No matter occurs on Saturday, one factor is for certain: the brand new deputy Labour chief could have a bob. Lucy Powell and Bridget Phillipson might have vaguely completely different political opinions however they share a haircut. Seven of the ten girls in Keir Starmer’s cupboard have bobs. International Secretary Yvette Cooper additionally retains it quick, with a pixie lower. Solely Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander and Tradition Secretary Lisa Nandy have resisted the chop. Effectively, Angela Rayner did too, however look what occurred to her.
“It’s now clear that to grow to be a high-ranking lady in Starmer’s authorities, you could undertake the Labour Bob,” one X consumer not too long ago posited, whereas one other quipped, “The Labour bob is the cupboard’s initiation.”
Is it sexist to even point out a feminine politician’s haircut? Male politicians accrue column inches about their shoddy lids – particularly the mops of Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and François Hollande (whose hairdresser was paid €10,000 a month, as a lot as a authorities minister). However male haircuts that generate dialogue are often outstanding ultimately. There isn’t any rhetoric concerning the identikit “Labour quick, again and thinning on high” lower that dominates the male facet of the cupboard desk.
Feminine politicians should stroll a tough tightrope with their picture: one that’s female sufficient with out being coquettish. A form-fitting swimsuit that isn’t too suggestive, a heeled shoe that isn’t too excessive. Margaret Thatcher’s hardhat of a coiffure was nicknamed “the thatch” and proved to be her persona writ giant: immovable, resilient, enduring. Anna Wintour, a very influential determine whose razor-sharp bob is indelibly linked to her picture and character. Each girls’s signature hairstyles required galling portions of money and time to take care of. Thatcher as soon as had 118 hair appointments in 12 months. Wintour’s hairdresser visited her each weekday for six years. Might Margaret have been the Iron Girl, or Anna the Nuclear Wintour, with out a haircut that so tangibly enforced their steely characters?
“Crucial factor I’ve to say to you right this moment is that hair issues,” Hillary Clinton stated throughout a speech at Yale in 2001. “Take note of your hair, as a result of everybody else will.” Her phrases proved prescient ten years later when, on a overseas journey, Clinton used a hairband relatively than ready for an area hairdresser to go Homeland Safety vetting. That call generated “Scrunchiegate”. The press argued Clinton had undermined her political prowess and America’s repute.
Hair – particularly for a lady – is each sword and defend. It have to be wielded deliberately and weaponised accordingly; if it isn’t, it is going to be used towards her. We are able to’t know the person reasoning behind every feminine politician’s choice to don a bob. Maybe a lot of them really feel most empowered, most succesful, most them with it. However is it attainable that at some point feminine leaders may be at liberty to decide on any haircut – and resist the tyrannical inevitability of the bob?
[Further reading: Could Bridget Phillipson win?]