If there’s a downside to being a rising star in politics, it’s that you can do very little without being criticized. That dynamic only increases in intensity if you’re a woman, a person of color, or have any other marginalized identity. If you followed the State of the Union on Twitter, you might feel that Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York got as much screen time as the president himself. (Which, of course, isn’t a bad thing.)
Unfortunately, the freshman congresswoman has received a lot of criticism as it is, even before the SOTU. From the estimated cost of the clothing she wears, to where she went to high school, to her ability to dance, it seems she can do very little without garnering public scrutiny.
This year, as is the norm at the State of the Union, members of Congress were relatively expressive. For example, they stand and clap when they’re in agreement with the president, and remain stoic when they don’t. Ocasio-Cortez stayed motionless (though not expressionless) even when some of her peers stood up and clapped.
Her lack of a smile, of course, also became a big point of discussion.
The expectation that women need to smile isn’t anything new. In fact, it’s so clichéd that it’s almost surprising the sentiment remains as strong as it ever did. Many people were critical of Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter, but one tweet stands out in part because it’s so direct, and in part because the congresswoman responded to it herself.
Given that Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman ever to be elected to Congress, the “teenaged” comment is especially condescending. It goes without saying that men would never be criticized for not looking “warm” and would never be described as “sullen” or “at a loss.” Perhaps they’d be called “thoughtful,” “contemplative,” or “focused,” all of which could also describe Ocasio-Cortez.
Of course, Ocasio-Cortez continues to hold her own and be very direct in explaining (but not apologizing for) the way she carried herself.
Without a doubt, critics put a lot more focus on her expression than on the other elements she brought to this year’s SOTU. For example, she wore a pin with a photograph of Jakelin Caal Maquin, the 7-year-old girl who died in Border Control custody in December. She also brought Ana Maria Archila, one of the two women who confronted then-Senator Jeff Flake during Brett Kavanaugh’ s confirmation hearings, as her guest.
And like other women in Congress, she wore white. White is symbolic on several levels. Historically, it refers to the women’ s suffrage movement that led to ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920. Last night, it reinforced that women’ s economic and financial security is an important focus moving forward.
In an interview with CNN, before the address began, Ocasio-Cortez shared that she wore white because “2019 is the 100th anniversary of the women’s right to vote. There’s so much more that we have to fight for, from wage equality to paycheck fairness to protecting ourselves and believing survivors.”
And how was Ocasio-Cortez actually feeling last night? In an interview with MSNBC after the SOTU, she elaborated on her mood and mindset during the address, saying, “I think that the president was unprepared. I don't think that he did his homework. ... There was no plan to address our opioid crisis, there was no plan to address the cost of health care, there was no plan to increase wages."
We’ve all smiled and humored Trump long enough. If anything, it’s refreshing and encouraging to see the freshman congresswoman with the same expressions so many of us at home were wearing.