The September issue of Vogue magazine, billed as The Fall Fashion Blockbuster, features a lengthy profile of Texas State Senator Wendy Davis. Davis gained nationwide notoriety after she filibustered for 12 hours in an attempt to block the passage of an omnibus anti-abortion bill known as SB5, which was eventually signed into law by Governor Rick Perry on July 18.
Her celebratory profile in Vogue has real significance. Not because the writer reveals that Davis’ filibustering outfit consisted of pink Mizuno running shoes and a sky-blue Escada day coat. Not because the caption for the article’s featured picture reads Wendy Davis in a Carolina Herrera dress and Reed Krakoff pumps. Not because the opening paragraph of the piece references the Super Bowl, HBO’s Girls, and 7 for All Mankind jeans as elements of her life.
Actually, these mentions are precisely why the profile is significant. Each one a different brush stroke creating a portrait of the left’s latest heroine fighting for all women in the face of a fabricated war, in which the villains are simply those who simply do not support federally subsidized contraception or unrestricted abortion on demand. And what better venue in which to view the portrait than the iconic pop culture platform that is Vogue.
The left understand and embraces a very simple concept: culture is upstream from politics. It is a message delivery system that reaches millions and millions of registered voters and those who soon will be. The message can be overtly ideological but what’s often more effective is the celebration of an ideology through other means…simply by presenting the owner of that ideology in a way that is accessible:
A crowd of thousands has assembled for the Fourth of July parade in Arlington. Davis waves to them from the back of a teal-blue vintage Thunderbird draped with bunting. She’s comfortable in the high-80s heat (she goes running in it most mornings), wearing an American-flag scarf from Urban Outfitters, a white tank top, blue-striped linen shorts, and red Toms slip-ons. “Thank you!” can be heard. Also: “Our state loves you!” Occasionally a hiss or a boo filters in, but mostly there are cries of “We love you, Wendy” and “Wendy for governor!”
So as the millions of Vogue readers (87% of which are female) turn its pages in search of unattainable freakish beauty, they will be treated to a profile of Wendy Davis and whether they know it or not, the notion of a war on them is reinforced. And what’s more, the villain becomes clear simply because the hero has been hoisted…in a white tank top, blue-striped linen shorts and red Toms slip-ons.
Photo: Eric Boman / Vogue
Jon David Kahn is the Minister of Culture for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter.
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