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You are Supposed to Represent us!
Posted at: Sep/26/2023 : Posted by: Mel
Related Category: Politics & Gov, Watching America,
For some time now, men and women in the Senate had to dress in business attire. All that changed during the middle of September 2023 when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer changed the Senate's informal dress code?to no code at all. As of this week, senators can wear whatever they want on the floor. The move is largely being associated with Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who often foregoes Fetterman claims to wear a hoodie to work as a sign of his relaxed and comfortable style. Fetterman was treated earlier this year for depression and hearing loss at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Since then he has traded in his suits and ties for hoodies and shorts. Fetterman's casual style and the relaxation of Senate dress requirements have been criticized by Republicans. But they are right about one thing: The Senate ought to have a dress code. It doesn't have to be a strict dress code. It doesn't have to involve ties or wool suits. But it has to be appropriate for the floor of the Senate, a place at one time considered hallowed. To be sure, we live in a post-business casual, post-COVID work culture. People working from home in their jammies on Monday will be more reluctant than ever to put on high heels or tie a Windsor knot when they go into the office on Tuesday. But even prior to the pandemic, America was dropping business attire at work and embracing leisure wear and in some cases athletic wear. Yoga pants and tight jeans would have been considered obscene at the office in 2003; now they are commonplace. In 10 years, we'll probably all be saying, "Remember all those uptight folks who were too square to wear Speedos and a tye dyed shirt to work in the 2020s?" The problem is that casual wear in the workplace is a slippery slope, and the slope always angles downward. To some degree, the casual trend is a positive one. Looking back at those yellowed photos of blue collar laborers from the late 1800s and early 1900s wearing collared shirts and ties to unload trucks, it seems like cruel and unusual working conditions. Even sitcoms and movies from the 80s and 90s often featured some back-office worker doing data entry work wearing a jacket and tie. That seems stuffy and antiquated now, too. If the job doesn't require a dress code, it shouldn't have a dress code. But the Senate should have one. According to Michael Douglas's President Andrew Shepard character in the 1995 movie "The American President," when the "city planners sat down to design Washington, D.C., their intention was to build a city that would intimidate and humble foreign heads of state." It is difficult to know if that is true, but in general capitals are designed to project a sense of grandeur and awe that “power resides here.” It does not seem unreasonable that the people who work there including members of Congress should still be dressed to impress foreign heads of state and all the other people they interact with on behalf of the United States. Senators are not working on a construction site or isolated in some office cubicle. They are also not coming to work ready to do circuit training and a 10K run. They are members of Congress who represent not just the American people from their state or district, but the American government. The code doesn't have to be a full suit and tie. It certainly shouldn't require that women wear high heels and a pencil skirt. But hoodies and shorts should be out. A hoodie and shorts may be high on the at home comfort wear category, but we are not talking Saturday morning at home with college football on the television and your first cup of coffee in in your hand. Outside of a casual Saturday at home or a quick run to the grocery store a hoodies and shorts go beyond comfort; they are a statement. Think about it: If it were just about comfort, Senator Fetterman could wear a crewneck sweatshirt. He'd be just as comfortable, though a lot less noticeable. A hoodie is a statement of nonconformity in the context of the Senate. It says, "I'm just an average Joe. I'm one of the people, one of the guys. Someone please toss me a beer." Jon Levine, a report for the New York Post tried getting into some of New York’s finer eateries wearing a version of the Fetterman look. The maître d’s at Daniel on the Upper East Side, Le Bernardin, Jean-Georges, and a number of other fine dining restaurants all turned Jon away with comments such as “We have turned away guests for being improperly dressed regardless of their occupation.” One maître d was so stunned by the sartorial sacrilege, she couldn’t even finish her sentence of rejection. The Grill in midtown would not even let The Post reporter into the lobby. A manager suggested he purchase some clothing at a store nearby. To be fair, there were a few of New York’s finer restaurants that did not care, but they were the exception. Do maître d’s show more common sense and understanding of etiquette than Congress? Being a Congressman is not about being one of the guys. It is about be a representative of them – literally. Everyone in the Senate should dress according to the solemn work on the Senate floor. It's arguably the most important business contemplated by the Constitution and those who wrote and ratified it. Don't get me wrong: I had to wear suits every day for the first 8-10 years at my current employer and I don't like them. They are not comfortable. Ties are a form of self-imposed strangulation. Suitcoats form a small folded yoke that pulls down on the back of the neck throughout the day creating a hunched posture. And all of that discomfort surely pales in comparison to having to wear high heels. I'm probably as anti-suit as Senator Fetterman is. But I'm not a member of the United States Senate. I will have to say that when my work has me meeting with or presenting to “high level” individuals I still put on the suit….it’s a sign of respect. To be sure, the Senate dress code should apply only to the Senate floor. Senator Fetterman should feel free to wear his hoodies and shorts to and from the office and change into something more senatorial before Senate business. Fetterman and his supporters will likely argue that what he wears doesn't detract from his own legislative productivity. That's probably true: Being comfortable at work probably helps him work. But that misses the point: Doing the work of the Senate is only half the job. Representing the people is the other half. One Senate Democratic insider insisted that Senator Fetterman needed the relaxed attire for his mental health, and recovery from his other health issues. But as one Congressional Representative said “The Senate no longer enforcing a dress code for senators to appease Fetterman is disgraceful.” Ultimately, in western societies, adherence to a dress code is about etiquette and respect for our institutions. There are 330 million Americans being represented by a mere 100 Senators. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to dress in a respectful manner and show that you are honored to hold such a position. Maybe I’m just old fashioned, but I truly believe that there are places and situations where dressing in a “respect manner” (and even somewhat formal) is not only the right thing to do, but should be required. No longer or enforcing or relaxing a dress code for senators to appease Fetterman is simply disgraceful.
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