Elle’s Gendered Take on New York’s Christine Quinn
At first glance, Elle’s article, “Christine Quinn Takes New York,” written by Lisa DePaulo, paints an empowering picture of a motivated woman who many believe will be announcing her candidacy for mayor of New York City. In many ways, it does. But DePaulo manages to bury much of that picture under inconsequential commentary about Quinn’s appearance.
Whether DePaulo is discussing Quinn’s “lush red hair” being “beautifully coiffed,” her “four-inch lipstick-red lacquered high heels,” or her “eclectic tastes in clothes and jewelry,” she is missing the point, Quinn should be judged by her actions not her appearance. And her appearance shouldn’t be any more noteworthy than any male politician’s.
Quinn’s quote in DePaulo’s article says it all, “People used to feel oddly empowered to tell me all the reasons I couldn’t win…Because I was a woman. Because I was a lesbian.”
Props to DePaulo for including this great quote in her article. If only she would have further empowered Quinn by leaving her appearance out of it. If DePaulo had done a feature piece on Mayor Bloomberg, who Quinn is compared to in the article, one wonders how many references to his hair, make-up or clothing she would have included.
Published by Kate McCarthy on 03/27/2012