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Whenever I've had a formal presentation in class, I've always been asked to dress nicely. I can still hear my numerous teachers mentioning "A suit and tie for men...dress or blouse and dress pants for ladies" before every presentation I'd give.
Why do teachers want students to dress up for a speech or presentation? The answer is simple. Individuals look more put together, sophisticated and professional when they are dressed up, which instinctively sets the mood for the rest of the presentation.
Needless to say, this custom resonates far beyond the classroom. For the past couple weeks, there have been numerous debates, conferences and speeches being made for this Election season. Most notable are the heated Presidential Debates between President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney. If you're like me, always having an invisible microscope out to examine the details not usually considered, maybe you've considered the way these candidates looked.
The photo above is of the two candidates, Romney and Obama (respectively), at the first Presidential Debate. What's there to notice? First of all, the suits. Obama opted for a navy blue suit, while Romney chose a classic black suit. The President went with a blue tie and American flag lapel pin, while the Governor selected a red striped tie and an American flag pin as well. What are the candidates trying to have their style choices say about them? Elizabeth Wellington, a writer for philly.com, explained her answer to this question by saying that "both men have to look compassionate, yet strong. Romney must be careful not to look too much like a wealthy one-percenter, while President Obama can't come across as too forceful, yet he must be presidential" (Wellington).
For the rest of Wellington's article, click here.
With what Wellington said, the candidates also want their appearance to evoke emotions with their appearance. A great way to do this is by picking a great tie. I'm not kidding you. Ties, out of all the other pieces that make up a typical male's formal outfit, have the most color flexibility. That being said, each potential color evokes a different emotion, so the color of a candidate's tie can say a lot about them.
For the first debate, Obama selected a blue tie. Firstly, blue is the color of the Democratic Party, which easily signals to spectators "I'm the democratic candidate". Also, blue is considered a calming color. According to the basic representation of colors, determined by 1940's Swiss psychotherapist Max Lüscher, the color blue evokes feelings of commitment, dependability and inspiration. (For more on the emotions evoked by colors, click here.)
Romney, who chose the Republican Party's color, red, also likely thought about evoking specific emotions. The color red is associated with feelings of stimulation: passion, strength, energy and enthusiasm. Romney, often considered as the "underdog" or "challenger" in the election, chose well in my opinion with the red tie. He wanted to get noticed, attract attention and seem strong. A red tie clearly evokes those emotions more than a blue tie. The blue tie, however, suited Obama's demeanor better, who, as the current president, wanted to reassure Americans that he has been a good, dependable President and wishes to continue to inspire Americans.
To top this off, studies have shown that each party favors a different look for their candidates. An article from livescience.com found that "'Republicans tend to do better when they look like a high-school quarterback or a CEO- square jaw, cropped hair'.... Democrats did better when they had the look of a college professor'" (Bryner).
The same source also did an experiment where participants looked at photos of opposing congressional candidates and were asked to choose which candidate appeared more competent, more intelligent, more likable and more trustworthy.
The article noted that "candidates who were labeled as more competent and more trustworthy were more often identified as Republican, while Democrats were more often linked with traits of likability and intelligence" (Bryner).
For the rest of this article, click right here!
So is it just one large coincidence or do candidates really spend more time on their appearance than the average individual expects? I think it's hard to write this one off as just a fluke. Appearance is clearly an important factor in how others perceive an individual, and just like my experiences of dressing up before giving a class speech, it's highly unlikely that our fellow presidential candidates don't give some concrete thought into how exactly they look when they're on our TV screens. After all, even the seemingly tiny details could make a huge difference when it comes time to vote.
As someone constantly on the prowl for symbolism, I found this post very insightful and relevant. How the candidates present themselves (physically and how they talk)plays a role almost equal to their policies and standpoints. Whether this is "acceptable" or not is another discussion entirely, but currently appearances play a pivotal function in swaying voters, both undecided and decided (for more on that, check out http://bythenumbersdg.blogspot.com/2012/10/two-percent-of-voters-thought-mitt.html).
ReplyDeleteBut you have to wonder if there is anything we as a society can do to focus less on the appearance, but rather the policies, of our potential leaders. While looks certainly instill a sense of trustworthiness and likability (or lack thereof), these assumptions are not always accurate and don't mean much once in office.