“The key to beauty is feeling beautiful, and no amount of money or makeup can really compensate for loving yourself,” the congresswoman said.
“Femininity has power, and, in politics, there is so much criticism and nitpicking about how women and femme people present ourselves,” AOC said. “Just being a woman is quite politicised here in Washington.”
Fresh from the glitz of the virtual Democratic National Convention broadcast from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, AOC denied that style can be separated from substance in politics.
“There’s this really false idea that if you care about makeup or if your interests are in beauty and fashion, that that’s somehow frivolous,” she said. “But I actually think these are some of the most substantive decisions that we make, and we make them every morning.”
“Our culture is so predicated on diminishing women, right, and kind of preying on our self-esteem, and so it’s quite a radical act, and it’s almost like a mini protest to love yourself in a society that’s always trying to tell you you’re not the right weight, you’re not the right colour, you’re not the right whatever it is.”
The democratic socialist representative for New York’s 14th district revealed the secret of her trademark bright red lipstick look.
“When you’re always kind of running around, sometimes the best way to really look put together is a bold lip, and, of course, being Latina, this is like, very much our culture, where we come from,” she said.
“I will wear a red lip when I want confidence, when I need a boost of confidence.”
Returning to politics, AOC denounced the so-called “pink tax”, a reference to the higher prices for products such as razors marketed to women, as a manifestation of “patriarchy.”
