By Marissa Rotolo
THE STRAWBERRY BLONDE / Link
“If I was out flashing my dollars, I’d be a bitch not a baller. They’d paint me out to be bad, so it’s okay that I’m mad.” Taylor Swift sings in “The Man” from her album Lover.
What comes to mind when you hear the word "diva"? Difficult? Powerful? Demanding? Glamorous? "Diva" used to have fewer nuances. Once used to describe high-maintenance opera singers, the term now means different things to different people. One of the most prominent representations of the "diva" persona today is through the power suit: a bold rejection to catering to societal comfort standards.
A power suit is formal business attire typically worn by men in power. That changed when women began to dismantle gender stereotypes, rejecting the narrative that seeking power and ambition is unfeminine or disruptive.
The term "diva" used to be derogatory, often used to frame women as "bitches" or as acting "holier than thou." It was a way to discredit women’s abilities, reducing them to being emotional, testy or unstable. Women were conditioned to conform to the politics of respectability—until the line started to blur.
There are many cases in women’s history where women pushed the envelope, such as Joni Mitchell writing "Big Yellow Taxi" to promote environmental protection after being typecast as "the girl next door," or Betty Davis striking a masculine pose for her album art to provoke discomfort and reject norms.
So where does the power suit come in? Dating back to the 1800s, when suffragettes began to "wear the pants" for the first time, the movement became a crusade for equality. In the 1970s, a "power suit" was a caricature of what it would become: padded shoulders, big hair, double-breasted jackets and sensible heels. However, this period marked a shift in attitude as women became fed up.
As women in the workforce become more normalized, so does the presence of the "power suit." Hailey Bieber recently attended an event for her skincare brand, Rhode, in a YSL power suit marked by a slouched silhouette. Incorporating elements that show authority can coexist with softness, and femininity does not need to be diminished.
The journey of the power suit embodies transformation. It takes the frustration of being agreeable and outwardly disregards it. It represents the dichotomy of a man’s power being viewed as ambition while a woman's is seen as greed, a man’s strength as assertiveness while a woman's is labeled as abrasiveness—and the list goes on. The power suit continues to spark conversation, challenge perceptions, and insist that women belong in any room.
HAILEY BIEBER / @HaileyBieber via Instagram
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