Kyrsten Sinema - a DINO?

And she’s definitely fed up with the emerging niche literary genre regarding what she wears on the Senate floor — something her male colleagues don’t have to endure.

“It's very inappropriate. I wear what I want because I like it. It's not a news story, and it's no one's business,” Sinema said. “It's not helpful to have [coverage] be positive or negative. It also implies that somehow women are dressing for someone else.”

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Yet, even after an extended interview, the first-term Democrat holds onto the air of mystery that’s become a signature part of her political brand. Sinema won’t say she’s running for reelection, nor will she respond to Rep. Ruben Gallego’s (D-Ariz.) flirtations with a primary challenge.

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However, she will criticize her party for its complicity in setting unachievable, sky-high expectations, just like the Republicans who promised to repeal Obamacare under former President Donald Trump. A $3.5 trillion social spending bill, sweeping elections reform, a $15 minimum wage and changes to the filibuster rules were always a long shot with Sinema and Manchin as the definitive Democratic votes in the Senate.

“You’re either honest or you’re not honest. So just tell the truth and be honest and deliver that which you can deliver,” Sinema said. “There's this growing trend of people in both political parties who promise things that cannot be delivered, in order to get the short-term political gain. And I believe that it damages the long-term health of our democracy.”

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The Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema, who memorably posted a photo of herself wearing a ring that said “Fuck Off”, thinks it is offensive that the media keeps discussing her sartorial choices.

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Sinema’s outfit, which also included oversized fuchsia glasses and gigantic earrings containing a charm of what appears to be a skull and butterfly, is right in line with her sartorial M.O. The former Congresswoman and first-term senator has long been the flashiest dresser in the Capitol, and during the pandemic, her wardrobe has gotten even weirder.* She’s worn several highlighter-hued wigs on the Senate floor to hide her grown-out dye job as she stayed home from the salon. (According to her spokesperson, the wigs were a reminder to constituents to practice COVID-19 precautions.) In February, she wore a pink sweater emblazoned with the phrase “Dangerous Creature,” a nod to a line from one of romance novelist Lisa Kleypas’ books: “A well-read woman is a dangerous creature.”

I’ve always been a fan of Sinema’s flamboyant getups, which have gotten more daring over the course of her tenure—not because I particularly like the clothes she wears, but simply because they make Congressional fashion a lot more interesting. Her eschewal of the traditional array of solid neutrals and jewel tones, sheath dresses, and conservative pumps would seem to suggest a healthy disregard for fusty, outdated customs—both explicit and implicit—of political dress, which were devised with a certain race, class, and gender of politician in mind. That’s probably the exact interpretation Sinema intended: It supports her self-presentation as an independent-minded outsider, beholden to no party or standard of Congressional dress. One would be forgiven for assuming that a neon-wigged, go-go boot–clad, “Dangerous Creature”–wearing senator was a hippie-dippie liberal, but one would be wrong. Sinema’s weirdo wardrobe isn’t an outgrowth of some anything-goes progressive ideology, but rather a matching complement to her weirdo politics, which have drastically changed over the years and don’t seem to coalesce into any discernible, deeply-held ideology at all.

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Her “Fuck Off” ring has the same effect, making it appear that Sinema is driven more by a chip on her shoulder than an earnest desire to improve American lives. Like Melania Trump’s “I don’t really care do u?” jacket, the “fuck off” ring does not make its addressee clear.

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It doesn’t matter whether you’re a senator or a schoolkid, female clothing is unfairly policed. Professional women often find themselves getting scrutinized for their fashion choices in ways that their male counterparts are not. But does that mean, as Sinema seems to be suggesting, that it is automatically sexist or inappropriate to comment on what a female politician is wearing? Of course not.

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During a unanimous vote on an agency's inspector general, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., took to the Senate floor while donning a face mask and a vibrant purple wig.

Sinema, whose locks are usually blonde, voted and seemed to identify herself by pointing to her new look, with an expression of, "Yeah, it's me. You knew that, right?"

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Sinema's office didn't return NPR's request for comment, but her staff told a local reporter that the $12.99 wig was simply meant to "set an example of social distancing from hair salons."

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One reason that so much attention is paid to the senator’s clothes is that people are desperate to understand what (if anything) she stands for, and clothes seem to be one of the main ways she expresses herself. Sinema seems to have forgotten that she is a public servant and that part of her job is communicating with the people she represents. She doesn’t hold public events for her Arizona constituents; she doesn’t communicate with the local progressive groups who got her elected or even her previous allies; she rarely gives interviews and, when she does speak to the press, says little of substance.

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If Sinema wants people to focus on her work instead of her wigs, then maybe she should remember who she is supposed to be working for. If Sinema starts providing much-needed explanations about what she stands for, there might be rather less talk about the thigh-high boots she’s standing in.

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recurring theme among far-right GOP culture warriors is that “liberals and progressives don’t share our traditional American values,” and the latest target of that theme is Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. Truth be told, the Arizona Democrat isn’t all that liberal: Sinema ran a decidedly centrist campaign in the 2018 Arizona Senate race, narrowly defeating Republican nominee Martha McSally. But many Republicans are outraged—or at least pretending to being outraged—because Sinema appeared on the Senate floor last week wearing over-the-knee boots with a minidress. One of them is Alabama State Auditor Jim Zeigler, who chastised Sinema on his Facebook page for being “inappropriately dressed” and tried to shame Democratic Alabama Sen. Doug Jones (who he might be running against in 2020) by posting a photo of Jones and Sinema together. This is the same Zeigler who passionately defended Roy Moore, the 2017 Alabama Senate candidate accused of sexually pursuing teenage girls when he was in his thirties.

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1. Ted Cruz attacked Beto O’Rourke for playing in a punk band
2. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized for dancing
3. Fox News’ Sean Hannity was furious because Obama used mustard on a burger
4. Newt Gingrich expressed outrage because Mitt Romney speaks French
5. Trump criticized Jeb Bush for speaking Spanish on the campaign trail

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Lori B 777 on Twitter: "⁦@kyrstensinema⁩ On the floor of the senate today! When did the Senate become a night club? #HookerOnTheHill (pix link)" / Twitter

ABC News’ "The View" co-hosts openly mocked and derided Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., on Wednesday for her previous opposition to President Joe Biden’s "Build Back Better" agenda.

Co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar remarked on Sinema’s comments after Biden signed into law his trillion-dollar infrastructure plan. Despite frequent criticism against her, Sinema has maintained that she has no interest in switching parties.

Goldberg added herself to the list of critics by mocking the senator’s comments.

"So has she just been misunderstood or is she just trying to, like, I don’t know, join in to the victory lap?" Goldberg said in a faux valley girl accent.

"She bothers me a little bit," Behar interjected.

Behar then complained that the Arizona senator has brought on the criticism by being "never available" for her constituents.

"She’s never available. She thinks she’s at the Cannes Film Festival and the paparazzi are chasing her. You’re a United States senator. Speak to your constituents. Talk to people. That’s your job," Behar said.

Behar later said Sinema "thinks she’s above" talking to people.

"She thinks that she’s above it, that she doesn’t have to. ‘No I don’t have to.’ Well you do, miss! Get yourself out there!" Behar said.

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lpetrich said:

'The View' hosts mock Kyrsten Sinema with valley girl accent, says she 'thinks she’s above' talking to people | Fox News

ABC News’ "The View" co-hosts openly mocked and derided Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., on Wednesday for her previous opposition to President Joe Biden’s "Build Back Better" agenda.

Co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar remarked on Sinema’s comments after Biden signed into law his trillion-dollar infrastructure plan. Despite frequent criticism against her, Sinema has maintained that she has no interest in switching parties.

Goldberg added herself to the list of critics by mocking the senator’s comments.

"So has she just been misunderstood or is she just trying to, like, I don’t know, join in to the victory lap?" Goldberg said in a faux valley girl accent.

"She bothers me a little bit," Behar interjected.

Behar then complained that the Arizona senator has brought on the criticism by being "never available" for her constituents.

"She’s never available. She thinks she’s at the Cannes Film Festival and the paparazzi are chasing her. You’re a United States senator. Speak to your constituents. Talk to people. That’s your job," Behar said.

Behar later said Sinema "thinks she’s above" talking to people.

"She thinks that she’s above it, that she doesn’t have to. ‘No I don’t have to.’ Well you do, miss! Get yourself out there!" Behar said.

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The article has a picture of two protesters near a door - "An Arizona bride and her mother pleaded with protesters outside of a wedding that Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., officiated last weekend to stop disrupting the event, according to video of the demonstrators. (Credit: "Lone Protester" YouTube video screenshot) ("Lone Protester" YouTube)" - one of them had a sign saying "KYR$TEN $INEMA I$ A CORPORATE $CHILL" with $'s nearby.

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lpetrich said:

Why do they do it? MH speculated that it's because of the influence and power that they get. Like Mitt Romney once calling Joe Manchin "Mr. President".

MG said that it's much easier to get what JM is thinking than KS. He said that Democrats were lucky to have a Democrat in WV, because of how Republican that state is.

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The Times has published four separate pieces analyzing the style and dress of our colleague Senator Kyrsten Sinema. We cannot imagine The Times printing similar pieces on the fashion choices of any of our male colleagues.

As Senator Sinema recently said about the commentary on her fashion: “I wear what I want because I like it. It’s not a news story, and it’s no one’s business.” We couldn’t agree more.

Senator Sinema is a serious, hardworking member of the Senate who contributes a great deal to the policy deliberations before us. Your repeated focus on how she dresses, rather than what she says and does, is demeaning, sexist and inappropriate.

Susan Collins
Jeanne Shaheen
Lisa Murkowski
Washington

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Given the high legislative stakes, it is easy to treat Sinema’s aesthetics as unimportant. But those aesthetics are part of the way she courts, manipulates and plays with public attention as a political figure. Politicians are part of the cultural and economic elite. Their choices are always about public perception. In that context, a dress is never just a dress. It is always strategy.

Sinema is known for making a visual splash as a method of political storytelling. That story seems to be something like, “I am a maverick. You can’t control me. You are not the boss of me. I’m an independent thinker,” even when thinking independently may run afoul of reason or ideological positions.

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Some of you worry that this line of inquiry devalues Sinema’s credentials and office; others worry that talking about presentation is tacitly sexist because it opens the door to critiquing women for something that their male counterparts can take for granted.

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Maxine pointed out that Sinema’s physique is one that would “attract different kinds of attention” were it that of a Black woman. As a comparison, she brought up the way voters eviscerated Michelle Obama — who is a political figure despite not being an elected official — for wearing sleeveless dresses. On Obama, fitted sheaths without sleeves were a code for unruly behavior and thus disrespect for the president’s office. But unruliness is a reputation that Sinema can afford to cultivate. It was seen, especially early in her career, as positive: a mark of her independence, not a sign of her lack of respect. Sinema also gets a bonus: that sleeveless silhouette draws attention to her level of fitness. Love or hate her style, a lot of the commentary suggests, you have to respect Sinema’s fit physique.

Fitness implies health, and our culture elevates healthiness and fitness to the level of moral virtue — which means that being able to code as fit or healthy is an asset to politicians. This is why we know so much about Sinema’s fitness routine.

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I spoke with Ashley Mears, a Boston University sociologist and former fashion model, about how Sinema plays on our notions of class. Mears described Sinema’s style as “a middle-class kind of catalog look.” “Middle-class” does not just mean that the fashion itself is accessible, that you can buy it from a mall or online store. It also means that it projects a middle-class image.

The form-fitting dresses and retro color palette that Sinema favors are a way of broadcasting her bona fides as a middle-class politician and thus someone in step with middle-class values.

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Mears said that Sinema’s presentation reads like “someone who’s got a catalog budget but is trying to imagine what that high-end editorial looks like, someone who aspires to be cool and edgy.”

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The Beltway, with its culture of power and politics, is also a “masculinist place,” as Mears described it. One of the reasons that Sinema’s style stands out is that backdrop. There are a narrow number of roles written for women, just like in society more broadly. One can be an ingénue, a power broker, an elite or an outsider.

Each role comes with a performance that shapes the political message and, as Mears put it, “chooses her audience.” Sinema stands out for trying to combine different aspects of multiple roles for female politicians. The tightfitting clothes whisper ingénue, innocent of the rules. The bright colors and wigs and accessories scream outsider, someone who knows the rules and ignores them. The bold patterns, in any other silhouette from the one she favors, could signal power broker or elite. But altogether, they communicate someone who may be aware of the roles that female politicians are boxed into but does not play into any of them all of the time.

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Despite her flamboyant persona — the Crayola-colored wigs, the edgy outfits, the in-your-face bling — Senator Kyrsten Sinema rarely talks smack about other lawmakers. But when Democratic leaders delayed a promised House vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill that the Arizona Democrat had helped spearhead, she let loose.

Blasting her own leadership, she decried the delay as “inexcusable” and an “ineffective stunt to gain leverage over a separate proposal,” the president’s sweeping social spending plan. Progressives, meanwhile, remain furious at her over a multitude of perceived betrayals: not only impeding the Build Back Better plan, but also voting against an increase in the minimum wage and stalwartly protecting the filibuster, thus giving the Republican minority the power to essentially veto most legislation.

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Part of what is driving Democrats so crazy is her inscrutability. It’s not simply that she refuses to publicly discuss her specific objections to the Build Back Better plan; people just don’t have a clear sense of what matters to her — of what her core principles are. Absent that, her critics have increasingly ascribed her behavior to a slurry of narcissism, opportunism and obeisance to corporate interests.

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But she does have a guiding principle. She holds fast to an abhorrence of the toxicity and dysfunction of the hyper-polarized political system, brandishing a potent combination of disgust, frustration and moderation that could, come to think of it, put her in sync with a big slice of Americans.

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Ms. Sinema is, at heart, a Democrat of convenience and expediency; she has a chance now to show that independents aren’t just a New England eccentricity. Her early allegiance was to the Green Party, and she worked on Ralph Nader’s 2000 presidential campaign — an animating message of which was that the major parties were two sides of the same corrupt, self-serving coin.

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But her involvement with progressive activists — both as one herself and later as an elected official — left some scars. In her 2009 book, “Unite and Conquer,” Ms. Sinema emerges as a progressive disillusioned by the foibles and limitations of progressive activism. The book, on coalition building, is awash in mocking caricatures of progressives as smug, ineffectual, rigid, self-serious, wonky, disorganized know-it-alls.

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The senator, who declined interview requests, fancies herself a role model for a new ethos favoring “a higher road of engagement that focuses on finding common ground,” as she put it in “Unite and Conquer.”

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The senator’s preoccupation with bipartisanship is partly a matter of experience and expediency.

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The bulk of her political career has been spent in the minority. In “Unite and Conquer,” she recalls blowing into her first session of the State Legislature “full of vim and vigor, ready to face off for justice — which made me rather annoying.” She gave “scathing,” self-righteous speeches against bills, only to watch those bills pass with supermajorities. Shut out of the legislative process, she writes, “I knew I couldn’t keep doing what I was doing because it wasn’t working for me and I hated it.”

Ms. Sinema absorbed the lesson that, to wield influence, even around the edges, she had to learn to play nice with the opposition.

The mind-set of being in the minority still has a grip on her, says Chad Campbell, an old friend who served with her in the State House. “She knows what it’s like to be overwhelmed by the majority party,” says Mr. Campbell.

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lpetrich said:

KS said several times in the interview that "I'm a workhorse, not a showhorse". Meaning the sort of Congressperson who gets things done rather than one who sounds off a lot.

But her fashion sense suggests showhorse much more than workhorse. What she wore in the interview was a bit plain by her standards: a black dress with a white crosshatch with a little less than a hand width between the lines. But even that is flashy by the standards of a lot of Congresswomen: they favor solid colors.

KK then mentioned the exchange "But I've known you for decades." "Yeah." "You look a lot better than I do." He then suggested that KS's interviewer ought to go to a bathroom and masturbate.

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Harry Bosch said:

lpetrich said:

KS said several times in the interview that "I'm a workhorse, not a showhorse". Meaning the sort of Congressperson who gets things done rather than one who sounds off a lot.

But her fashion sense suggests showhorse much more than workhorse. What she wore in the interview was a bit plain by her standards: a black dress with a white crosshatch with a little less than a hand width between the lines. But even that is flashy by the standards of a lot of Congresswomen: they favor solid colors.

KK then mentioned the exchange "But I've known you for decades." "Yeah." "You look a lot better than I do." He then suggested that KS's interviewer ought to go to a bathroom and masturbate.

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Well (and I can't believe that I'm actually debating someone's clothing which I think is absolutely the silliest way to judge someone); I think that KS is a very attractive lady and I personally like her fashion. Secondly, while I don't agree with all her positions, I appreciate the fact that if it wasn't for her, the republicans would control the senate, and there would be no infrastructure bill.

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Is it fair to comment on Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and other elected officials’ fashion choices? Professor Tressie McMillan Cottom says yes, and that it can be done without resorting to sexist rhetoric.

Zerlina.: Incisive and timely coverage of politics and current events, through in-depth conversations that unpack the latest developments in this era's breakneck news cycle and draw back the curtain on their real-world consequences.

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Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has made headlines for her eclectic fashion, from her denim vest to her pink and purple wigs. Sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom shares the message behind these outfits and why it’s not sexist to be paying attention to Sinema’s clothes: “We are going to have to learn how to talk about powerful people that also happen to be women.”

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Yep! I rent, borrow, and thrift my clothes. (It’s also environmentally sustainable!)

Sequins are a great accessory to universal healthcare, don’t you agree? " / Twitter