One B.C. man set out to prove that double standards exist when it comes to gender and attire, and he did.
“For more than a year, I wore the same dark blue suit to every Council meeting, and nobody noticed,” Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart posted on his Facebook page over the weekend.
In November of 2014, Stewart read an article about a newscaster in Australia who wore the same suit on air for a year as a semi-experiment. His female co-anchor was getting regular emails criticizing her clothing, even though she wore a different outfit every day. During the entire year, no one noticed that the male anchor never strayed from wearing one suit.
Stewart said he saw female colleagues get similar comments right here in B.C.
Among other MLAs, he noticed that while only 25 per cent of them were women, they were the only ones getting critiqued on their fashion sense and wardrobe.
“I actually think it’s a significant issue, as it demonstrates in some ways the fact that there are different standards for men vs. women, that there are hidden barriers to women entering some professions, including elected office,” wrote Stewart. “If we truly want our democratic institutions to reflect society, we need to open our eyes to those differences.”
For the last decade Stewart has been on City Council, and said he’s seen women turn down positions as councillors because they didn’t want to be in the spotlight, feeling they didn’t have the right wardrobe for the job.
During the 2014 municipal election he said he overheard several comments about the clothing of female candidates. Even though of the almost 20 candidates, only four were women, people didn’t comment on what the men were wearing.
That’s when he decided to take his own stand.
Photo Credit: Richard Stewart on Twitter.
“I went into my closet and picked out a plain, off-the-rack, boring, dark blue suit. I decided that I’d wear that suit to every Council meeting until someone noticed, until someone commented on it. I told nobody,” continued Stewart.
Over the 15 months, he had the suit dry-cleaned regularly. And he showed up wearing it at all kinds of events and committee meetings.
Finally, 15 months later, on Monday February 15, someone finally commented on his suit at Council.
Three Councillors had worn grey suits, so someone remarked, “Didn’t you get the memo?” pointing to his navy attire.
Still, no one noticed that it was the same suit he’d been wearing week after week.
“I can’t imagine anybody suggesting that a woman could get away with wearing the same outfit for more than a year,” said Stewart. “But clearly a man could, and did.”
Stewart said he hopes to see barriers and double standards done away with.
“Let’s not elect our representatives because of the clothes they stand in, but because of what they stand for.”
