American politics. Berks would lead the way here, as the popularity of the shirt led to the creation of her store Otherwild, a shop for women, lesbians, transwomen, and non-binary people. Another outlet, The Outrage, was instrumental in helping the Women’s Marches and developing community activism while selling fashion. Otherwild makes clothing that is both explicit and direct in its messaging, and like The Outrage, gives a significant portion of their profits back to the community and to specific charities. Phenomenal Women, created by Meena Harris, echoes the work of Otherwild and the Outrage, but often specifically focuses on people of color and championing underdogs. This not an easy model to sustain, however, as MySister, a store and web-based clothing company closed in 2018, despite creating a powerful business devoted to helping prevent sex trafficking by contributing to charities and giving jobs to survivors. These three current organizations are more than just fashion companies, and instead show that the power of fashion, identity, and art can inform activism and, in fact, make shoppers more conscious consumers who can support a progressive political agenda.

16  Charlotte Gush, “Casting Spells for a Female Future with 70s Lesbian Separatist Liza Cowan,” Dyke Quarterly, December 8, 2015, https://www.dykeaquarterly.com/2015/12/ in-recent-weeks-perhaps-thevery-first-truly-insta-famous-feminist-fashion-item-hasemerged-a-sweatshirt-worn-by-annie-c.html. Originally published in iD Magazine, December 8, 2015.

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Otherwild Founded in 2012 by Rachel Berks, Otherwild features up and coming designers while challenging typical retail practices. For one, the store is queer- and woman-owned, “centering ethics at the core of our business.”17 Dependent upon a vast community of artists and designers, Berks stocks their shelves with unique goods. Beyond these items, they also sell home cleaning and personal care items in bulk, prioritizing low and no-waste reusables. Their mission is clear: We are dedicated to producing goods made within an ethically-sourced supply chain, researching continually and adjusting as we learn. We aim to manifest a coutercultural relationship to exploitative, extractive and excessive consumer capitalist culture, dedicated to carrying products made with care, concern and awareness of their impact and design.18

The company exists online and at a physical location in Los Angeles that also has a design studio and event space (previously, they had a physical store in New York as well). One of Otherwild’s strengths is their commitment to work with artists and designers, prioritizing the sale of homemade goods. Otherwild borders on a new age sensibility mixed with feminism and freedom of sexuality. Berks has commented on the store, saying, “There were a couple things we were doing different [sic] and I think it was about being unapologetically queer and unapologetically feminist. There’s always been this connection to the art world. That’s how Otherwild has managed to keep it fresh.”19 While the store had been around for a few years, it soared in popularity when Berks recreated “The Future is Feminist” t-shirt. The charitable aspect helps make the t-shirt something more than a t-shirt, as she explains, “It’s about something that’s actually empowering. Maybe it’s empowering you to wear this statement across your chest but it’s also tangibly helping other people by supporting Planned Parenthood. It’s not 17  “About Otherwild,” Otherwild, 2022. https://otherwild.com/pages/about-other wild. 18  “About Otherwild.” 19  Rachel Lubitz, “Meet the Woman Who Started a Feminist Emporium with Those ‘The Future Is Female’ T-Shirts,” MIC, July 5, 2016. https://www.mic.com/articles/147087/ meet-the-woman-who-started-a-feminist-emporium-with-those-the-future-is-femalet-shirts.

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just about wearing something that says ‘feminist’ on it. It’s like, how does it actually function in the world?”20 Importantly, it was not just cisgender women who bought and wore the shirt, but transmen and transwomen, children, and cisgender men. The shirt is not about prioritizing one sex or another; rather, it is about challenging the power structure as it stands today, and for many, that idea is considerably appealing. But author Koa Beck challenges these ideas, positing that the shirt reinforces the gender binary, and while many people may say otherwise, when stripped of the original context the shirt can lose its connection to queerness. She explains, “But as ‘The future is female’ has been adapted into the mainstream, that recontextualizing hasn’t always carried through. And in feminist-branded conferences, in panel discussions, in female-centric work spaces, it’s often used to affirm a gender binary rather than challenging it.”21 Beck reads this as further problematic because people are profiting of the slogan, particularly focusing on cisgender women “who do not challenge the binary make a lot of money for companies, and for themselves, and are reaffirmed as pretty, sexy, influential, and having cultural value.”22 Here, she is referring to singer Rihanna and others who have used the slogan in magazines and other profit-based initiatives. Yet, Beck is not acknowledging how Berks has utilized the shirt, drawing on its historical relevance and donating some of the profits. Of course, the contextualization of the shirt can get lost when it is out in the world, yet it is for sale in a shop that focuses on people who are not heteronormative and/or are non-binary and/or are frustrated with any idea of “normal,” and additionally interested in a shop that specializes in supporting queer identity and gender fluidity. From the perspective of the t-shirt and Otherwild, the shirt is rooted in critiquing the patriarchy by upsetting its narrative and through what today can be seen as challenging the gender binary. Building upon the original promise of the shirt, Otherwild is acknowledging their priorities. For example, the Los Angeles location is not just a store. Berks wanted to create not only a safe space but also an active one at that. They have offered art classes and performances, and various gatherings for queer-identifying people, non-binary people, and people who identify as women. One thing that distinguishes Otherwild from the other  Lubitz, “Meet the Woman …”  Koa Beck, White Feminism: From the Suffragettes to Influencers and Who They Leave Behind (New York: Atria Books, 2021), 93. 22  Beck, White Feminism, 93. 20 21

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stores in our discussion is its focus on queerness. Here, you will find boob designs on necklaces, vases, and a myriad of other goods. Buttons with “dyke” and shirts with phrases like “gender is a drag” are popular. This is a place that makes clear it supports sexuality of all kinds and offers not just goods for sale that appeal to that audience but creates a place for queer men and women to feel safe and welcomed. For Berks, this is key to her ideas about the success of the store, “When you do something like this, you realize how many other people are out there searching for community like that. And so you think you have this one community, however large or small … As people start to hear about you, you realize a lot of people are looking for what you’re offering.”23 One of the significant offerings of Otherwild is their swimsuit apparel. Their Hirsuit is an androgynous swimsuit (Fig. 6.3), that is meant to fit a wide variety of types of bodies and gender expressions. As the description notes,

Fig. 6.3  Thomas Roeschlein, Hirsuit, 2019–2022. (Courtesy of Rachel Berks and Otherwild)  Lubitz, “Meet the Woman …”.

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Hirsuit fills the hole left by a limited and patriarchal notion of swimwear, made for people whose style choices fall outside of the fashion industry’s antiquated assumptions regarding bodies, gender and identity. Inspired by early twentieth century swim costumes, wrestling uniforms and modern dance unitards, Hirsuit is here to change the game.24

There are a few variations on the design, but the basic format is suit that covers the neck to the knees, essentially a biker short type bottom and then a full coverage top with a high neck and wide straps. Using recycled polyester and spandex, the suit can stretch and fit all types of bodies while emphasizing coverage. It exists in different colors, sizes, and even in a modest two-piece. In a 2019 op-ed, Berks notes that her partner, who identifies as androgyne, has struggled to find beachwear that they find appropriate, which inspired Berks to create her own design. For Berks, it was important to work to create something that was actually gender-neutral, as she explains: These days, even when the fashion industry stakes claims of androgyny or gender-queerness, brands often push shoppers to temporarily take on the qualities of a perceived opposite gender, like labelling items “boyfriend” tees or utilizing drag as a trend. But with Hirsuit, we’re creating products that are truly gender-free and do not cater to a heteropatriarchal gaze, which often causes people to act out prescribed performances of “sexiness” for an imagined cis-white male viewer.25

In designing these pieces for her store, Berks emphasizes that the store is committed to creating a space and products that support all people, particularly those who are often left out of mainstream fashion conversations. She confirms, “It is my hope that when anyone wears Hirsuit, they feel a little more themselves in a world that so often attempts to capitalize on their insecurities or marginalized identities.”26 These hopes are further championed through the Anotherwild Fund, a grant for Queer and Trans People of Color (QTPOC). These artists and designers are selected for their work in goods similar to what the store 24  “Hirsuit Swim Simple,” Otherwild, 2022. https://otherwild.com/collections/swimwear/products/hirsuit-swim-simple. 25  Rachel Berks, “Otherwild Owner Rachel Berks Explains Why We Need Better Clothing Options for Nonbinary and Gender Nonconforming People,” Teen Vogue, June 21, 2019. 26  Berks, “Otherwild Owner Rachel Berks …”.

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focuses on, “retail/store curation; herbalism; natural/ethical personal care products; candle-making, perfumery, incense; apparel & accessory design; textile design; ceramics; lo/zero waste goods; tarot and occult.”27 The funds for the grant are raised from products that Otherwild sells that focus on themes connected to the grant itself, like a t-shirt with the phrase “Queers Together” and a design utilizing the symbols for women and men and the colors of the LGTBQ Progress Pride Flag (a combination of the classic rainbow pride flag with a five-color chevron that refers to the transgender community and people of color). The goal is to fund annual grants for these artists and designers, like 2020–2021 winner Issac Diaz, a ceramics artist whose work is informed by his Salvadoran American heritage and Hyungi Park, a Korean American incense maker who leads various workshops at her space Baboshop. Grant recipients are awarded $1000, as well as the opportunity to collaborate and have events with Otherwild. In their attempt to create a store that attracts underappreciated customers and that also creates a safe space, Otherwild functions as much more than a store; rather, it is a supportive environment for anyone who identifies as a woman, as well as QTPOC.

The Outrage Since October 2016, The Outrage has created a political force, helping progressive causes of all kinds. Rebecca Lee Funk originally founded the company as an intersectional feminist apparel company intended to support presumptive presidential winner Hillary Clinton that would sell goods exclusively online. Having lived all over the world, working in economics and then blending that into e-commerce, Funk realized she wanted to branch off and make a difference selling feminist products with a purpose. Just 20 minutes after Donald Trump called Hillary Clinton a “nasty woman” during the October 19, 2016, presidential debates, the Outrage was selling shirts with the phrase on their website.28 While things did not go as planned when Trump defeated Clinton, the company saw their products sell swiftly, as shirts with phrases like “Resist” were incredibly popular.29 The Outrage cemented their success and recognizability when  “Anotherwild Fund,” Otherwild, 2022. https://otherwild.com/pages/anotherwild-fund.  Author in Zoom Conversation with Rebecca Lee Funk, November 19, 2021. 29  Natalie Delgadillo, “Activist Apparel Company The Outrage Experiences Third Burglary in Three Months,” WAMU 88.5, February 18, 2020. https://wamu.org/story/20/02/18/ activist-apparel-company-the-outrage-experiences-third-burglary-in-three-months/. 27

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they partnered with the Women’s March as the official merchandizer. Over just a few days, they sold over a $100,000 of products and raised thousands in donations for Planned Parenthood. This was just the beginning. The company has expanded their goals beyond those initial popular products and the retail model. Their new mission statement is clear, “Our goal is to make it easy, tangible, and accessible for anyone to authentically engage with or support a progressive movement (i.e. we’re connecting you with the causes you care about).”30 Frequently, they refer to themselves as a “hub for activism” that uses both fashion and community to help connect activists not just locally but around the world. Their fashion products are available online and can be shipped around the world. For every purchase, The Outrage donates to different organizations (often related to the merchandise being sold), which allows them to spread their reach and touch different charities. As explained on their website, “We partner directly with non-profits and social movements to outfit the resistance while leveraging fundraising potential for their work.” Along the way, they have partnered with the multiple Women’s Marches, the March for Science, and the March for Our Lives while also supporting immigrants through the Families Belong Together campaign, and Planned Parenthood. Further, The Outrage has chosen to champion certain political figures like Anita Hill, Christine Blasey Ford, Megan Rapinoe, and Colin Kaepernick. Two important figures have been emphasized repeatedly, with several pieces of clothing, accessories, and even jewelry honoring their efforts. Items with John Lewis’ significant phrase “Good Trouble,” an abbreviation of his well-known statement, “Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble” became popular.31 Sweatpants, face masks, and t-shirts encourage shoppers to support voting rights by purchasing and wearing Lewis’ powerful words. The other person who The Outrage champions is Ruth Bader Ginsburg. When she was alive, they staged a popular event for her birthday, encouraging people to come out and “Plank with RBG” and sold a sweatshirt with the  “About,” The Outrage, 2022. https://www.the-outrage.com/pages/who-we-are.  As the article notes, he tweeted this in 2018. Joshua Bote, “‘Get in Good Trouble, Necessary Trouble’: Rep. John Lewis in His Own Words,” USA TODAY, July 18, 2020. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/07/18/rep-john-lewis-mostmemorable-quotes-get-good-trouble/5464148002/. 30 31

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Fig. 6.4  Plank Like RBG Image 1295, The Outrage Event, March 3, 2019. (Courtesy of The Outrage)

same statement (Fig. 6.4). After her death in 2020, they made a number of products supporting her causes and with nods to her trademark lace dissent collar. These items contained phrases like “May her memory be a revolution” and “We’ll take it from here.” While many across the nation were grieving, these items allowed people to honor her while supporting feminist organizations. Yet fashion is just part of the work of The Outrage. They opened a physical space in Washington, D.C. in 2019, but it was more than just a shop. Funk wanted to create a space where people would hang out, while allowing for speeches, shows, book clubs, craft fairs, and other events there. They have expanded into an over 2000 square foot space, which offers a much larger space for community events, campaign speeches, and even a marketplace for BIPOC women to sell their goods. Prior to COVID, they were having anywhere from three to five events a week.32 Beyond public events, though, it is also a membership space, offering a place for people who needed room to work, sit, and meet with others with  Author in Zoom Conversation with Rebecca Lee Funk, November 19, 2021.

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their same priorities. In COVID times, the space temporarily shuttered, but the organization did not stay quiet. They have worked to create a memorial space for those victims of coronavirus. Through sales of distinctive floral pins, they used the money to support local restaurants and musicians whose work would accompany regular memorial events. As the world tries to move past the coronavirus pandemic, the lives lost fully prevent a return to normal. As The Outrage’s program manager Jackie Gionvanniello explains, “It feels like people are jumping back in the swing of things. I’ve just been hearing that we really need to pause and sit with the enormity of this last year and not view the lives lost as statistics.”33 By creating a space to memorialize those who were lost to the virus, the Outrage then offered its community members a place to work through their trauma, allowing them to process the events of the past few years instead of just trying to move past it. The Outrage is particularly unique in how it responds to the events surrounding the store and the problems that are plaguing the nation. While the store had been planning on a massive expansion across the country, they had to change their focus. In April 2020, when people were losing their jobs and forced to stay home due to coronavirus, The Outrage came up with the Postcard Project. In the first 24 hours of launching the project, The Outrage received nearly one thousand applications, leading to the hiring of a few dozen people. They sold the postcards on a sliding scale of $3, $5, and $10, and sold 2000 in the first week alone. $3 would cover the cost of the card and the labor for the message, $5 additionally covered some of The Outrage’s overhead, and lastly, $10 would do all of the above but also help keep paying employees.34 Customers fill out a form that tells the postcard writer who to send the message to and what to write, with each writer given about 80 postcards per shift. Owner Rebecca Lee Funk comments about the intensity of the pandemic and how to create work within it, saying, “I’m grappling with questions like, how can we bring our community together? It’s tough. It’s a crazy time. I’ve been having all the

33   Daniella Byck, “The Outrage DC, the Trump-Era Resistance-Chic Boutique, Is Transforming Into a Memorial for Covid Victims,” Washingtonian, July 1, 2021. https:// www.washingtonian.com/2021/07/01/the-outrage-dc-the-trump-era-resistance-chicboutique-is-transforming-into-a-memorial-for-covid-victims/. 34  Marissa J.  Lang, “A D.C.  Business is Paying Jobless Workers $15 an Hour to Write Coronavirus Postcards. In the First Day, 1,000 people Applied,” Washington Post, April 1, 2020.

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feels from all these people writing in.”35 The messages were based on hope, and for both the people purchasing the cards and those writing them, it became an exercise in trying to survive the pandemic by supporting and encouraging one another. While these have been huge undertakings, the store has worked to establish activism in everyday actions. When ending a purchase, the customers are asked if they are registered to vote. If not, the store helps them register on the spot and has registered over 1000 people just by asking. There is also a phone booth in the store with directions on how to contact your representation, even including a script to make first timers feel more comfortable reaching out.36 Meanwhile, Funk’s background in data analysis is helping the store become more efficient with their activism as they research the best techniques to help people become involved in small actions. This helps the store further, as The Outrage plans to open shops in swing states soon.37 But even so, with all they do, selling a simple yet powerful t-shirt remains an accessible entry point into activism, as Funk has noted: “I feel like people don’t take that next step in activism because it can be so intimidating. There is so much information you might not know exactly where to start. But a good place is starting with that purchase. There is a lot of value in saying, culturally, where you stand. The visibility helps shift what is normal.”38

Phenomenal Meena Harris was inspired by the Trump election to raise money for women’s organizations. She launched Phenomenal in 2016, using the word phenomenal to recall Maya Angelou’s 1978 breathtaking poem, which includes the memorable phrase, “’Cause I’m a woman / Phenomenally. / Phenomenal woman, / That’s me.”39 It is a simple phrase, but a loaded and powerful one. The branding was a smart choice, because it can be adapted and expanded into shirts that say Phenomenally  Lang, “A D.C. Business…”.  Elise Fitzsimmons, “How The Outrage Became an Enclave of Activism,” Unearth Women, August 5, 2019. https://www.unearthwomen.com/2019/08/05/how-theoutrage-became-an-enclave-of-activism/. 37  Author in Zoom Conversation with Rebecca Lee Funk, November 19, 2021. 38  Fitzsimmons, “How the Outrage Became an Enclave of Activism.” 39  Maya Angelou, “Phenomenal Women,” And Still I Rise, 1978. Reprinted, https:// www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48985/phenomenal-woman, Poetry Foundation, 2022. 35 36

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Black, Phenomenally Latina, Phenomenal Mother, Phenomenal Teacher, and so forth. Harris donated the proceeds from the first Phenomenal shirt to nine different organizations for women. Her t-shirts were meant with overwhelming demand, selling 2500 t-shirts on the first day, eventually allowing for Harris to quit her day job as role of head of strategy and leadership at Uber.40 But as she struggled with the quick rise to fame, she also developed the mission of the organization, deciding on “raising awareness around issues affecting underrepresented communities.”41 Shirts led to sweatshirts and sweatpants, and her visibility opened the door to collaborations with charitable organizations and even political campaigns. Meena Harris was uniquely poised to take advantage of the opportunities. After graduating from Harvard Law and working in the legal field, she realized law was not her how she wanted to spend the rest of her life. This project allowed her to explore her passions and raise funds for organizations that were important to her, write two children’s books, help raise money for her aunt Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, and partner with under-­ recognized organizations. The straightforward t-shirt offered big opportunities for Harris and her burgeoning organization. Looking back, she has said: A statement T-shirt can seem so small and insignificant, especially compared to the enormity of the social change that’s happening before our eyes. But there is substance and meaning behind it. And the most basic meaning is people proclaiming to the world that they are worthy, deserving of dignity and proud. When we are talking about things like systemic racism and systematic oppression of underrepresented communities, it’s a reminder that the world needs to see and hear over and over until there is full accountability, equality, and justice for all, not just a privileged few.42

These t-shirts share and promote positivity, charities, and the potential of goodness in humanity. At the same time, they challenge people’s beliefs. To encourage support of vaccines, she partnered with various celebrities and created a “PRO-VAXXER” shirt. Further, when it became public that 40  Hanna Flanagan and Sam Gillette, “How Meena Harris Expanded Her Phenomenal Woman Line from a ‘Little T-Shirt’ to a Booming Brand,” People. https://people.com/ style/meena-harris-on-turning-phenomenal-woman-into-a-booming-brand/. 41  Jessica Testa, “Meena Harris, Building That Brand,” The New York Times, January 9, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/09/style/meena-harris-building-that-brand.html. 42  Flanagan and Gillette, “How Meena Harris Expanded Her Phenomenal Woman Line.”

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Dolly Parton had donated large amounts of money to help fund and produce the Moderna vaccine, Harris made a sweatshirt that said, “PRO SCIENCE / PRO DOLLY.” Again, celebrities have embraced her shirts, wearing them on Instagram and various social media sites, promoting both the shirts and the messages they are sharing (Fig. 6.5). One of the most powerful designs Phenomenal produced was a black shirt that read “Arrest the Cops Who Killed Breonna Taylor” in pink text, with Taylor’s picture and the phrase “Say Her Name” on the back. All proceeds benefited the Breonna Taylor Foundation, named after the young emergency room technician who was wrongly and unjustifiably killed in her sleep by policemen in Louisville, Kentucky, on March 13, 2020. The shirts were quickly embraced by female athletes, celebrities, and more.43 Released 150 days after she was murdered, Phenomenal partnered with the WNBA, who had dedicated their season to Taylor and the Say Her Name foundation, which raises awareness for Black women who are victims of police violence.44 Perhaps the most visible moment for shirt happened when Regina King wore the shirt to accept her Emmy at the 2020 virtual ceremony. When looking at Phenomenal’s broader goals, Harris and her company are interested in more than t-shirts. They have expanded into Phenomenal Media (for publishing) and Phenomenal Productions (for videos, technology, and theater). They now define their role as follows: Phenomenal is a values-driven, 360-degree media company that centers women and historically excluded communities. By lifting up the stories, experiences, and talents of underrepresented groups, Phenomenal is helping to shift culture and build community power. Phenomenal has already seen enormous growth and success over the past four years—receiving support from over 1,000 celebrities, athletes, and community leaders, and launching partnerships with iconic entertainment, fashion, and consumer-goods companies. Through its innovative strategies as a content and entertainment company, consumer brand, and creative agency, Phenomenal is poised to take on the opportunity of an ever-evolving media landscape with purpose and authenticity.45  Testa, “Meena Harris, Building that Brand.”  Nikara Jones, “Why Celebrities, Athletes and Designers Are Wearing This T-Shirt for Breonna Taylor—And How You Can Get One, Too,” Footwear News, August 11, 2020. https://footwearnews.com/2020/fashion/philanthropy/breonna-taylor-t-shirtphenomenal-campaign-1203039681/. 45  “About,” Phenomenal, 2022. https://www.phenomenalmedia.com/pages/about. 43 44

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Fig. 6.5  Zafi Ahmed, Ciara Renée in a Diana Ross inspired “I’m Gonna Win” shirt by Phenomenal, March 26, 2019, Creative Commons license

In their quest to stay relevant, and the hope that they do not need to rely on an unstable and aggressive political climate, Phenomenal has had to face many new questions about how to retain customer engagement. As Harris elaborates, “When we don’t have the constant drama and attacks

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that are coming out of the administration, how do we keep people engaged in a meaningful way? Not just the people that have been doing this work, and will continue doing this work, and are literally doing it all day every day. But regular folks.”46 Part of this work has come from doing collaborations with different companies and types of media. Working with Shondaland, the production company behind many successful television shows like Grey’s Anatomy (2005–present, ABC) and Scandal (2012–2018, ABC), Phenomenal released a line of sweatshirts with phrases like “I burn from you,” from the popular tv series Bridgerton (2020–present, Netflix). Additionally, in a campaign called Phenomenal Bake Club, Harris has worked with organizations like The Sweet Feminist and Diaspora Co. to make baking themed sweatshirts (“Sugar and Spice and Reproductive Rights”) and to sell single-origin spices. Building upon these diverse efforts, in November 2020, Phenomenal created a new initiative, The Phenomenal Book Club. The product line includes several shirts with phrases like “Books are Everything,” “Phenomenal Reader,” and “Phenomenal Book Club.” This was paired with a book selection and a book club meeting, which for the first time was a live zoom interview with Nikole Hannah-Jones and Meena Harris. Further, the group included links to donate Jones’ two powerful books to various communities. The books were based on her Pulitzer Prize-winning work, 1619, at The New York Times Magazine (The 1619 Project, 2021 and Born on the Water, 2021) that examined the way slavery has affected our contemporary world. The formation of a book club precedes the company’s move into entertainment, which they are developing with former Universal executive Juliet Liu.47 In fact, this also circles back to one of Harris’ first big projects, a book that she wrote, illustrated by Ana Ramírez González, called Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea (2020), followed by Ambitious Girl (2021), illustrated with Marissa Valdez. Both books include celebrations of girls of color and their quest to be independent, powerful, strong young women. The first book follows her mother and her aunt who create and develop a

 Testa, “Meena Harris, Building that Brand.”  Alex Weprin, “Meena Harris’ Merch Company Phenomenal Expands Into Entertainment (Exclusive),” The Hollywood Reporter, November 9, 2021. https://www.hollywoodreporter. com/business/business-news/meena-harris-phenomenal-entertainment-1235044213/. 46 47

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community project to better their neighborhood, based on a true story.48 Her next book, Ambitious Girl follows an inspiring young girl who sees a woman being labeled as “too ambitious,” which inspires a walk through the past to see how woman can transcend the frustrating and painful events they have faced. Unsurprisingly, Phenomenal sells an “Ambitious” sweatshirt and leans into the book, uniting all marketing and promotional materials. By extending its reach into different types of content beyond clothing, Harris and the Phenomenal Women Campaign can reconsider how to present and share information while emphasizing progressive and feminist ideas as we move further into the twenty-first century.

Conclusion Political t-shirts function similarly to the idea of wearing pearls and Chucks to support Kamala Harris, as all these fashion items create a sense of bonding across divides of age, gender, location, and more. They allow for the creation of shared experiences, connections, and showing solidarity. In many ways, these shops are working to create a reboot of 1970s feminism by providing for community get-togethers that easily compare to the consciousness raising groups popular in the 1970s. Likewise, making posters and disseminating information while teaching others how to call their senators and supporting the election of other women for political positions all represent an expansion of the way that women had to work as political organizers in the early parts of second-wave feminism. Yet Harris, Berks, and Funk have all shown they don’t want to repeat the mistakes of the 1970s, and they are constantly engaging intersectionality and respecting gender fluidity, as well as listening to their customers and members. Whether it is addressing charitable causes that matter, creating swimsuits to fit all manners of gender, or creating jobs during a worldwide 48  Meena Harris’ work with and for her aunt, Vice President Kamala Harris, particularly when she is working with the Phenomenal Woman Campaign, has been called into question as perhaps benefiting from Kamala Harris’ elected power. The White House did ask her to stop using Harris’ name and likeness after she was installed as vice president. For more information, see Noah Bierman, “Meena Harris Has a Personal Brand. Some Fear She’s Profiting from her Aunt Kamala’s Office,” Los Angeles Times, February 11, 2021, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-02-11/meena-branding-business-kamala-harris-niece; and Katie Strick, “Meena Harris: Who is Kamala Harris’ Niece and Why is She Causing a Stir in the White House?,” Evening Standard, February 16, 2021.

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Fig. 6.6  Corina Richards, This is What a Feminist Looks Like, printmaker and illustrator, 2022

pandemic, these women are all empowering other women to support important causes that can have a lasting impact. T-shirts and beloved shoes represent the culmination of the issues discussed in this book. From pussyhats to crowns, all these items showcase how feminists can use fashion and art to take a stand and prove point (Fig.  6.6). These items draw attention to women’s rights and political

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problems, while also serving as a way to foster community, garner national attention, and inspire change. While this conversation could go on, and there are a multitude of other items that could be added here, I hope to have shown how items often associated with feminine fashion and art about more feminine topics deserve more attention and an expansion of the fields that they inhabit. From the proud suffragists to the loud women’s marchers, we have learned and continue to understand that the Future is Female, and gender-fluid and non-binary and, hopefully, better.

CHAPTER 7

Postscript: November 7, 2022

Perhaps, I was just naïve. As I was finalizing this manuscript in May 2022, there were rumblings in the press that Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case that legalized safe abortion across the United States, was going to be overturned. This Supreme Court, with three members appointed by Donald Trump, who himself is increasingly looking more and more criminal, now had the votes to eliminate abortion.1 I was convinced, however, that this just would not happen. A draft of a decision was leaked to the public in late spring, but still, I hope that saner minds would prevail. I went ahead and submitted the manuscript, hoping that things would right themselves. Alas, on June 24, 2022, about a month after my submission, the U.S. Supreme Court did overturn Roe v. Wade, as their written decision made things abundantly clear, “The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate 1  So sure that abortion would be banned, Robin Marty published Handbook for a Post-Roe America, providing all kinds of resources for feminists, activists, supporters, and even those seeking out information on having an abortion. This book originally published in 2019, has now been revised and published again in 2021. For more information see Robin Marty, Handbook for a Post-Roe America (New York: Seven Stories Press, 2019) and Robin Marty, The New Handbook for a Post-Roe America: The Complete Guide to Abortion Legality, Access, and Practical Support (New York: Seven Stories Press, 2021).

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. Newman, Fashioning Politics and Protests, Palgrave Studies in Fashion and the Body, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16227-5_7

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abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.”2 The states now had the power to determine the legality of abortion, which caused a number of trigger bans to immediately take effect in 13 states, and 13 other states had plans to work quickly to ban abortions. In a matter of days and weeks, people’s bodily autonomy was restricted drastically across large swaths of the country, and even worse, state governments were attempting to figure out ways to pursue action against people who helped others get needed abortions or against people who sought abortions in other states by trying to limit interstate travel. As I write this just a few months after the states have worked to upend 50 years of reproductive rights, the fallout has already been devastating. Beyond the millions of people who lost access to abortion services, many of these trigger bans lacked exceptions for procedures that were necessary to save the life of the person giving birth or even for incest or rape. Horror stories began appearing in the press: doctors having to call their lawyers before they can provide treatment, women waiting hours and getting sicker as they could only get treatment if the fetus’ heart stopped beating, and even Facebook messaging being used to report a minor’s trip across state borders to receive a legal abortion in another state that led to arrests in her home state.3 It is devastatingly clear that these bans are harming people across the country.4 Remarkably, abortion was legal in the United States for its first hundred years and more, and in fact, different kinds of reproductive rights 2  Dobbs, State Health Officer of The Mississippi Department of Health, et al. v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization et  al., No. 19. U.S. 1392 (2022), https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37. 3  Aria Bendix, “Now Hovering in the Background during a Risky Pregnancy: The doctor’s legal team,” NBC News, July 13, 2022, https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/ risky-pregnancy-abortion-doctors-consult-lawyers-rcna37651; Frances Stead Sellers and Fenit Nirappil, “Confusion Post-Roe Spurs Delays, Denials for Some Lifesaving Pregnancy Care,” The Washington Post, July 16, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/ health/2022/07/16/abortion-miscarriage-ectopic-pregnancy-care/; and Martin Kaste, “Nebraska Cops Used Facebook Messages to Investigate an Alleged Illegal Abortion,” NPR, August 12, 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/08/12/1117092169/nebraska-cops-usedfacebook-messages-to-investigate-an-alleged-illegal-abortion. 4  For many details and explanations on the harm of restricting abortion, see the profound research of Diana Greene Foster, whose ten-year study affirms how abortion is a necessary part of people’s healthcare. Diana Green Foster, The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, a Thousand Women, and the Consequences of Having  – or Being Denied  – an Abortion (New York: Scribner 2020).

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including various herbal birth control and pregnancy ending concoctions have existed for thousands of years. Surprisingly, it was not until the nineteenth century that people started to speak out about the practice as some were seeing it as immoral, and by mid-twentieth century the procedure would be outlawed in the United States. In the 1960s, a groundswell of mostly women worked to create secret networks across the country that helped get people the abortions they needed. Most famously, the Jane Collective, a group of Chicago activists, began their work in 1965, when Heather Booth helped a woman connect with surgeon and civil rights leader T.R.M. Howard, who performed the procedure and would go on to help other people in need that the Jane Collective would send his way.5 The group expanded from serving the needs of predominantly White, middle- to upper-class women to people of color and of lower classes, both of which became possible because of the ease of traveling that had developed over time.6 As doctors were getting increasingly nervous about performing the surgeries, the Janes learned how to perform the procedures themselves. In 1972, seven Jane members were arrested but refused to give up any other women or providers, and their attorneys delayed the trial long enough that by 1973 abortion was legal and all charges would be dropped.7 Networks like these arose all over the country, working to help those in impossible situations. For years, people across the United States acclimated to legal abortions, and protests lessened for a time being. Anti-abortion groups, however, never ceased arguing though that the states should have the power to determine the legality of abortion and by the 1980s, they took most of the protests to the clinics themselves. The visibility of their anti-abortion actions increased throughout the 1990s and 2000s. What began as marching and picketing in front of women’s clinics like Planned Parenthood started turning increasingly violent. Escorts needed to work at clinics to protect women entering, though sadly, nothing could prevent the firebombing of clinics and the violence perpetuated against providers. Meanwhile, other efforts were made to pass laws that would make abortions more difficult to attain, including the Hyde Amendment which bans 5  For a history of this impactful group, see Karen Blumenthal, Jane Against the World: Roe v. Wade and the Fight for Reproductive Rights (New York: Raring Book Press, 2020). 6  Jane Recker, “When Abortion Was Illegal, Chicago Women Turned to the Jane Collective,” Smithsonian Magazine, June 14, 2022, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/ smart-news/abortion-jane-collective-chicago-180980244/. 7  The Janes, directed by Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes, HBOMAX, 2022.

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federal funding of abortions with few exceptions, as well as laws that required mandatory waiting periods, necessitated parental consent, or Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers (TRAP) which impose absurd requirements of clinics with the hopes of them shutting down (e.g. like the size of a storage closet).8 The Democrats chief political officer, Sara Tabatabaie has noted that the strategy of the Republicans and their continued pressures worked, as she proclaims, “We have been out-raised, out-organized and out-funded for 50 years, and that is across the board. In moments of tragedy, I am hopeful that there comes solidarity and increased clarity.”9 The conservatives had for so long dominated the conversation, that once they had power in the court system, it was not a surprise that they would attack reproductive rights so directly. In doing so, however, they were met with a much larger resistance than perhaps they expected, causing Americans all over to speak out against enacted bans. With Roe overturned and inspiring such a backlash, Tabatabaie, and many other Pro-Choice voters believe that come November 2022, the people of this country will step up and vote in favor of keeping abortion legal and/or vote in politicians who support reproductive rights. But as readers of this book now recognize, this push toward overturning abortion has been years in the making and found particular success when Trump was elected. Immediately, many activists were concerned about reproductive justice, which was a huge inspiration for the Women’s March. Further, because of political machinations, Barack Obama was not allowed to successfully nominate a second Supreme Court Justice pick. Trump was then able to allow for Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Comey Barrett to join the Supreme Court, of which the last two nominations were accompanied by the Handmaid’s Tale protests that have been mentioned. Smartly, when the Roe v. Wade was overturned, activists and protestors recalled the success of these handmaids’ costumes and pussyhats and wanted to find a new symbol for their protests for reproductive justice. In this instance, however, activists looked toward the past and another continent. Green was adopted as the color of resistance to anti-abortion 8  Robin Stevenson, My Body My Choice: The Fight for Abortion Rights (Victoria, BC: Orca Book Publishers, 2019), 57–81. 9  Kate Zernike, “The Long Path to Reclaim Abortion Rights,” New York Times, July 2, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/02/us/abortion-rights-roe-v-wade.html.

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restrictions in Argentina, first appearing in 2015. These protestors supported a movement known as “ni una menos,” or “not one less” which opposed violence against women. To garner attention for their cause, they wore green bandanas to support the campaign, and would later be adopted by activists mobilizing to support abortion rights. The green bandana is a muted shade of Kelly green; it is often worn around the neck but can be tied to a bag, around an arm or a wrist, or even in one’s hair. These protests became part of a group known as the “Marea Verde,” or the “Green wave,” and carried on until December 2020, when Argentina finally legalized abortion.10 Marta Alanis, the founder of the Argentinian branch of the group Catholics for the Right to Decide, has said that the bandanas were chosen as a reference to the white scarves that women used to protest the children who were “disappeared” by the country in the 1970s and 1980s.11 They switched to the color green, though, which was chosen for its connection to nature and life, as well as its association with health and hope. In the United States, Democratic representative of New York, Nydia Velazquez, who has been spotted wearing a green bandana on Capitol Hill, made clear the direct association with her activist colleagues in Argentina by saying, “The work that has been done by tireless advocates throughout Latin America is sparking waves of progress on women’s access to reproductive health care throughout the globe.”12 Since Argentina, Mexico decriminalized abortion in September 2021, and Columbia legalized the procedure in February 2022, yet for many Latin American activists there is still much work to be done, as countries such as Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador still have abortion bans on the book. Prior to legalization of abortion in Argentina, Noelia Garone, a human rights defender and lawyer, noted how significant their work had already been by saying, “Even the last few tears we cried were not quite so sad, because there was this feeling that we were a beautiful green tide, one that will keep moving forward and will get abortion legalized. It’s going to 10  Ella Ceron and Taylor Johnson, “How Green Became the International Color of Abortion Rights,” Bloomberg, June 24, 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-24/why-do-people-wear-green-at-abortion-rallies-the-green-wave-explained. 11  Ceron and Johnson, “How Green Became the International Color of Abortion Rights.” 12  Qtd in. Joe Hernandez, “How Green Became the Color of the Abortion Rights Movement,” NPR, June 27, 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/06/27/1107717283/ abortion-rights-green-symbol.

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happen, you just need the green tide by your side.”13 Shortly after the law was changed, Mariana Romero, 54, doctor, women’s rights defender, and researcher at Center for the Study of State and Society, noted that the green bandana still symbolized power and work that had to be done: Even though the protests were because of a terrible situation, we came together and were happy to see each other again and find ourselves in such a setting. The debate on the legalization of abortion in Argentina marks a turning point. We haven’t untied our green bandanas from our backpacks or our handbags because we don’t believe that this fight is short-lived.14

A simple bandana, one that can be bought cheaply and accessibly throughout most of the world, has become a unifier for feminists and reproductive justice champions all across the world. Giselle Carino, CEO of Fòs Feminista, an international women’s health organization, has described her experiences, by proudly acknowledging, “As an Argentinian woman, I’ll never forget what it was like to march through the streets of Buenos Aires with thousands of women and girls in pañuelos verdes (green handkerchiefs), fighting for our human right to safe and legal abortion. I didn’t yet know that these demonstrations would inspire an international movement that continues to grow in size and strength to this day.”15 These women and their work for years to stand up for their bodily autonomy were and continue to be an inspiration for those across the world seeking reproductive justice. Logically, then, it was natural that the color and the bandanas would be adopted by protests and activists in the United States. The Outrage and other shops and organizations quickly started selling apparel and all sorts of goods in green, arming protestors with the items needed to visually support their argument. And activists needed them quickly, because as soon as it was announced Roe v. Wade was overturned, protests began the next day and picked up steam throughout the weekend following the announcement. Roughly one month after the decision was presented to the public, July 19, 2022, prominent members of Congress were arrested at a rally for reproductive rights outside the U.S. Capitol. The most visible and notable members who were arrested, were members of “the Squad,” 13  “Qtd. in “Marching Towards Legal Abortion in Argentina,” Amnesty International, 2022, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/impact/2019/08/the-green-wave/. 14  Qtd. in “Marching Towards Legal Abortion.” 15  Qtd. in Hernandez, “How Green Became the Color of the Abortion Rights Movement.”

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which included Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Cori Bush, who were all wearing green bandanas. Sixteen lawmakers and an additional thirty-four people ended up being arrested, for obstruction, crowding, and incommoding.16 These congresswomen have taken to their Twitter and Instagram and made the bans personal, sharing stories of their own experiences with abortion and how important the power of choice has been in their life, just as they are leading a nationwide movement that has been building for the past few years to support reproductive rights for all. Abortion has often been associated with secrecy and shame, but in the past ten years and especially in the past year, people all over the country have begun to share their stories. While there has been a rise in fictional stories about abortion in all types of media, the real-life narratives of women have had the most important impact. From celebrities to people of all classes and backgrounds, the stories show how necessary reproductive rights are to women. Pro-choice people from all over have worked to share the truth about their experiences and dismiss their opponent’s claims like the belief that abortions are frequently happening in the third trimester by lazy or ill-informed people. Writer Lindy West has worked to create a space for many to share their stories, first on twitter, then later in the book, Shout Your Abortion (2018). It’s worth sharing her ideas in depth, as they solidify the key points in why these narratives are necessary. Abortion is good for women, families, and communities, and the proof is reflected in our own lives. Many of us have our careers or our children because of abortions. Some of us would have never survived our abusers or our addictions without our abortions. One in four of us have had lives that were determined in monumental ways by our abortions, and the vast majority of us do not regret our decisions. But if nobody will admit they’ve had an abortion, we aren’t able to illustrate the connection between having an abortion and living a better life … This country is ours just like our bodies are ours. Telling our abortion stories is a form of resistance … We are not sorry.17

16  Julius Miller, “AOC, the Squad and Others Arrested in U.S. Capitol Abortion Protest,” Lost Angeles Magazine, July 19, 2022, https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/ aoc-the-squad-and-others-arrested-in-u-s-capitol-abortion-protest/. 17  Amelia Bonow and Emily Nokes, eds., Shout Your Abortion (Oakland, CA: PM Press, 2018), x.

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As West makes clear, sharing the truth about the procedure and the reasons surrounding it allows for more people to understand its necessities. Her repeated use of the pronoun “our” also works sure to emphasize inclusion, so that readers understand how reproductive rights affect every single person. One of the women included in the book is Wendy Davis, former Texas state senator and founder of Deeds Not Words, a progressive organization that works to promote access to reproductive rights, seeks to prevent violence against women, and supports better healthcare, quality childcare, and pay equity. Davis gained notoriety, when on June 25, 2013, she filibustered for 13 hours on the floor of the Texas Senate, refusing to allow the passage of an abortion bill that would severely restrict access. What many did not know at that time was that years before, Davis had chosen to have an abortion, when it became clear that her much wanted daughter was sick with a horrible brain abnormality. While Davis’ experience dealt with a child who would not be able to survive after birth, she acknowledges that her experience doesn’t define all reasons for the procedure. Rather, she ends her story with the words: If you’ve decided to have an abortion or have had an abortion in the past: you are the only person who can decide what is right for you. Please know that you are loved, that you are not judged, and there are sisters like me out here in the world who are holding your hand and have your back in this moment.18 Davis and West help to de-stigmatize abortion, something that seems more needed in 2022 than ever. As primarily male congressmen continue to make ignorant statements about women’s bodies, it is important for accurate, relevant information to be shared frequently.19 Yet, besides having to educate people on basic anatomy, it is also frustrating that abortion stories must be repeatedly shared to make men and women understand the necessity of reproductive rights. Private stories and  Bonow and Nokes, eds. Shout Your Abortion, 88.  Many articles over the years have demonstrated this including “We’re Not Stupid: Outrageous Quotes from the War on Women 2013,” ACLU, https://www.aclu.org/other/ were-not-stupid-outrageous-quotes-war-women-2013. But one of the most recent and complete listicles was posted by Buzzfeed and illustrates how problematic these comments can be. This includes remarks by Senator Clyde Chambliss, Senator Steve Daines, among other former and current politicians. See Hannah Marder, “25 Comments About Pregnancy And Abortion From Republicans That Prove They Understand Very Little About Women’s Health, BuzzFeed, July 14, 2022, https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahmarder/ republican-lawmakers-comments-abortion. 18 19

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experiences are having to be told repeatedly, forcing people to not just share these intimate moments but also to relive what might have been a painful or tough experience for them. Sharing their intimate moment feels like the only thing to change people’s minds on the topic, but it’s maddening that sharing that private information is what it takes. To be clear, it should be understood that all should have the right to choose what to do with their body regardless of their belief system, it should not have to be proven over and over again by telling people’s personal stories. While people are fighting for justice, this seems even more vexing since most estimates show that the American public supports legal abortion by almost 80%, and that percentage only grows when a women’s life is in danger, cases of rape and/or incest, or the fetus would not survive after birth.20 Since the overturning of Roe, Biden has signed executive orders with the desire to protect both abortion rights and the healthcare of pregnant people. He elaborated, “I commit to the American people that we’re doing everything in our power to safeguard access to health care including the right to choose that women had under Roe v. Wade, which was ripped away by this extreme court.”21 Despite his actions, there are limitations and restrictions on what he can do with executive orders, leaving many people, myself included, continually disillusioned. It seemed that my book was destined to end on a sadder note than I had intended, as the Republican party is increasing their wins to such a point that reproductive rights seemed to be just the tipping point of what they wanted to change. The extreme conservatives now have their sights set on eliminating gay marriage, LGBTQIA+ rights, removing access to birth control, and more. It can be hard to feel positive about the future. But just as my book deadline was approaching, Kansans showed up on August 2, 2022, and voted against removing the right to legal abortion from the state constitution. This notoriously conservative red state in the middle of the country voted surprisingly to denounce the Supreme Court decision, proving that more people wanted legal abortion than didn’t (the 20  Alison Durkee, “How Americans Really Feel About Abortion: The Sometimes Surprising Poll Results As Supreme Court Overturns Roe V. Wade,” Forbes, June 24, 2022, https:// www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/06/24/how-americans-really-feel-about-abortion-the-sometimes-surprising-poll-results-as-supreme-court-reportedly-set-to-overturnroe-v-wade/?sh=39df0bb72f3a. 21  Peter Baker, “Biden Issues Executive Order on Abortion Access, Calling for More Study,” New York Times, August 3, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/03/us/ politics/biden-abortion-executive-order.html.

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final count worked out to be 59% to 41% in favor of keeping the constitution as it was).22 The nonpartisan campaign strategy was to emphasize the right to choose, particularly making clear that women’s health should not be made by politicians, nor should women’s rights be restricted or taken away at any time.23 Suddenly, there was hope—hope that had evidence to back it up. If Kansas can support reproductive rights, then why can’t other conservative states? The numbers reflect that the vast majority of the population want to keep abortion legal, and with midterms approaching, there is a real chance that the Democrats can recover control of the Senate and maintain their dominance in the House, resulting in the ability for the Democrats to pass laws that can codify abortion and other causes like gay marriage and birth control access. So in light of the Kansas election, I chose to end this book with hope. The green bandanas worked in Argentina, and they are continuing to draw attention in the United States as people embrace the Green Wave. I don’t believe I am naïve; rather, I believe that people are generally good, especially when well-informed, and eventually, the situation will work out with people regaining their rights and privacy. These are rights that already existed, and as many protestors have noted, “I’m tired of protesting this same shit.” Yes, it’s exasperating to have to repeat the actions of our activist predecessors of the 1960s and 1970s, but this time more people are showing up ever than before to let their voices be heard. As the protests have grown, symbolic fashion and art has created a visibility for these events that hasn’t existed before. Having a green bandana tied to your bag or wearing a bright pink suit can not only show your political beliefs but also demonstrate your willingness to protest for the cause—in whatever way works for you. Maybe this is too sunny a conclusion to this book, but I don’t want to live in a world without rights and without hope. By the time you are reading this book, I sincerely hope, nay, believe, that things have gotten better.

22  Mitch Smith and Katie Glueck, “Kansas Votes to Preserve Abortion Rights Protections in Its Constitution,” New York Times, August 2, 2022, https://www.nytimes. com/2022/08/02/us/kansas-abortion-rights-vote.html. 23  This was noted by Ashley All who worked for Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, a conglomerate of pro-choice groups that worked together. Peter Selvin, “Blueprinting the Kansas Abortion-Rights Victory,” The New  Yorker, August 7, 2022, https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/blueprinting-the-kansas-abortion-rights-victory.

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Index1

NUMBERS AND SYMBOLS 9 to 5 (1980, movie), 133 9to5 (organization), 132–134 19th Amendment, 3 #MeToo, 54, 99 A Able-bodiedness, 26 Abortion, 26, 29, 32, 41, 44, 160, 172, 194, 223–232, 223n1, 224n4 Access Hollywood, 3, 162 Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi, 183 Affordable Care Act, 194 Afghans for Afghans, 173 Afros, 23, 88–90, 93 Ailes, Roger, 99 Alanis, Marta, 227 Alexander, Elizabeth, 97

Aljasmi, Yousef, 48 Almodovar, Pedro, 107 Parallel Mothers (2021), 107 Alpha Kappa Alpha, 3, 199 American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 178 American Gigolo, 137–139 American Heart Association (AHA), 47, 48 Amnesty International, 23 Anderson, Kim, 23 Anderson, Laurie, 27, 148, 149 Bergamot, Fenway, 149 Big Science, 149 Duets on Ice (1975), 149 Nova Convention, 149 Androgyny, 129, 130, 145, 149, 151, 209 Angelou, Maya, 214 Anotherwild Fund, 209

 Note: Page numbers followed by ‘n’ refer to notes.

1

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 E. Newman, Fashioning Politics and Protests, Palgrave Studies in Fashion and the Body, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16227-5

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254 

INDEX

Anthony, Susan B., 6 Anti-Defamation League, 81 Argent, 158 Argetsinger, Amy, 84, 100 Ariza, Patricia, 57 Armani, Giorgio, 134–140 Asoyuf, Morgan, 55 Atwood, Margaret, 25, 31, 33, 34, 36, 38, 39, 41–43, 46 B Baartmann, Sarah, 86 Baby Boom (1987), 140 Baker, Pam, 55 Balenciaga, Cristóbal, 145, 180 Banet-Weisner, Sarah, 81, 84 Barbie, 180 Barney, Matthew, 35 Barney, Natalie, 186 Barnum, P.T., 77 Barrett, Amy Coney, 39, 42, 226 Bartlett, Djurdja, 4, 22 Fashion and Politics (2019), 22 Baseball cap, 194 Batliwalla, Navaz, 150 The New Garconne (2016), 150 Batulukisi, Niangi, 90 Baumgardner, Jennifer, 172 Bauwel, Sofie Van, 107 Beardsley, Aubrey, 98 Beck, Koa, 207 Belcourt, Christi, 23, 65, 66 Keetsahnak: Our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Sisters (2018), 23 Bergamot, Fenway, 149 Berks, Rachel, 28, 204–209, 219 Bernhardt, Sarah, 122 Betbeze, Yolande, 75, 75n10 Beyale, JayCee, 60 Beyoncé, 205

Biden, Joe, 2, 28, 64, 231 Big Business, 140 Black identity, 23, 26, 77, 80, 82–84, 87–91, 93, 94, 96–98, 102–105, 108, 155, 162, 166, 171, 180, 197 Black is Beautiful, 84, 89 Black Lives Matter, 25 Blackness, 84, 85, 90, 98, 102, 105, 180 Black pageants, 87–88, 105, 108 Black Panthers, 23 Black, Jamie, 26, 55–58, 60, 62, 65, 67, 68 The REDress Project (2010), 55, 67 Black, Sandy, 173 Bland, Bob, 165 Blass, Bill, 52 Blatch, Harriot Eaton Staton, 6 Blood, 5, 31, 34–36, 39, 45, 46, 48, 51, 55, 58, 69, 191, 192 Blood, menstruation, 36, 41, 43–46, 48, 90, 96, 123, 141, 171, 185n73, 188, 200, 226 Bloomingdales, 49 Blouses, 1–3, 7, 20, 125, 126, 131, 157 Booth, Heather, 225 Boots, 34, 147, 148 Boston Women’s Health Collective, 189 Bourgeois, Robyn, 63 Bowman, Jamaal, 154 Braids, 27, 94, 95, 108 Branding, 148, 214 Brando, Marlon, 201, 202 Brant, Jennifer, 63 Bras, 73, 73n3, 124 Breasts, 34, 76, 122, 190 Breonna Taylor Foundation, 216 Breward, Christopher The Suit (2016), 120 Bridgerton (2020–present, Netflix), 218

 INDEX 

Broome-Edwards, Sandra, 198 Brown, Nancy, 48 Brown Pellum, Kimberly, 87 Browne, Cheryl, 82, 83 Bundchen, Gisele, 182 Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services (BIA-OJS), 64 Burroughs, William, 149 Bush, Billy, 162 Bush, Cori, 153, 154, 229 Bust (magazine), 174 C Caldeira, Sofia P., 107 Campbell, Maria, 23, 65 Cam’ron, 180 Capsule wardrobe, 152, 153 Cardigans, 125 Carino, Giselle, 228 Carlson, Gretchen, 99 Carrol, M.S., 176 Cassedy, Ellen, 132 Catholics for the Right to Decide, 227 Center for the Study of State and Society, 228 Cerruti, Nino, 135 Chamberlin, Libby, 111, 112, 114 Pantsuit Nation (2017), 114 Chanakya School of Craft, 185 Chanel, Coco, 27, 123–125, 129, 141, 150, 160, 180, 182 Charity Knitting, 173 Charity work, 78 Charles, Suzette, 86 Chave, Anna C., 190 Chicago, Judy, 28, 160, 184–186, 184n70, 186n79, 188, 189, 193 The Dinner Party (1974–1979), 186–188 The Female Divine, 184–186 Children’s Miracle Network, 100

255

Chisholm, Shirley, 84, 155 Chiuri, Maria Grazia, 28, 160, 183–185 Christeson, Sali, 158 Christian Identity, 105 Christianity, 26, 31, 39, 78, 101 Chuck Taylors (Converse brand sneakers), 199 Chucks, 197, 199, 219 Civil rights, 28, 69, 88, 194, 225 Civil Rights Movement, 23, 88–90, 202 Claudel, Camille, 186 Clinton, Bill, 2, 27, 41, 54, 116, 116n11 Clinton, Chelsea, 116, 117, 117n15 Clinton, Hillary Rodham, 111–119, 149, 157, 159, 181n62, 210 Club Fellow (magazine), 8 CODEPINK, 180n60 Collins, Patricia Hill, 24 Colonialism, 63 Color of Change, 108 Commercialism, 7, 8, 178 Congressional Union for Women’s Suffrage, 6 Converse sneakers, 197 Corbett, Sarah, 168, 169 Coronavirus pandemic, 100, 197, 198, 212–214 Corrine, Tee, 28, 160, 189 Cunt Coloring Book (1975), 189 Corsets, 11, 12, 125 Cowan, Liza, 203, 204 COWRIE Lesbian Feminist (magazine), 204 Coyle, Kat, 161 Crabtree, Ann, 34–36 Crafting, 81, 148, 170, 177 Craftivism, 25, 27, 160, 168–177, 180n60, 188 Craig, Maxine, 88

256 

INDEX

Crawford, Amy, 16 Crenshaw, Kimberlé Williams, 23, 24, 24n45, 172 Crochet, 161 Cromoactivismo, 44, 45 CROWN Act, 26, 108, 109 Cunningham, Bill, 132 Currans, Elizabeth, 23, 166 Marching Dykes, Liberated Sluts, and Concerned Mothers: Women Transforming Public Space (2017), 23 Cyrus, Miley, 107 D Dallow, Jessica, 92 Daniel, Jordan Marie Brings Three White Horses, 58, 62 Danielson, Jessie, 61 Dapper Dan, 180 Davis, Fred, 22, 200 Fashion, Culture, and Identity (1992), 22 Davis, Wendy, 230 Deal, Gregg, 59, 60 Take Back the Power, 60 Deal, Sage, 60 Dean, James, 201, 202 De Caro, Marina, 44 Deeds Not Words, 230 Deford, Frank, 75 Delevingne, Cara, 182 Diaz, Issac, 210 Dick Clark Productions, 99 Dietrich, Marlene, 122, 145, 150 Dior (brand/company), 160, 183, 184 Dior Maison, 185 Dior, Christian, 123, 126, 129, 143, 183, 185, 186 Disability, 166, 170

Discrimination, 77, 87, 108 Diversity, 23, 53, 54, 84, 96, 108, 114, 115, 182, 195, 202 The Divine Female, 185 Dobkin, Alix, 203, 204 Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club, 155 Dorr, Rheta Childe, 6 Dove, Rain, 106–108 Drag, 208, 209 Ducharme, Evan, 54, 55 The Honor Gown, 54 Dunn, Roger, 175, 176 E Eisa, 145 Elizabeth, Hilary, 36 Elle (Magazine), 182 Emhoff, Doug, 199 Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), 160, 171 Esco, Lina, 106 Ethnicity, 78, 82, 194 Etro, 48 Evening gowns, 26, 76, 100, 126 F Fabric, 46, 49, 101, 120, 121, 125, 132, 135–137, 143, 178 Facebook, 66, 106, 107, 111, 113, 114, 165, 170, 197, 198, 200, 224 Families Belong Together campaign, 211 Fashion shows, 27, 48, 102, 153, 177, 182 Faust, Gretchen, 107 Fausto, Michael, 48 Faux, Susie, 152 Femininity, 9, 10, 12, 69, 79, 95, 101, 125, 126, 129, 131, 132, 135,

 INDEX 

137, 150, 156, 178, 179, 185, 187 Feminism first wave feminism, 171 post-feminism, 172 second wave feminism, 74, 79, 171, 219 third wave feminism, 171, 172 Fendi, 183 Ferraro, Geraldine, 155 Fiber arts, 175, 176 Fluxus, 191, 192 Fonda, Jane, 133, 134 Ford, Christine Blasey, 41, 211 Ford, Tanisha C., 23 Liberated Threads: Black Women, Style, and the Global Politics of Soul (2015), 23 Fòs Feminista, 228 France, 46, 122, 123 Freedom Trash Can, 73 Free the Nipple, 26, 106, 108, 109 Freuh, Joanna, 188 Friedman, Vanessa, 1 Funk, Rebecca Lee, 210, 212–214, 219 Fury, Alexander, 182 G Gainsborough, Thomas, 179 The Blue Boy (1770), 179 Gale, Zona, 21 Galeotti, Sergio, 135 Garbo, Greta, 122, 145 Garett, Miranda, 21 Garone, Noelia, 227 Gay, Roxane, 73 Gender, 7, 20, 24, 43, 47, 61, 78, 95, 102, 106, 107, 123, 126, 130, 135, 138, 139, 147, 149, 154, 157, 176, 179–181, 194, 201, 207–209, 219

257

See also Femininity; Masculinity; Queerness Gentleman Prefer Blondes, 181 Gere, Richard, 138 Giacometti, Alberto, 145 Gibson Girl, 10 Gibson, Megan, 182 Gilbert and George, 145 Gilchrist, Tracey E., 41 Gildart, Nancy, 173 Gilroy, Darla-Jane, 51 Ginsburg, Ruth Bader, 38, 211, 212 Gionvanniello, Jackie, 213 Givan, Robin, 194 Gold, 1, 6, 7, 9, 18, 91, 92, 140, 141, 186 González, Ana Ramírez, 218 Go Red for Women, 47 Gorsuch, Neil, 226 Government Free VJJ, 171 Grease, 181 Greater than Fear Rally and March, 58 Green Wave, see Marea verde (Green Wave) Greer, Betsy, 168 Grey’s Anatomy (2005–present, ABC), 218 Griffith, Melanie, 140, 142 Gulabi Gang, 53 Gurung, Prabal, 52–54, 68, 101, 102 H Haaland, Deb, 64, 65 Hair, 10, 11, 13, 20, 26, 27, 34, 54, 74, 77, 78, 88–98, 105, 108, 116, 122, 131, 140–142, 147, 149, 155, 227 The Handmaid’s Tale, 25, 31, 33, 35n7, 38, 41–43, 46, 226 Hannah-Jones, Nikole, 218 Hargreaves, Allison, 67

258 

INDEX

Harris, Kamala, 1–4, 21, 22, 28, 111, 197–201, 215, 216, 219, 219n48 Harris, Meena, 205, 214–219, 215n42, 219n48 Haskell, Sam, 87, 99 Hats, 5, 11, 20, 160–164, 167, 168, 170, 173, 178, 180n60, 181, 195 Haute couture, 124, 126, 128, 130 Headwear, 36, 161 Hepburn, Audrey, 49 Hepburn, Katherine, 122 Herrera, Carolina, 1, 22 Hill, Anita, 211 Hirsuit, 208, 209 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), 76, 87, 199 Hollander, Anne, 22 Sex and Suits: The Evolution of Modern Dress (1994), 22, 120 Homecoming, 76, 88, 105, 108 hooks, bell, 172 Horn, Leonard C., 78 Howard, T.R.M., 225 Hudson, Sergio, 197 Human rights, 12, 28, 29, 160, 162, 177, 180n60, 227, 228 Huntington, Henry, 179, 180 Hyde Amendment, 225 I Identity politics, 24, 24n45, 79, 95, 96 Immigration, 28 Inclusivity, 53, 96 The Indian Act, 62, 63 Indigenous people, 63, 64, 171 Instagram, 23–26, 33, 54, 58–64, 58n59, 62n68, 63n75, 66, 67, 68n81, 106, 107, 154, 204, 216, 229 Aboriginal women, 55

Installation art, 55 Intersectionality, 23–25, 24n45, 52, 163, 166n9, 171, 183, 202, 219 INTIMINA, 43 Italy, 149 J Jackets, 120, 121, 124, 125, 129, 130, 135–137, 139, 142, 144, 202 Jackson, Kennell, 90 Jaen, Javier, 107 Jane Collective, 225 Jeans, 45, 144, 147, 199, 202 Jenner, Kendall, 182 Jewelry, 3, 7, 10, 117, 125, 140–142, 151, 199, 200, 211 Jewish Identity, 80–82 Jewish Miss America, 80 Johnson, Garth, 170 Jones, Amelia, 187, 190 Jumpsuits, 129, 147, 148, 148n95 K Kaepernick, Colin, 211 Kahn, Naeem, 48 Kann, Victoria, 181 Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, 232n23 Karen, Donna, 152 Kavanaugh, Brett, 41, 41n19, 226 Kieth, Pam, 153, 167 King, Regina, 216 Klein, Yves, 145, 191 Anthropometries, 191 Kloss, Karlie, 182 Knit bombing, 174 Knit4Choice, 176 Knitting, 161, 168n17, 171, 173–177, 186 Knize, 145, 146

 INDEX 

Koa Beck, 207 Koons, Jeff, 145 Kramer, Hilton, 187 Kubota, Shigeko, 28, 191, 191n91 Vagina Painting, 191, 192 Video Birthday Party for John Cage, 192 L Labryis Books, 28, 203 Lady Gaga, 143 La garçonne, 121–123 The New Garconne, 150–152 Lagerfeld, Karl, 28, 160, 181–183 Lane Bryant, 53 Lavell-Harvard, D. Memee, 63 Lawrence, Thomas, 179 Sarah Barnett Moulton: Pinkie (1794), 179 Leen, Nina, 144 The Irascibles (1950), 144 Legally Blonde (2001), 181 Lemay, Kate Clarke, 13 Lesbians, 9, 27, 64, 122, 172, 204, 205 Le smoking, 126, 129 See also The Tuxedo Lewis, Jill, 199 Lewis, John, 211 Life (magazine), 144 Lippard, Lucy, 186 Little black dress, 123, 125 Little Knittery, 161 Liu, Juliet, 218 Livermore, Mary, 6 Locs, 27, 108 Louboutin, Christian, 49, 51, 52 Lumière brothers (August and Louis), 15, 16 Lumsden, Linda J., 10, 14, 15 Lunch, Lydia, 202

259

M Maciunas, George, 191 Macy’s, 7, 128 Make America Great Again (MAGA), 194, 195 Makeup, 141 Mallory, Tamika, 165 Malloy, John T., 27 Manning, Marie, 9, 10 March for Our Lives, 211 March for Science, 211 Marea Verde (Green Wave), 227, 232 Marks, Al, 82, 85 Masculinity, 79, 95, 122, 125, 136, 138, 150, 155 Mathews, Harry, 148 Matrix of domination, 24 McClendon, Emma, 183 McGrew, Rebecca, 96 McMichael, Mandy, 85 McQuiston, Liz, 4, 23 Protest! A History of Social and Political Protest Graphics (2019), 23 Menkes, Suzy, 136 Menstruation, 43, 44, 46, 191 Menswear, 126, 135, 136, 144 Merkins, 95 Michna-Bales, Jeanine, 15–21 Approaching Portland, 16 Arsenic and Strychnine, 18 Blue Gem, 16 Fading Rose, 18 Fever, Aches, and Pains, 18 Pinney Theatre, 18 Ready for Battle, 18, 19 Standing Together, 15, 18, 20, 21 Suffrage Dress, 16–18 Whistlestop Speech, 20 Women Hold Up Half of the Sky, 20 A Wonderful Argument, 20 Mifflin, Margot, 75, 79

260 

INDEX

Mikulski, Barbara, 157, 157n122 Milholland, Inez, 10–22, 11n25, 16n41 Milholland, Vida, 14, 20 Miller, Nicole, 48 Minter, Marilyn, 107 Miss America, 74–76 Miss America Organization (MAO), 78, 82, 85–87, 99, 105 Miss America pageant, 26, 27, 71, 76–81, 87, 88, 91, 99–102, 105, 106, 108 Miss Black America, 25, 71, 72, 87, 88, 90 Miss Black America Pageant, 88 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two Spirits (MMIWG2S), 26, 54, 58–62, 64–68 Missoni, Angela, 28, 160, 177–179, 181, 183 Mitchell, Holly J., 108 Mixed media, 91, 93 Mlle Bourgeoise Noire (MBN, Miss Black Middle Class), 102, 103, 105 Mohegan Sun, 100 Molloy, John T., 130–132, 141 Dress for Success (1975), 130 The Women’s Dress for Success Book (1977), 130 Mongan, Guillermina, 44 Monroe, Marilyn, 181 Moseley-Braun, Carol, 156, 157, 157n122 Mosuo tribe, 53 Mucha, Alphonse, 98 Music, 52, 87, 100, 149, 168, 180 Musotto, Victoria, 44 Myerson, Bess, 26, 79–82, 82n31, 105 MySister, 205

N National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs (NACWA), 88 National identity, 78 National Museum of Women and the Arts, 167 National Red Cloak Protest, 39 National Secretary’s Day, 133 National Urban League, 108 National Women’s Party, 14, 79 National Woman Suffrage Parade Committee, 7 Neckties, 131 Neuman, Johanna, 9 Gilded Suffragists: The New York Socialites Who Fought for the Women’s Right to Vote, 9 Newar community, 52 New Look, 123, 129, 143 Newman, Barnett, 144, 145 New Woman, 10, 27, 75, 122, 123 Newton, Karina, 106 New York Fashion Week, 180 New York Radical Women (NYRW), 72–74 New York Woman’s Political Union, 7 Nichols, Mike, 140–142 Nike, 180 Nipii Designs, 55 Nochlin, Linda, 183 Non-profits, 28, 211 Nussbender, Karen, 132 O Obama, Barack, 226 Obama, Michelle, 52 Ocasio-Cortez, Alexandria, 153, 154, 229 O’Grady, Lorraine, 102–105 Mlle Bourgeoise Noire, 102–104 O’Keeffe, Georgia, 27, 145–147, 187

 INDEX 

Olek, 175 Oleksiak, Agata, see Olek Omar, Ilhan, 154 Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy, 49 Openwear, 177 Orsini, Raphaëlle, 201, 202 Osborne, Angela, 77 Otherwild, 28, 205–210 Our Bodies, Ourselves (1971), 189 The Outrage, 28, 205, 210–214, 228 P Pageants, 4, 12, 14, 26, 27, 71, 73–88, 73n4, 73n5, 75n10, 76n13, 82n31, 90, 98–103, 105, 106, 108, 109 Pankhurst, Emmeline, 5 Pantone, 43–46, 51 Pants, 13, 113, 117, 118, 121, 122, 128, 132, 139, 147, 149, 151, 155–157, 157n122 See also Trousers Pantsuit Nation (Facebook Group), 111, 113–115, 115n8, 119, 155, 157, 198 Pantsuits, 1, 2, 27, 111, 113–119, 121, 122, 126, 147, 150, 155–159 Parades, 4, 6–10, 12–14, 12n29, 21, 28, 73, 79 Park, Hyungi, 210 Parker, Rozsika, 176 Parton, Dolly, 133, 134, 216 Pastoureau, Michel, 46 Patriarchal, 209 Patriarchy, 43, 63, 167, 175, 207, 209 Paul, Alice, 6, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15 Pearls, 1, 3, 28, 54, 124, 197–200, 219 Pellum, Brown, 108 Pelosi, Nancy, 154, 181n62

261

Pence, Mike, 41 Penthouse (magazine), 85 People of Praise, 39 Perez, Carmen, 165 Periods, see Blood, menstruation Peters, Lauren Downing, 172 Pethick-Lawrence, Emmeline, 5 Phat Farm, 180 Phenomenal, 28, 214–219 Phenomenal Bake Club, 218 Phenomenal Book Club, 218 Phenomenal Media, 216 Phenomenal Productions, 216 Photography, 15, 174 Pink, 27, 53, 124, 158, 160–164, 167, 170, 171, 177–186, 179n54, 180n60, 181n61, 216, 232 Pinkalicious (2006), 181 Pink Craftivist Movement (PCM), 170 Planned Parenthood, 28, 204, 206, 211, 225 Plastic surgery, 76 Pocahontas, 32, 60 Politics, 21–23, 25, 27, 78, 82n31, 96, 115, 135, 144, 154, 173, 195, 195n104, 205 Pollock, Jackson, 144, 191 Poniewozik, James, 43 Pope, Martha, 157 Postcard Project, 213 Power dressing, 132, 143, 147, 158 Power suits, 27, 132, 142 Pressley, Ayanna, 153, 154 Pretty in Pink, 181 Pulitzer Prize, 21 Purple, 5–7, 9, 18, 33, 185, 197 Pussy bows, 1–3 Pussyhat Project, 161, 162, 170, 178 Pussyhats, 2, 25, 27, 28, 160–171, 173, 177–179, 181, 183, 193–196, 195n104, 220, 226

262 

INDEX

Q Queer and Trans People of Color (QTPOC), 209 Queerness, 64, 122, 207–209 Quinceañeras, 26, 76, 77, 100, 102 R Rabinovitch-Fox, Einav, 7, 8, 10, 13, 22 Dressed for Freedom: The Fashionable Politics of American Feminism (2021), 22 Race, 23, 24, 24n45, 68, 78, 80, 83–86, 91, 93, 102, 115n8, 157n122, 182, 194 See also Blackness, Whiteness Racial politics, 84, 91, 96, 114 Rahm, Randi, 48 Rankin, Jeannette, 155 Rapinoe, Megan, 211 Ready-to-wear, 49, 126, 128–130, 136 Rebel Without a Cause (1955), 202 Red Dress collection, 48, 54 Red Dress Day, 68 Red Dress Event, 55 Red Dress Fashion shows, 47 Red dresses, 23, 25, 26, 31–69 Rehyher, Rebecca Hourwich, 14 Reid, Charlotte T., 155, 156 King, Annette (performance name), 155 Renée, Ciara, 217 Reproductive justice, 29, 226, 228 Reproductive rights, 28, 29, 38, 63, 195, 202, 224, 226, 228–232 Richards, Amy, 172 Ridder, Sandre De, 107 Rihanna, 107, 207 Riot Grrrl, 172 Rippon, Jo, 23

The Art of Protest: A Visual History of Dissent and Resistance (2020), 23 Ritchie, Sharon Kay, 75 Rive Gauche, 126, 128, 129 Roberts, Julia, 49, 181 Robertson, Kirsty, 169 Rochas, Marcel, 143 Rodin, Auguste, 185, 186 Rodin, Musée, 185, 186 Rodin Museum, 49 Roeschlein, Thomas, 208 Roe v. Wade, 28, 176, 223, 226, 228, 231 Rogers, Christopher John, 197 Rogger, Basil, 23, 168 Protest: The Aesthetics of Resistance (2018), 23 Romero, Mariana, 228 Rose, Daiana, 44 Roth, Ann, 140, 141 Rubin, Ann, 173 Rule Seven, 80–82 Russ, Ginny, 164 Ryan, Erin Gloria, 114 S Saar, Alison, 91–98 Blonde Dreams, 91, 92 Hairesies, 91 Mo’fro, 93 Nappy Head Blues, 93 Pressed, 92, 93 Topsy Turvy, 96 Sainte-Marie, Buffy, 67 Saint Laurent, Yves, 27, 126–130, 137, 139 Saint Phalle, Niki de, 27, 147–149, 148n95 Tirs, 147, 148, 148n95 Salcedo, Michele, 100

 INDEX 

Saldana, Zoe, 52 Sand, George, 122 Santino, Jack, 162, 164 Saris, 52, 53, 117 Sarsour, Linda, 165 Sashes, 4, 6, 7, 79, 101 Sayeg, Magda, 175 Knitta Please, 175 Say Her Name foundation, 216 Scafati, Mariela, 44 Scandal (2012–2018, ABC), 218 Scarves, 7, 34, 44, 117, 227 Schiaparelli, Elsa, 143, 144, 180 Schneemann, Carolee, 28, 160, 192 Interior Scroll, 192 Scholarships, 75, 80, 80n22, 83, 87, 100, 105, 108 Schrader, Paul, 137, 138 Schuiling, Rebecca E., 170 Second skin, 135, 136, 138 Second wave feminism, 172 See Red, 68 SeeWalker, Danielle, 60, 61 Sexism, 74, 131, 159, 194 Sexual assault, 41, 162, 193 Sexual harassment, 99, 132, 133, 171 Sexuality, 24, 42, 77, 85, 86, 113, 122, 166n9, 171, 187, 193, 201, 206, 208 Sex workers, 137–139 Shalwar kameez, 117 Shapiro, Emma, 106 Sharp, Sarah Rose, 44 Sharpe, Christina, 93 Shaull, Lorie, 58 Shaw, Anna Howard, 6, 9 Shields, Brooke, 49 Shindle, Kate, 74, 81, 82, 85 Shirts, 3, 28, 47n34, 121, 125, 138, 142, 147, 151, 154, 183, 184, 201, 203–205, 207, 208, 210, 214–216, 218

263

Shirtwaists, 22 Shocking Pink, see Schiaparelli, Elsa Shoes, 28, 31, 34, 50–52, 94, 140, 144, 146, 150, 151, 199, 220 Shondaland, 218 Shook, Teresa, 165 Shorts, 28, 34, 42, 62, 67, 93, 94, 121, 122, 129, 141, 142, 149, 160, 161, 183, 194, 201, 209 Shoulder pads, 142–144 Shrier, Camile, 100 Shunatona, Mifaunwy, 80 Silhouette, 13, 123, 125, 136, 143, 145 Simpson, Lorna, 91–98 Ebony, 97, 98 Jet, 97 Riunite & Ice, 97, 97n73 Stereo Styles, 93, 94, 98 Wigs, 94 Sing Our Rivers Red (SORR), 60, 61 Skelton, Yolanda, 55 Slaughter, Lenora, 80, 81 Slinger, Penny, 184 Smalls, Joan, 182 Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, 57 Sneakers, 28 Social media, 26, 27, 59, 68, 77, 106–108, 165, 170, 171, 184, 197, 200, 201, 216 Sparrow, Debra, 55 Sponsorship, 78 The Squad, 153, 154, 157, 228 Steele, Valerie, 179 Steel Magnolias (1989), 181 Sterne, Hedda, 144n87 Stitch ’n Bitch, 174 Stoller, Debbie, 174 Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 96 A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), 201–202

264 

INDEX

Suffrage, 8, 10, 12, 15, 19, 21, 79 Suffragettes, 2n3, 4–7, 4n7, 19, 79, 154 Suffragists, 2, 2n3, 4–10, 8n16, 12–15, 17, 18, 20–22, 69, 101, 111, 221 Suh, Krista, 161, 162, 164 Suits, 1, 2, 20, 22, 27, 32n2, 37, 76, 111, 113, 117, 119–121, 123–158, 167, 209, 232 Supermajority, 115n8, 158 Supermodels, 137 Supreme, 180 Supreme Court, 28, 29, 38, 39, 41, 176, 223, 226, 231 Swimsuits, 26, 75–77, 75n10, 99, 100, 106, 108, 208, 219 bathing suits, 77 bikini, 77 T Tabatabaie, Sara, 226 Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers (TRAP), 226 Taylor, Breonna, 216 Terrell, Mary Church, 8 Textiles, 173, 210 Tharps, Lori L., 89, 90 Thatcher, Margaret, 3 Thomas, Mickaline, 184 Thomas, Zoë, 21 Time Magazine, 179 Tlaib, Rashida, 153, 154, 229 Tomlin, Lily, 133, 134 Topsy Turvy (2018), 96, 97 Transgender, 64, 163, 166, 194 Transgender people, 94, 163, 207 Transwomen, 162, 163, 195 Trousers, 118, 120, 147, 150, 151, 156, 182 Trudeau, Justin, 64, 65

Trump, Donald, 1–3, 32, 38, 39, 41, 59, 96, 111, 113, 115, 119, 154, 155, 159, 162, 165, 167, 183, 193–195, 195n104, 210, 214, 223, 226 Trump, Melania, 3 T-shirts, 25, 28, 119, 178, 179, 183, 184, 201–204, 204n13, 206, 207, 210, 211, 214–216, 219, 220 Turtlenecks, 148 The Tuxedo, 126, 128, 129 See also Le smoking U Ukeles, Mierle Laderman, 73n5 Maintenance Art, 73n5 Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), 96 Uniforms, 25, 27, 32–38, 42, 113, 118, 131, 132, 135, 141, 147, 151, 152, 201, 209 Unisex clothing, 136, 150, 194 UN Refugee Agency, 178 Uszerowicz, Monica, 98 V Vaginas, 162, 163, 171n26, 187, 187n80, 190, 192, 193n97 Valdez, Marissa, 218 Vamps, 66, 67 Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week, 54 Van Der Rohe, Ludwig Mies, 49, 52, 145, 183 Velazquez, Nydia, 227 Vermeer, Johann, 36 Milkmaid, 36 Violence against women, 227, 230 Voegeli, Jonas, 23 Von Busch, Otto, 177

 INDEX 

Voting, 7, 11, 12, 14, 28, 88, 123, 158, 202, 211 Voting Rights Act, 3 Vuitton, Louis, 180 W Walker, Rebecca, 172 Walking With Our Sisters (WWOS), 65 Wardrobe engineering, 131 Warhol, Andy, 50 Warren, Elizabeth, 32 “Wear Pearls on Jan 20 2021” Facebook Group, 197, 198, 200 Weaver, Sigourney, 140 Wells-Barnett, Ida B., 8, 20 West, Lindy, 229, 230 Western Center on Law and Poverty, 108 Westwood, Vivienne, 35 “Where are they? Living Memory. Women in the Public Square” Event, 56–57 White, Charles, 145 White identity, 24, 80, 85, 86, 88, 89, 93, 96, 98, 105, 114, 135, 167, 171, 176 Whiteness, 25, 26, 49, 72, 84, 90, 91, 93, 166n9 White supremacists, 96 White supremacy, 85, 93, 195, 200 Whitney Biennial, 95 Widmer, Ruedi, 23 Wigs, 73, 94, 95 Wilke, Hannah, 28, 189–191 Needed Erase-Her, 190 Starification Object Series (S.O.S.), 190, 191

265

Williams, Brian, 1 Williams, Nikema, 153 Williams, Saundra, 71, 72, 88, 90, 91 Williams, Stephanie Sparling, 103 Williams, Vanessa, 26, 79, 82–87, 98, 105 Wilson, Sheila North, 58 Wilson, Woodrow, 12, 14, 15 Winfrey, Oprah, 52, 53 Winge, Therésa M., 170 Wolfe, Tom, 145 Wollan, Malia, 174, 175 Wombs for Washington, 176, 177 Women’s March, 23, 25, 27, 54, 160–167, 162n3, 166n9, 170, 172n32, 177, 179, 195, 205, 211, 226 Women’s March (Pensacola, FL), 163 Women’s Social Political Union (WSPU), 5 Womenswear, 135–137 Woolf, Virginia, 186 Working Girl (1988), 27, 140–144 Workplaces, 108, 130–134, 171 WWOS Collective, 65 Walking With Our Sisters (WWOS), 65–67 Y Yandy, 42 Yarn bombing, 174–176 Z Zweiman, Jayna, 161, 162, 178