I'm just trying to keep up with the trendy topics
Just like everyone else, I have something to say about what our first lady is wearing.
As a knitter, a sewer (the kind that makes things with fabric as opposed to the kind that harbours strange smells and rats), and someone who is attempting to dress better, I appreciate beautifully-designed and well-made clothing. And I appreciate the privilege of being able to choose what I wear in the morning.
That being said, it frustrates me how the media expects Mrs. Obama to wear a new outfit everytime she attends a public function. I would be delighted to see our first lady repeat a prior outfit for her appearances.* Not everyone can, nor needs to, buy something new for every new party, conference or fundraiser. And perhaps if people wore more of the same outfits to these events, we’d talk less about what people wore and more about what the event was about. (Is it frustrating for Mrs. Obama that people seem to talk more about her clothes than what she's accomplished or what she is going to do as the first lady?)
It is sad when so much public effort is dedicated to anticipating, observing and criticizing appearances. Does it say something about our country that we care more about inaugural ball gowns than economic stimulus packages? But to be honest, it’s more interesting to look at pictures of Michelle Obama’s clothing and comment on whether or not I like it, than it is to read the full text of the economic stimulus bill and try to figure out whether or not it will work. I guess I never said I wasn’t part of the problem. Back to knitting I suppose?
*And obviously, given the amount of media attention around her outfits, I would love to see Mrs. Obama buy and wear ethically-produced clothing. She already seems intent on supporting smaller, local designers and I would love to see the same enthusiasm for fair-trade, union-made or cooperative-made clothing.... My opinions are so predictable, aren’t they?
** And related to my previous entry, I am thrilled that Obama called the $20 billion worth of Wall Street bonuses shameful. We need to return towards an ethic of integrity and responsibility towards one another, rather than lowering ourselves to the least common denominator of legality.
2 comments:
I think it is wrong to assume that the number of media headlines about a subject reflect public attention to it. The newspaper business is falling apart, after all.
I've been asked what I thought about stimulus plans by many people and not a soul has asked me about her dresses or suits or whatever she wears.
I believe this is true for most other things...
For instance, sports journalism has this wonderful trend of all the websites covering some strange angle of the same story. For instance, a player in the Super Bowl's dad is a reporter for a small newspaper and is going to cover the game and watch his son play. Great. Front page of SI, ESPN, and Yahoo sports websites all at the same time. Not necessary, but whatever. But the new twist to this is that all the websites carry, the next day, columns about how overcovered the "Larry Fitzgerald's dad is a reporter" story is. Two layers of newscycle about one issue that I've never heard anyone mention out loud--and trust me, I've discussed the Super Bowl, in detail, many times the past two weeks.
That's true! Good point!
And actually to be honest, there's been a lot more in newspaper written about the stimulus plan than there is about what Michelle Obama is wearing.... But I feel like there is much more being written about what Michelle Obama is wearing than what she is doing.
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