Women who serve in the Missouri House will face a tougher dress code when they return to the floor this week after a debate that Democrats panned as a pointless distraction from the issues facing the state.
The new rules require female legislators and staff members to wear a jacket such as a cardigan or blazer.
The Republican lawmaker who introduced the change said it was done to ensure decorum and mirror the men’s dress code.
Democrats thus called it ridiculous, saying women shouldn’t be policed for their fashion choices.
Republican Rep. Ann Kelley, who introduced the amendment, said it cleans up language in current House rules so that the dress code for women will mirror the dress code for men.
‘It is essential to always maintain a formal and professional atmosphere on House floor and to ensure this happens, I have felt compelled to offer this amendment,” she said during Wednesday’s floor debate.
Her initial amendment said women would be required to wear business attire – specifically a “jacket,” which would include “blazers and knit blazers.”
Then, after spirited debate, a revised amendment was adopted to clarify that a cardigan could also be worn.
Under the previous dress code, women were required to wear “dresses or skirts or slacks worn with a blazer or sweater and appropriate dress shoes or boots.”
A second layer of clothing was not required. Kelley said ensuring decorum was a key reason behind her proposal –- an idea Democrats seized on.
Representative Ashley Aune went on to say she has personally been asked about her attire, even though she was following the rules.
“Do you know what it feels like to have a bunch of men in this room looking at your top trying to determine if it’s appropriate or not?” she said.
Virginia Ramseyer Winter, an associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Health Professions and director of the Center for Body Image Research and Policy, said lawmakers shouldn’t have even debated this because it unnecessarily put the focus on the way women look instead of the issues.
Spectators on Twitter responded to the heated debate, many siding with Reps. Proudie and Aune – and some commenting on how Kelley herself was presented.
