Conscious Choice Seattle: Frizzy Politics

January 2004 | Back Woods

Frizzy Politics

By JESSICA LYONS

A woman’s hair is not a constant. It’s not intended to be. For proof, look no further than the multitude of semi-permanent hair color, perms and straightening treatments, and the oh-so-cute salon shampoo boys.

Some breeds of women–that is, models—have been known to change their hair from one page of Vogue to the next. Now it’s Bride-of-Frankenstein frizzy, now it’s stick straight.

With others–Farrah Fawcett, Jennifer Aniston and similar Hollywood types–fans expect trend-setting hair. (Remember The Rachel?) It’s part of their job descriptions. Even if adoring fans hate the‘do, we expect change. We expect high-profile women to remain au courant.

There is one ironclad exception to this rule: Women in politics. Or women with husbands in politics. Run for public office and kiss goodbye the days of changing hairstyles every six weeks.

We the public feel we own female politicians’ hair; bad perms, bad roots and all. Many politicians and First Ladies take the easy route, and don’t change their hairstyle at all while in public office, or in the public eye.

Think Madeline Albright, Condoleezza Rice and any First Lady up though Barbara Bush. US Senator Dianne Feinstein–who was also the first woman on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the first female mayor of San Francisco and the first woman elected Senator of California–has worn the same hair cut and color for more than 30 years. Stylish, it ain’t.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), on the other hand, has been called “stylish” by Time Magazine and a “babe and “looker” by the White House Project. When she became the House minority leader, she cut off her bobbed hair and experienced a mild media-induced backlash.

It’s enough to make you want to pull your hair out.

On the other end of the spectrum, there’s Hillary Clinton, the spokesmodel, if you will, for feisty politics and unabashed haircuts.. During the Clinton years, mocking Hillary’s hair became a national pastime, and the stuff of mean-spirited greeting cards.

A recent Time Magazine cover story, featuring an excerpt of Sen. Clinton’s memoir, actually included a photo spread charting the evolution of her hair.

Perhaps it’s no accident that Clinton is a realistic contender for the presidency (at least in 2008) and doesn’t bend (or curl) to mainstream media’s frivolous focus on hairstyles.

While male politicos don’t wear the spiky faux hawks and bleached hair of the hipster generation, even Al Gore experienced some seedling resentment when he went from clean-shaven to bearded all in the course of a vacation abroad. Pundits said he looked too edgy, too brash, and, dare we say it, too European.

Why all the fuss over female politicians’ hairdos? Maybe we childlike citizens look to our elected officials as surrogate parents—protectors who will shield us from the dangers and uncertainties in the world. If our politicians change, how can we trust anything to remain constant?

Or perhaps we associate changing hair with controversy. Compare First Ladies Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush. Clinton didn’t play the traditional first-lady role. She supported her man, but she also pushed her own political agenda and campaigned for sweeping health care reforms.

Laura Bush, on the other hand, is foremost a mother and wife. While Hillary set forth to overhaul the health care system in the US, Laura remains focused on literacy and education. It doesn’t get more motherhood and apple pie than that.

In‘04, things could get interesting or at least tousled and tangled a bit. It’s too bad that Carol Moseley Braun doesn’t stand a chance. Her hair’s cropped close to her head, it’s not typically feminine, and it’s the ultimate no-nonsense cut. It would be interesting to see how the public would react.

We’re left only with the potential First Ladies.

Elizabeth Edwards plays it safer than Teresa Heinz Kerry. Edwards’ hair looks sensible and stylish, but in a soccer mom kind of way. She’s an attorney and her cause is kids.

The Boston Globe, in detailing Dr. Judith Steinberg Dean’s dark hair and “simple skirt and sweater,” calls her the “least packaged” of the candidates’ wives, which translates to no sense of style. “I’m not a fashion plate,” she admits.

Poor Gert Clark doesn’t stand a chance. The General’s wife’s hair would undoubtedly be overshadowed by her husband’s shock of white hair and high-voltage smile.

Teresa Heinz Kerry, called “opinionated” by her friends and a “loose cannon” by her foes, doesn’t look likely to conform to a traditional First Lady role. She’s smart. She’s fashionable. She’s got opinions of her own and she’s not afraid to share them. And she has fabulous curly hair.

"This is hardly the first lady’s hairdo,” she recently told Elle Magazine.

And hardly a sign of progress that too much of the mainstream media still focuses on a woman’s hair instead of her politics.

Jessica Lyons lives in Santa Cruz, Calif., and is a staff writer for Monterey County Coast Weekly.

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