It’s not about the form-fitting clothes, aggressive displays of décolletage, or even the Mara-Lago-face plastic surgery. It has nothing to do with the rapid abandonment of “conservative” values that once had Republican women buttoning their shirts to the neck. And it certainly isn’t about telling women how to dress.
The emphasis on the performative nature of all this is spot-on, Lorissa! Showing up the King George-Queen Charlotte copycat-ism of this regime reminds us that nothing about this show we are seeing unfold before us is new.
It brings me back to an earlier period of history, in the court of the French King Louis XIV, when whatever the king did, the court at Versailles was required to follow. Wigs (perruques) and powder, red soles and heels, and the latest dance moves in imitation of the king were de rigeuer--and that was just for the men!
That level of competition led to backstabbing and actual stabbing, poisonings and imprisonment, an set the tone all the way up to King Louis XVI (and of course, King George III) and "off with their heads."
It took 75 years, way back in the 1700s for revolutions on both sides of the Atlantic to depose that level of sycophancy. Here's hoping we won't have to endure this drama for another 75 years in our own day!
Hi Robin, Ok first of all have you watched Versailles the tv show from 2015 and if so can we talk about it forever and if not can you please watch it so we can talk about it forever and thank you so much for your insightful comment that not only made me think about my favorite tv show but also informed my thinking about this piece! Ok, that was a run on sentence. But suffice to say YES! All of this. I ABSOLUTELY love! how you've tied this fashion-as-obedience to the history of revolution in both the UK and France. So brilliant.
Also, think of Americans in Revolutionary times as the anti-Royal fashionistas. An impulse some have sadly forgotten in our new era of sycophancy. Alas!
Outlander is not mine, but it is a brilliantly written and compellingly binge-able time travel adventure book-and-streaming series by the brilliant Diana Gabaldon.
WOW, a lot going on here... I had to take a huge breath after I read it. The gender anxiety aspect of this moment is compelling also, the feeling that if we don't read as feminine enough in a deeply conventional way we might not get treated well. There is so much thrumming energy in the way we perform gender and its intersection with personal style, and so much gorgeous variation of expression. I never get tired of that part. The other stuff is depressing and frightening, but your contextualization helps it make slightly more sense :)
Thanks Alicia, and I'm so glad the piece resonated with you. For me, it's so interesting / unsettling how these women are preforming not only their ultra-weird gender, but preforming a modern interpretation of monarchal femininity, if that's a term. Thank you as every for your insightful comments and engagement!
Loved this! I could talk to you about this for a long time. I’m not sure I entirely agree with you about Queen Charlotte and the court - and queens in general - (but I want to think about it more). But you are giving me so much to chew on. I think what you are saying about the hyper-femininity of MAGA having something to do with Trump’s view of ideal femininity is super insightful; it’s like a form of stroking his narcissism, a way of mirroring Trump back to himself. It is also super performative and a very reality-tv performance of femininity (I’m thinking about the Kardashians and how they have shaped the looks that we are seeing today). And also, on some level, it’s about gender anxiety, right? All these interventions to shape the body and the look are okay as long as your gender expression matches up with biology (or, at least, a certain view of biology). The hyperfeminine look seems to be a way of performing that alignment to the umpteenth degree. Even as (and you said it), the people who perform those looks best are drag queens.
Hi Leah - Thank you so much for your comment! And I would love to know your thoughts on Queen Charlotte. And yes to everything you said. There are som many layers to the gender performance going on with MAGA women and I think many of them are rooted in a monarchal interpretation of women's roles/value. But my goodness, it is SUPER performative - as you say. I also think - and this hadn't occurred to me before your comment - that the royal court was in itself a performance. One always had to be on and it their role - for the king's entertainment but also for political exigency... much to unpack.... Thank you for your thought provoking insights!
The emphasis on the performative nature of all this is spot-on, Lorissa! Showing up the King George-Queen Charlotte copycat-ism of this regime reminds us that nothing about this show we are seeing unfold before us is new.
It brings me back to an earlier period of history, in the court of the French King Louis XIV, when whatever the king did, the court at Versailles was required to follow. Wigs (perruques) and powder, red soles and heels, and the latest dance moves in imitation of the king were de rigeuer--and that was just for the men!
That level of competition led to backstabbing and actual stabbing, poisonings and imprisonment, an set the tone all the way up to King Louis XVI (and of course, King George III) and "off with their heads."
It took 75 years, way back in the 1700s for revolutions on both sides of the Atlantic to depose that level of sycophancy. Here's hoping we won't have to endure this drama for another 75 years in our own day!
Hi Robin, Ok first of all have you watched Versailles the tv show from 2015 and if so can we talk about it forever and if not can you please watch it so we can talk about it forever and thank you so much for your insightful comment that not only made me think about my favorite tv show but also informed my thinking about this piece! Ok, that was a run on sentence. But suffice to say YES! All of this. I ABSOLUTELY love! how you've tied this fashion-as-obedience to the history of revolution in both the UK and France. So brilliant.
Also, think of Americans in Revolutionary times as the anti-Royal fashionistas. An impulse some have sadly forgotten in our new era of sycophancy. Alas!
YES! Loved it. Particularly the « dancing » episode
THE BEST! Ok, I have to rerererewatch it now.
Also the poisoning period. I actually looked into some of the science behind this craze. Les royaumes étaient fous!
I would be « contente » to talk about it with you forever.
But also, and I say this as a time traveler and author of a YA time travel book series, Outlander
Ok Ok. Now I have to write about that!!! Or have you already? Please share if so!
Assuming you mean about my book series, Edge of Yesterday?
Yes, much about it, including my books here: https://www.edgeofyesterdaybooks.com/ and a "learning through story" time travelers platform here: https://edgeofyesterday.com/.
On Substack, I write about my favorite French philosopher, physicist, mathematician and protofeminist--subject of book IV of the series, Emilie du Chatelet--here: https://remembertheworld.substack.com/p/if-women-ruled-the-world and the equally impressive 20th century Harlem Renaissance polymath--subject of book V (currently a WIP) here: https://remembertheworld.substack.com/p/color-struck
And much, much more.
Outlander is not mine, but it is a brilliantly written and compellingly binge-able time travel adventure book-and-streaming series by the brilliant Diana Gabaldon.
If you liked Versailles, you will love the series
I loved this show until Roger. I can’t get into it right now. But when he left her and then she got raped. Traumatized and could not go back.
Brilliant! 🙌💕💃❤️🇨🇦❤️
Thank you! I’m very glad you enjoyed the piece. I think I need to do a bit more ruminating on the subject. But this is a start. :)
WOW, a lot going on here... I had to take a huge breath after I read it. The gender anxiety aspect of this moment is compelling also, the feeling that if we don't read as feminine enough in a deeply conventional way we might not get treated well. There is so much thrumming energy in the way we perform gender and its intersection with personal style, and so much gorgeous variation of expression. I never get tired of that part. The other stuff is depressing and frightening, but your contextualization helps it make slightly more sense :)
Thanks Alicia, and I'm so glad the piece resonated with you. For me, it's so interesting / unsettling how these women are preforming not only their ultra-weird gender, but preforming a modern interpretation of monarchal femininity, if that's a term. Thank you as every for your insightful comments and engagement!
Loved this! I could talk to you about this for a long time. I’m not sure I entirely agree with you about Queen Charlotte and the court - and queens in general - (but I want to think about it more). But you are giving me so much to chew on. I think what you are saying about the hyper-femininity of MAGA having something to do with Trump’s view of ideal femininity is super insightful; it’s like a form of stroking his narcissism, a way of mirroring Trump back to himself. It is also super performative and a very reality-tv performance of femininity (I’m thinking about the Kardashians and how they have shaped the looks that we are seeing today). And also, on some level, it’s about gender anxiety, right? All these interventions to shape the body and the look are okay as long as your gender expression matches up with biology (or, at least, a certain view of biology). The hyperfeminine look seems to be a way of performing that alignment to the umpteenth degree. Even as (and you said it), the people who perform those looks best are drag queens.
Hi Leah - Thank you so much for your comment! And I would love to know your thoughts on Queen Charlotte. And yes to everything you said. There are som many layers to the gender performance going on with MAGA women and I think many of them are rooted in a monarchal interpretation of women's roles/value. But my goodness, it is SUPER performative - as you say. I also think - and this hadn't occurred to me before your comment - that the royal court was in itself a performance. One always had to be on and it their role - for the king's entertainment but also for political exigency... much to unpack.... Thank you for your thought provoking insights!