This document discusses fashion choices of Michelle Obama and Angela Merkel. It analyzes how their fashion and physical appearance have influenced their public images and politics. Mrs. Obama is praised for using fashion to accentuate her figure in a confident way. Merkel initially changed her image dramatically during her campaign but later relied too heavily on stereotypical feminine traits, undermining her credibility. Both women demonstrate how appearance impacts women in leadership.

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Fashion lessons from the First Lady
6 PERSPECTIVES February 25, 2010 G
Mount Holyoke News
BY CRYSTAL BOATENG ’10 the ABC morning talk show, The View,
STAFF WRITER Mrs. Obama wore a black-and-white floral
dress with no sleeves. A few months later,
It is curious to notice the role that the sleeveless purple sheath Maria Pinto
fashion and physical appearance play in dress she wore on stage for the Demo-
politics. How many times have we wit- cratic presidential nomination was an-
nessed the influence of looks on the elec- other big win. Fast forward to the
tion results in the United States? During historical inauguration ball in Jan. 2009,
a political campaign both the candidate where the first lady looked absolutely ra-
and their spouse have to pay close atten- diant in her one-shouldered ivory gown
tion to the messages they convey to voters designed by Jason Wu.
through their image. From the day Barack Nationally, Mrs. Obama has been
Obama publicly announced his decision to compared to Jackie Onassis, one of the
run in the 2008 presidential election, the most fashionable American first ladies
entire Obama family came under close ob- whose fashion legacy continues today.
servation. Michelle Obama’s fashion taste She has also been compared to French
has been scrutinized by the national and first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, a former
global media. supermodel. When these two ladies met
Through all these different major for the first time in Strasbourg during the
public appearances, Mrs. Obama’s taste 2009 NATO conference, the “Fashion po-
for fashion has either been criticized or lice” of Hollywood entertainment site E!
praised by fashionistas. Some have com- Online did not hesitate to name this as
mended her choice of bold colors and the “European summit fashion” event.
sleeveless cuts that highlight her image. Mrs. Obama donned a floral print Jason
Critics have exaggerated her love for Wu necktie coat over a fitted dress and
cardigans by saying that they are too ca- Bruni was spotted in a similar Christian
sual or inexpensive for a first lady. How- Dior necktie suede coat—both first ladies
ever, there is a general consensus that she wore their outfits with elegance.
is indeed, a fashion icon. Mrs. Obama has been listed on sev-
When Mrs. Obama began campaign- eral best-dressed lists and featured on nu-
ing for her husband in 2006, she tried to merous covers for fashion magazines.
avoid wearing suits because she didn’t Whether she is touring the world with the
want to come off as dominant or overpow- president, hosting state dinners or spend-
ering. Nor did she want to follow the trend ing time with her daughters, she stays
of the typical political wife attire. Instead, true to the colors, prints and cuts that not
Mrs. Obama began setting her own trend only accentuate her figure but also give
by mixing and matching dresses, cardi- her an impeccable public image. She can
gans and accessories from stores such as definitely teach fashion enthusiasts a les-
J. Crew to designers like Jason Wu. son or two.
The 5 ft 10-inch first lady, who is ru-
mored not to have a fashion stylist, knows
exactly what to wear to accentuate her fig-
FIRST FEMALE CHANCELLOR IN GERMANY:
ure. During her 2008 debut appearance on
Surviving fashion wars,
but not political ones
tasteless and had her colleague take them down. The
poster was generally criticized for objectifying women in
politics.
In 2009, Merkel led an especially unspectacular cam-
paign. Instead of building on the image of the strong, prag-
matic woman she had used in her first campaign, she fled
into stereotypical women’s images. She avoided political
confrontation and only gave interviews in home decora-
BY MARION MESSMER ’13 2005, a journalist edited a picture of Merkel at a summer tion and entertainment magazines. She also distanced
STAFF WRITER gala to remove a sweat stain on her dress. This tweak trig- herself from any controversial political issues and did not
gered a huge debate and enraged German female leaders. engage in direct debate with the other (male) candidates.
uring the 2005 electoral campaign, the Chris-
D tian Democratic Party in Germany proposed a
surprising candidate for the office of chancel-
lor: Angela Merkel, the head of the party at that time.
They claimed that a huge portion of Merkel’s media atten- Her messages were surprisingly unpolitical—she and her
tion was focused on her outer appearance rather than on electoral campaign team tried to perpetuate the image of
her political work. The journalist responsible for the al- the smiling, nice lady running for office who could be a
terations apologized publicly, as did his editor. mother figure for all Germans.
Merkel was not simply the first Eastern German running Interestingly enough, the second big controversy Even though this tactic brought her victory, it was
for office—she was also the first woman to do so. around Merkel’s image also came with a picture. At the harmful to women in politics and democracy. By relying
Merkel’s candidacy caused a huge stir in the German opening of the new opera in Oslo in 2008, Merkel wore an heavily on an overly feminine image that was mainly built
media, and not only for political reasons. Journalists were evening gown with deep cleavage. All news stations in on stereotypes associated with female politicians, such as
quick to make fun of the “plain” candidate, often using Germany aired pictures of her during primetime hour, shying away from controversial debates with her male op-
older pictures of her to prove their point. Coming from a
ponents, Merkel reaf-
natural sciences background with a PhD in physics,
firmed a glass ceiling
Merkel had adopted a fashion style defined by the practi- HER MESSAGES WERE SURPRISINGLY UNPOLITICAL— that many had hoped to
cal rather than the chic.
SHE AND HER ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN TEAM TRIED TO have suffered substan-
When it became clear that Merkel was going to be a
tial cracks after her
serious candidate, her campaign team completely
PERPETUATE THE IMAGE OF THE SMILING, NICE LADY being in office for four
changed her image. Hiring a well-known stylist and fash-
years.
ion advisor, they transformed her hair from plain and RUNNING FOR OFFICE WHO COULD BE A MOTHER
Her unwillingness
straight to voluminous and wavy. Her wardrobe changed
from simple suits in somber colors to vibrant, feminine en-
FIGURE FOR ALL GERMANS. to take stances on im-
portant topics made it
sembles. From hardly ever wearing make-up, she started
also hard for voters to
to apply professional business make-up daily. In short, asking whether the dress was appropriate for a woman in inform themselves. Was she going to identify strongly
Merkel was transformed into the poster image of a female her position. Merkel’s press speakers downplayed the in- with her party’s objectives? What were her main goals for
politician. cident, responding that the chancellor was entertained by her new term? These questions and many more remained
The German public loved those changes. Merkel’s new the media attention but would keep picking her outfits ac- unanswered until her acceptance speech.
look and modest appearance made her the icon of many cording to her own taste. Ever since then, Merkel has refused to answer ques-
businesswomen in Germany. Now, when she attends pub- A year later, another female politician from Merkel’s tions on hot topics. Even though Merkel’s new appearance
lic events, her dresses and suits are widely discussed in party used this picture together with another photo show- is now not the most discussed aspect about her, her new
magazines. Not only do fashion magazines love to discuss ing her in a low-cut dress. Their campaign slogan read, politics are harmful for the future of women in leadership
her style, but political magazines also focus on her apparel Wir haben mehr zu bieten (We can offer more). Despite positions.
as a metaphor for her politics. her humorous approach when the dress was discussed by
At times, this causes controversies. In the summer of the media, Merkel condemned this campaign poster as

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Ukraine remains divided,
February 25, 2010 G
Mount Holyoke News PERSPECTIVES 7
as Tymoshenko loses
presidential race
BY LAUREN THEURER ’12 Ukraine’s recent ising it. Promised reforms, such as removing Soviet-
STAFF WRITER presidential election era policies on the privatization of land, were not
appears to have erased carried out. Tensions emerged between Ukraine’s
the demands made by the Ukrainian people in the West and East about the future of the nation and
2004 Orange Revolution. The February election ex- have not lessened since. The 2008 recession also hit
posed the difficulty of keeping up with the revolu- the country hard, continuously increasing inflation.
tion’s promises and demonstrated the nation’s split In the past six months, the value of Ukraine’s cur-
between two opposing political ideologies. rency has halved against the dollar.
The main candidates in the election, Viktor Though little changed under the leaders of the
Yanukovych and prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Orange Revolution, Ukrainians remain split in their
represent two different directions for Ukraine. Ty- political beliefs. The recent vote was more or less
moshenko resembles the archetype of the Ukrain- divided between western and eastern Ukraine, with
ian peasant girl, with her trademark folksy hair the western half going to Tymoshenko and the east-
braids. She was a key figure in the Orange Revolu- ern to Yanukovych. In this context, strong tensions
tion and to this day represents Ukrainian national- still exist between the Ukrainian people and the
ism. In contrast, Yanukovych has made clear his Russian government. Many Russian nationalists, for
desire to ally Ukraine closely with Russia, the na- instance, keep using the expression “na Ukraine”
tion’s ex-ruler. In this way, the candidates in the instead of “v Ukraine,” a grammatical statement
election symbolized the debate between Ukrainian suggesting that Ukraine remains a region of Russia
nationalists and those sympathising with Russian rather than a country of its own.
interests. It is unclear what the outcome of the election re-
The winner of the 2010 election, Yanukovych, ally means for the country. Tymoshenko has an-
was the immediate cause and villain of the Orange nounced that she would be contesting the election
Revolution. As an ex-communist with explicit ties to results, claiming that they were fraudulent.
the Russian government, he attempted to steal the Yanukovych, on the other hand, is trying to speed
2004 presidential candidacy from winner Viktor up his inauguration progress to stymie her investi-
Yushchenko. This sparked protests and a new na- gation. These latest dynamics suggest that
tional demand for government run by the people for Yanukovych will bring back the police-state policies
W OMEN L EADERS W ORLDWIDE
Yulia Tymoshenko, one of the main candidates in
the people. Ukraine suffered under during its time as a Soviet
Ukraine’s recent presidential election.
However, Yushchenko soon found that deliver- state.
ing revolutionary change was not as easy as prom-
A UNG S AN S UU K YI
M YANMAR (B URMA )
She is the General Secretary of the National League of Democracy, a
N EELIE K ROES
Burmese political party, and the winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize
“I CAN ONLY ENCOURAGE
for her role in the democratic movement in Burma.
EVERYONE TO TAKE A CLOSE
N ETHERLANDS LOOK AT THEIR PRACTICES.
PREVENTION IS ALWAYS
BETTER THAN CURE.”
She is currently a Vice President of the EU Commission and was the
H ANAN A SHWARI
European Commissioner for Competition with a focus on promoting
an impartial business environment in Europe.
PALESTINE
She is an outspoken human rights activist and democracy leader. She
L UISA D IOGO
was also the spokesperson for the Palestinian delegation at the Middle
“OUR CENTRAL OBJECTIVE
East Peace Process of 1991-1993.
REMAINS THE SAME. IT IS
M OZAMBIQUE THE COMBAT AGAINST
ABSOLUTE POVERTY.”
She is Mozambique’s current Prime Minister and former minister of fi-
nance. She addresses issues of poverty through the overhaul of the
C HANDRIKA K UMARATUNGA
health, education and employment sectors.
S RI L ANKA
She won two elections as the first female president of Sri Lanka from
M ARY R OBINSON
1994 to 2005 and is committed to organizing women leaders globally to
“I WAS ELECTED BY THE
address issues of social injustice.
WOMEN OF IRELAND,
I RELAND WHO INSTEAD OF
ROCKING THE CRADLE,
She became the first female President of Ireland in 1990. Robinson was ROCKED THE SYSTEM.”
the UN High Commissioner for human rights from 1997 to 2002 and is a
member of the Elders, a group of world leaders and visionaries over-
looking the progress of global politics.