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comment by _refugee_
_refugee_  ·  2526 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: May 24, 2017

I feel really, really strongly that today's internet kerfluffle about "Trump et al"'s attire choices - you know what I'm talking about; that photo of the Pope, Trump, ivanka, and whoever trump's currently wifed - isn't really about what Trump or the Pope is wearing at all. It seems to me everyone throwing shady comments about that photo is 90% commenting on what Ivanka and Melania wore.

I mean, it helps my point in a very serious way that the Pope wears a consistent uniform (papal vestments) and men, in general, when in formal situations such as these, can opt to wear a black or charcoal suit which, while it may vary in details, essentially is a uniform of its own. You wanna comment on this photo? Well I can god damn promise you right from the start you won't be commenting on what the Pope is wearing as that's what he wears every god damn fucking day.

Safe, innit? Steve Jobs didn't stick to his black turtleneck and jeans for no reason or even just personal preference, dude. Consistency reduces opinion/public reaction.

Hillary "successfully stopped the conversation about her clothes" by adopting one of the most neutral fashion options available to professional women ever - a black on black pantsuit - link for reference

What I have observed today is that clearly, Hillary only managed to succeed because she fineessed every element of that super norm-core outfit. Because clearly, opting for basic black formalwear isn't enough for today's society -- Ivanka and Melania both went for that "safe" color option and have still ended up being dragged through every press and opinion piece which cares about catering to the lowest common denominator because, well shucks I guess, the cut of their dresses wasn't simultaneously formal and fashionable enough. Their veils, especially Melania's which was more apparent, didn't conform well enough to our expectations of what American women wear (which, considering the avg American woman doesn't wear any sort of veil or head covering, means that there wasn't a lot of room for them to win regardless of what sort of head covering they might have chosen) so instead, what 90% of the American internet (or so it seems) has found most pertinent to discuss is "what everyone in that Trump/Pope photo was wearing."

Let me say one more thing.

Take out Ivanka and Melania from that photo and you have the Pope in his official uniform and the President in his unofficial uniform (suit). What is there to discuss? Fucking NOTHING.

The furor around this photo and the mocking memes which have arisen from it both baffle and infuriate me.

Aren't there more important things to talk about?

Am I a dreadlocked unshaved hippie ultrafeminist y'all roll your eyes at? Or has everyone else simply not noticed that almost all of the commentary surrounding this photo is really directed towards the women in it, and not the men? Because how the fuck can you throw shade on the Pope wearing the same thing he does every day? And how can you slam the President for wearing a suit? What, should it have been a tux?

I was ashamed to see "feminists" on my facebook rejoin in the opportunity to make catty comments "on the photo overall". This is a veiled critique on gender, people. Nothing more and nothing less, and if you're going to call Ivanka "the bride of Dracula" for what she was wearing then god mother fucking damn it, you can just turn in your "equal rights for all sexes" card to me right. the fuck. now. I will be glad to collect it.

I'm not interested in your counterarguments, so don't fucking make them. Bai