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Mentor Mentacular, UK Edition: Is Criticizing a Female Public Figure’s Wardrobe Acceptable?
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Levo’s London correspondent, Felicity Dennistoun, writes occasionally on issues of women in politics in London and throughout the UK.
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Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but…
There’s been much debate recently concerning Germaine Greer’s comments that Australian PM Julia Gillard has a ‘big arse’ and bad jackets. Many feminists have been outraged that she broke the ‘sisterhood’ by criticising another woman for her appearance. I for one was unimpressed with Greer’s comments, and her weedy defence on Radio 4 this weekend.
At a training day hosted by Women in Advertising and Communications London (WACL) last week, I was reminded that all too often women are the harshest critics of their own sex.
Dressing for success, or to avoid bad press?
Grace Woodward (who is apparently a very famous MTV presenter and fashionista) gave the attendees of the WACL conference a talk on how to ‘Dress for Success.’ In fact, her key messages didn’t revolve around sharp suits and regular manicures; they were centred on authenticity; being yourself, finding your own style, not compromising your standards. This was a key theme throughout the day from all the top execs: you won’t get anywhere if you’re not yourself. In the Q & A Woodward was asked whether men or women were more critical of women and she said ‘definitely women.’
When I worked for Emily Thornberry MP I was disappointed with an article by Janet Street Porter that appeared in the Independent in the run up to the 2010 election. She’d written a short bio of the candidates standing in Islington (all female) and under each she’d put a line on their clothing titled ‘Battle Dress’. Next to Germaine Greer’s comments this is tame stuff, but I felt that JSP undermined her key point, which was to highlight three women ‘slugging their guts out for a political system that’s run by men’. If JSP had been writing about male politicians ‘Battle Dress’ would not have featured in the article, yet like the rest of the media she expects our female politicians to be style gurus as well as national leaders.
Realistic expectations
If you reach the echelons of your chosen career it’s likely that at some point your picture will appear in a newspaper. If you work in finance, politics or for a high profile firm your picture will appear online, in print and on TV a LOT. One of the reasons for this is that women look interesting. Picture editors, who spend most of their day deciding which white man in a grey suit should get featured on page 4, are thrilled when they can use a photograph of a woman because she breaks up the monotony of men in suits.
You can’t win ‘em all
One of the other key messages at the WACL training day was that you can’t please everyone; a painful lesson for many women. The best way to dress for success is to be yourself and believe in yourself. If you make it to the top, there will always be men and women who want to bring you down and in today’s society targeting someone’s appearance is an obvious way of doing it. But ultimately, your success is down to you and not your outfit.
I think terrible things about the fashion choices of women in the public eye, but I don't think it's justifiable to publicize those feelings. I think of those judgments as things that help me imagine how I would dress if I were in their position and not much else. Drawing attention to the superficiality of those judgments just sends the world the message that it's OK to criticize someone for features that have little to do with their actual profession.
I love this especially, The best way to dress for success is to be yourself and believe in yourself. Thank you Felicity!
OBSESSED with this line: The best way to dress for success is to be yourself and believe in yourself I think we forget that fashion is all about making you feel comfortable and beautiful. I also really appreciate that you bring up women being harsh on one another. There are ways to give feedback (privately in this case) that aren't mean and putting others down. And then there are people who just want to be mean.