• 23/07/2022
• By binternet
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When does the habit are elected?|News<

The debate around the clothing of Catherine Dorion finds echoes in other parliaments of the world.The rules of the dress code towards elected officials (especially women) are not necessarily "fixed" and sometimes cause reminders to order, or even a ban on the legislative chambers.

Recall that deputies would have threatened to intervene in the chamber with the president to exclude the solidarity deputy last Thursday, when she presented herself to the National Assembly dressed in an orange cotton.Catherine Dorion decided by herself to leave the Blue Salon.According to these deputies, it did not respect the decorum and the clothing instructions given to the opening of parliamentary work.

This case occurs a week after Catherine Dorion published on her Facebook account, during the Halloween, a photo of her "disguised as a deputy" leafy and heels.

If some "scandals" are bursting because deputies decide to use their clothes as signs to convey a political message, they also find their origin in the gendered trend that parliaments want to supervise the clothing of women.Here is an overview from cases of the United Kingdom, France and the United States.

Great Britain, good use prevails

Just like in Quebec, there is no specific dress code in the British Parliament (Westminster).The standard dictates that elected officials must respect the rules of behavior and courtesy of the House of Commons.

These rules stipulate that the way of dressing must testify to "respect for the chamber and for its central position in the life of the nation".If the use previously wanted that "men wear jackets and ties" and that "a similar level of formality must be observed by women", changes to these rules in 2018 have excluded the obligation of the tie.Nothing is now specified for women.

Changes to the dress code are sometimes accelerated by weather accidents.Before the heat waves of summer 2017, it was impossible for a politician to express himself if he was not wearing a tie.But the president of the House of Commons at the time, John Bercow, seized this pretext - the deputies literally stifled under the overwhelming heat - to bring the rules to the taste of the day: "As long as a parliamentarian arrives atThe room dressed in a correct way, the question whether it wears a tie or not is not very important.»»

This question, typically male, has caused less ink to flow than that of the clothing of politicians. Malgré leur respect du « niveau similaire de formalité»» exigé, Barbara Castle, Margaret Thatcher, Theresa May et d’autres ont été critiquées au fil des ans pour leurs vêtements aux couleurs vives, leurs talons hauts « excentriques»» ou leur choix de porter des tenues de maternité.

British deputies did not wait for Catherine Dorion to attract public attention by dressing against parliamentary prescriptions. En 2014, l’élue travailliste Harriet Harman a suscité l’indignation en chambre et chez une certaine frange de l’opinion publique en se présentant face au premier ministre David Cameron paré d’un T-shirt « Voilà à quoi ressemble une féministe»».

Un an plus tôt, en 2013, la députée verte Caroline Lucas a quant à elle été sommée de cacher son t-shirt « No More Page Three»», une allusion au sexisme des quotidiens anglais et au fait que les femmes n’apparaissent pratiquement jamais en manchette. Le président de la séance lui a dit de « remettre sa veste»» et de respecter le code vestimentaire de Westminster. Ce à quoi elle a ajouté qu’il lui semblait « assez ironique que ce t-shirt soit considéré comme une chose inappropriée à porter dans cette Assemblée, alors qu’il est apparemment approprié que ce genre de journal soit disponible dans huit points de vente différents du palais de Westminster»».

A new dress code in the French hemicycle

The French National Assembly has imposed a dress code for deputies since 2018 since 2018. Cette réglementation, voulue pour « réagir à certaines dérives»» d’une étiquette auparavant fixée par les usages, oblige les élus à suivre les règles suivantes, selon la présidence de l’Assemblée nationale :

The trigger for this sudden desire to codify would be attributable to the climb to the gallery last December, of the deputy of the La France Insoumise François Ruffin, dressed in the jersey of the Watercourt-Somme football club.He supported a bill to establish a tax on transfers of professional sportsmen. François de Rugy, président de l’Assemblée, lui a adressé un « rappel à l’ordre avec inscription au procès-verbal»».

Le nouveau règlement ne revient pas sur la dispense du port de la cravate et de la veste dans l’hémicycle, bataille menée et gagnée en 2017 entre autres par le mouvement des « sans-cravates»» (clin d’œil aux sans-culottes de la Révolution française) du chef de France insoumise, Jean‑Luc Mélenchon, et ses députés.

As for women deputies, no specific provision has been taken.It seems that their wardrobe remains conditioned by the mood of their male colleagues.In 2017, the colorful dress carried by Cécile Duflot, Minister of Housing, triggered whistles and remarks moved from her male counterparts.However, she had everything from an appropriate city outfit.Duflot also declared following this case "I am a reactive barometer.Some of my colleagues arrive in perfecto at the Élysée, others in jeans and sweater in the assembly, that does not arouse anything. Moi j’aimante quelque chose»».

Sleeveless dresses allowed in the United States

Unwritten rules prevail in the House of Representatives of the US Congress.We recommend jacket and tie for humans and an appropriate outfit for women.Sandals and sneakers are de facto proscribed for all elected officials.

Until 2017, an appropriate outfit meant for congress women (and all the staff as well as journalists gravitating around the room) the ban on wearing ups or sleeveless dresses, except with jacket. Mais, à la suite du renvoi temporaire d’une journaliste pour port d’une robe sans manches et autres « violations»» du genre, les élues se sont mobilisées autour du mouvement « Sleeveless Friday»» (Vendredi sans manches).

They gathered on the steps of the Capitol and ended up obtaining from Paul Ryan, then president of the Chamber, the withdrawal of this unwritten rule.Accused of sexism, he defended himself by indicating that the decorum remained important, but that it was indeed time to adapt the dress code to modernity.

The office of the National Assembly of Quebec (Ban) and its president, François Paradis, are currently working on a reform of the dress code, with a certain desire to soften it.It is however unlikely that this relaxation prevents deputies from transgressing the dress code.

The most important thing for the BAN will in fact be to ensure that its new code does not include women present in the National Assembly, but that it grants them a clothing freedom which does not reduce them to their gender identity.

The original version of this article was published on the conversation, an online media that publishes consumer articles written by researchers and academics.