At his recent inauguration, Biden declared ‘without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury; no progress, only exhausting outrage; no nation, only a state of chaos’, a comment signifying his desire for American unity in the coming four years. Commonly, messages this powerful are best conveyed not only in words, but in subliminal symbolism.
Throughout his political career, Biden has shown comprehension of the power that appearance and clothing holds. More recently, the colour purple (representing the mixing of the Democrat’s blue and the Republican’s red) has been used to communicate his message of unity on a deeper level. This use of the bipartisan colour has particular significance, given the recent and current events of the COVID-19 pandemic, domestic terrorism at the US Capitol and the second impeachment of Donald Trump amongst others.
Whilst the colour has commonly been sported by Biden himself (such as at the 2010 State of Union address and on his day of inauguration), most notably, it has been worn by many politically significant women such as Kamala Harris, Michelle Obama and Hilliary Clinton. This coordination was not accidental. Alongside representing the unity Biden has constantly promoted, the colour purple has cultural and historical significance, harking back to the purple worn by suffragettes to represent dignity and as the favourite colour of the first black woman elected to congress, Shirley Chilsom.
Perhaps there is additional gravity in this statement given the current feminist focus on the attention given to women’s outfits perhaps to the detriment of an understanding or appreciation of their work. The powerful visual image of purple could be a retaliation to sexism in the media to commemorate the inauguration of the first female vice-president of the United States. Clothes are often used to objectify women, but in this circumstance, the Biden-Harris administration used them to send a political message of equality and cooperation.
People have always taken a keen interest in the fashion of politicians, something the current Democrat leaders have utilised as a call to heal the divisions in American society and politics.
Written by Imogen Aley
Artwork by Zara Masood
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