SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Female lawmakers wore sleeveless dresses and tops Friday in protest of Capitol Hill's long-standing dress code. (Photo: Twitter)
#SleevelessFriday: Congresswomen Protest Outdated Dress Code
After a reporter was kicked out of the House chamber for violating the code, Rep. Jackie Speier called for a revolt
Jul 14, 2017
In between votes on Friday, Representative Jackie Speier led a protest demanding that women on Capitol Hill finally be given the right to bare arms.
The California Democrat took to Twitter to call for her female colleagues to wear sleeveless dresses and tops for "Sleeveless Friday," after a reporter was kicked out of the House chamber last week for wearing an outfit that showed her arms.
Lawmakers are required to wear "appropriate business attire during all sittings of the House," and the rules have been extended to reporters covering Capitol Hill. Despite the loosening of dress codes in many American workplaces in recent decades, especially during summer months, sleeveless outfits have been off-limits for women in Congress.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) participated in Speier's protest and tweeted her own photo, while several other congresswomen expressed their support.
Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) supported the effort and tweeted at Paul Ryan, who as the House Speaker has the power to enforce and change the decades-old House dress code. In a press conference Thursday, Ryan said members, staffers, and congressional reporters should "look for a change on [the dress code] soon."
Rep. Speier noted that some male lawmakers were also supportive of the demonstration.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
In between votes on Friday, Representative Jackie Speier led a protest demanding that women on Capitol Hill finally be given the right to bare arms.
The California Democrat took to Twitter to call for her female colleagues to wear sleeveless dresses and tops for "Sleeveless Friday," after a reporter was kicked out of the House chamber last week for wearing an outfit that showed her arms.
Lawmakers are required to wear "appropriate business attire during all sittings of the House," and the rules have been extended to reporters covering Capitol Hill. Despite the loosening of dress codes in many American workplaces in recent decades, especially during summer months, sleeveless outfits have been off-limits for women in Congress.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) participated in Speier's protest and tweeted her own photo, while several other congresswomen expressed their support.
Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) supported the effort and tweeted at Paul Ryan, who as the House Speaker has the power to enforce and change the decades-old House dress code. In a press conference Thursday, Ryan said members, staffers, and congressional reporters should "look for a change on [the dress code] soon."
Rep. Speier noted that some male lawmakers were also supportive of the demonstration.
In between votes on Friday, Representative Jackie Speier led a protest demanding that women on Capitol Hill finally be given the right to bare arms.
The California Democrat took to Twitter to call for her female colleagues to wear sleeveless dresses and tops for "Sleeveless Friday," after a reporter was kicked out of the House chamber last week for wearing an outfit that showed her arms.
Lawmakers are required to wear "appropriate business attire during all sittings of the House," and the rules have been extended to reporters covering Capitol Hill. Despite the loosening of dress codes in many American workplaces in recent decades, especially during summer months, sleeveless outfits have been off-limits for women in Congress.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) participated in Speier's protest and tweeted her own photo, while several other congresswomen expressed their support.
Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) supported the effort and tweeted at Paul Ryan, who as the House Speaker has the power to enforce and change the decades-old House dress code. In a press conference Thursday, Ryan said members, staffers, and congressional reporters should "look for a change on [the dress code] soon."
Rep. Speier noted that some male lawmakers were also supportive of the demonstration.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.