Why Democratic Women Wore White to Trump’s Address to Congress
At President Trump’s first address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, women wearing white stood out in the crowd at the Capitol. In fact, as you can see in the photo above, an entire section of the audience seemed to glow in a sea of black suits peppered by the occasional red dress.
It was no accident.
Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., explained to Yahoo Style that the Democratic women of the House of Representatives’ matching looks were a coordinated ode to the suffragettes who fought for women’s right to vote and wore white while doing so. “In just his first days, [Trump] and congressional Republicans have made it a priority to attack a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion and instilled terror in immigrant mothers, daughters, and wives,” said Chu. “And their plans for ACA repeal threaten a return to the days of health care inequality for women.”
Chu continued, “Taken as a whole, it is a dangerous rollback of the rights we have gained over the years. Yet we cannot forget that those rights came from our power at the polls — a power we still possess. That is why, as President Trump faces us tonight, we will be wearing white as a reminder of the power and importance of women’s suffrage, and that our voices will not be silenced by his bullying.”
Democratic congresswomen took to social media throughout the day to further discuss their collective choice to wear white this evening to the joint address.
For tonight’s #JointSession, our suffragette white represents our commitment to defending women’s rights now and always. #WomenWearWhite pic.twitter.com/pzlinet5Xa
— Grace Meng (@RepGraceMeng) February 28, 2017
We're wearing suffragette white at #JointSession as a pledge to fight for women's #reprorights, #equalpay, #paidleave & more #WomenWearWhite pic.twitter.com/Ni1EBnwlfD
— Katherine Clark (@RepKClark) February 28, 2017
We're wearing suffragist white for today's #JointSession as part of our pledge to fight for equal pay, family leave & more! #WomenWearWhite pic.twitter.com/C9hngmQV4T
— Jackie Speier (@RepSpeier) February 28, 2017
Proud to be a part of the Democratic #WomenWearWhite pledge opposing GOP attempts to roll back women's rights pic.twitter.com/JhGBDVTLGh
— Jan Schakowsky (@janschakowsky) February 28, 2017
During the presidential election, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also wore white — both to the final presidential debate and to accept the Democratic Party’s nomination for the presidency.
She once again wore a white suit to Trump’s inauguration, which she attended with her husband, former President Bill Clinton. The repeated choice of white by Clinton was recognized as a nod to the suffragettes, who wore all-white while fighting to gain women the right to vote.
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