(Photo Of Democratic congresswomen in white prior to SOTU is from Rep. Haaland's Facebook page.)The following is part of a great article by Alexandria Schwartz in The New Yorker:
The congresswomen wore white. At President Trump’s second State of the Union address, a triangular tranche of the House of Representatives stood out in the familiar sea of suits, as if lit by a spotlight: the female members of the 116th Congress, dressed in cream, eggshell, and alabaster, the traditional shades of the suffragette movement. Shown from above, they looked like a slice of wedding cake on a dark tablecloth. When the camera came in low to pan across their faces, they looked like a choir between numbers, murmuring a remark to a neighbor, raising an eyebrow. (Their conductor, Nancy Pelosi, shuffled papers from her station, behind the President, in a pants suit the color of a fresh ream bound for the printer.) Before the Presidential pageantry began, the congresswomen posed on a spiral staircase in two long rows, as if ready to descend, Busby Berkeley style, into the chamber below. You can’t compose an image like that if you don’t have the numbers for it. A hundred and three women are serving in the House of Representatives, which makes the 116th Congress the most female in history, as well as the most diverse. Seated in front of the President, they looked like a battalion: purposeful, united, prepared to fight together against their adversary in the skewed red tie. . . .
Not far into his speech, Trump began, somewhat ironically, to salute the recent gains made by American women. “No one has benefitted more from our thriving economy than women, who have filled fifty-eight per cent of the new jobs created in the last year,” he said. The congresswomen in white looked at one another dubiously. Was this even true? They started to stand up. Even Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez got to her feet. They were going to take Trump’s statement as a compliment. Some of them shimmied, and pumped their fists in the air. Trump, risking an ad-lib, joked, “You weren’t supposed to do that.” More women are in the workplace than ever, he went on. “And we also have more women serving in Congress than at any time before.” Nancy Pelosi, stirring to life, stood and extended her hands to the bloc in white, as if to say, Screw the d.j., but he’s playing our song! The congresswomen again leapt to their feet. A robust, surprising “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” chant started up in their honor. Maybe it was a case of positive cultural appropriation, or subversion, that macho cheer given some new meaning. Anyway, for once, Trump had spoken the truth.
(Photo of congresswomen celebrating Trump's faux pas is by Zach Gibson/Getty images.)
