The lady in these photos is Democratic congresswoman Marcy Kaptor. She’s the longest-serving congressperson from the state of Ohio. She’s 71 years old and she’s been a member of the House of Representatives since 1983. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of her, and I’m sorry to say that this isn’t a good story. Maybe Rep. Kaptor is truly a great person who works hard for her constituents. Maybe she doesn’t realize that she’s internalized a lot of patriarchal bullsh-t over the years and she just had one bad day where she said the wrong thing. I hope that’s the case. You see, Rep. Kaptor attended a Democratic Caucus meeting to discuss the ongoing congressional harassment issues, and she thought that would be a good moment to argue that ladies need to keep to a stricter dress code if they want to keep from being harassed.
A female Democratic House member shocked fellow lawmakers Wednesday when she said that the revealing clothing that some members and staffers wear is an “invitation” to sexual harassment. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) made the comments during a private Democratic Caucus meeting Wednesday to discuss sexual harassment issues, according to two Democratic sources in the room.
“I saw a member yesterday with her cleavage so deep it was down to the floor,” Kaptur said, according to the sources present. “And what I’ve seen … it’s really an invitation.” The comments left many others in the room stunned, the sources said. Kaptur said women on Capitol Hill should have to abide by a stricter dress code, like those adopted by the military or corporations.
“Maybe I’ll get booed for saying this, but many companies and the military [have] a dress code,” she said. “I have been appalled at some of the dress of … members and staff. Men have to wear ties and suits.”
In a statement to POLITICO later Wednesday, Kaptur said she never meant to suggest that women are to blame for harassment they experience.
“When I was first elected to Congress my office and I became a refuge for female staffers who had been mistreated by their bosses. Some of them in tears many days. It is something I carry with me to this day and something I brought up during our Caucus meeting,” she said. “Under no circumstances is it the victim’s fault if they are harassed in any way. I shared the stories from my time here in the context of the ‘Me Too’ legislation and how we can elevate the decorum and the dress code to protect women from what is a pervasive problem here and in society at large.”
Two Democratic sources said other members and staffers present in the meeting were so surprised that no one knew what to say. “Nearly everyone in the room’s mouths were wide open aghast,” one of those sources said.
The dress code for female members, staffers and reporters has been relaxed in recent months after Ryan moved to modernize the rules following outcry about women not being able to wear sleeveless dresses in and around the House chamber. Both women and men are still expected to dress professionally, but the sergeant-at-arms isn’t as strict in enforcing rules about women’s shoulders being covered when present in the House chamber or Speaker’s lobby.
If you take out the “invitation” comment and you take out the context of which meeting she was attending, I think she might be in a stronger position to argue about a dress code. Taken apart from the issue of workplace sexual harassment, I do think that there should be professional dress codes, especially if you’re working in the Capitol. That’s part of being a professional. But that wasn’t what Rep. Kaptur was arguing – she was arguing that the lax dress code by *some* women is an “invitation” for sexual harassment. The dress code discussion has no place in a discussion about sexual harassment. Not when there are congressmen literally trying to Handmaid’s Tale their staffers.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
NOPE.
Have a seat and maybe talk to Gabrielle Union while you’re at it
+1000
Truly sorry to hear her spout this crap, because I’ve respected what I know of her record.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcy_Kaptur
I think there are some of us women (and probably men) who do not dress professionally to our workplace. I work with young teens, and I remember there was a female teacher who wore short dresses, plunging necks and blouses without backs, sometimes 2 out of the 3 the same day. The sts would laugh at her behind her back while oogling from a 2nd. floor window to stare at her underwear visible from her seat. She would dismiss the principal by saying that she was from a town nest to the ocean and that was how people dressed there. There are other examples, but most ae too tight clothing. I would not feel comfortable dressing like that, maybe in another setting, but not where I know my job is my main worry.
But these are two separate conversations : One is about appropriate clothing choices for men and women (ie: wearing business casual at work, covering your shoulders at the Vatican etc), the other is about harassment. Your colleague sounds like she was dressing inappropriately for work but that doesn’t mean she invites harassment.
Yes if your argument is that certain jobs should require you to dress professionally and have a dress code that lays it out. However if you’re saying dressing a certain way invites sexual harassment and or assault, then that’s rape culture and you’re the problem
What do you think about this, harassment comes only from co-workers-bosses or from students?
What would be the case with a similar situation, let’s say at a college? Is it the same as in a school with minors?
No it’s not an invitation even if I walk around naked!!! SHUT UP!
Exactly.
Thank you.
The military has a strict dress code, as she states, and it is far from a harassment/abuse free zone. So, Marcy, please explain, what did those women do wrong?
Sit down! Don’t talk! You’re just proving yourself unqualified.
I don’t want her to sit down and I sure as hell don’t want her to stop talking. I want her to grow and learn and listen and reflect. I want her to do better.
Thank you! Jesus H. Effing Christ why can’t people get that attire is not the problem. Even if ALL women dressed a la Handmaid’s Tale or in burkas, sexual assault would still happen.
There are societies/tribes where women walk around half naked or almost naked and the men in those communities somehow manage to keep from raping them.
This f*cking argument about dress code needs to die.
Seriously??? I don’t care HOW old you are, HOW can you say this?? How do you reconcile women in full burkahs getting raped and assaulted? Women in jeans and turtlenecks? JFC!! Women get assaulted no matter WHAT they wear, and regardless, it is not an invitation for ANYONE to touch! EVER!
This woman needs to go see that museum display that was In the news a few months ago…with the outfits victims were wearing displaying with their stories.
There is not a man in my life (currently) who has felt it necessary to harass or assault a woman because she was wearing tight or low cut clothing. They may look, and appreciate–but they certainly do not think it is a reason to reach out and touch someone without consent or make a sexually suggestive comment. If I see a beautiful or ostentatious piece of jewelry on someone, I don’t grab it from them , considering it an invitation to steal.
Women in the military who wear uniforms have been raped. Nuns in full habit and women in burkas and chadors have been raped. What one wears or doesn’t wear is not an invitation.
That said, there are issues about dressing professionally, which have nothing to do with sexual harassment or assault. If the workplace situation is such that my colleagues are expected to wear a suit, tie, socks and shoes, than I’m going to dress in a similar fashion: a pantsuit or skirted suit or a conservative dress with long sleeves or, if sleeveless, a jacket or cardigan over it. I cringe when I see what Ivanka wears half the time. Dresses suitable for a garden party or cocktail hour are not appropriate at a White House business meeting or congressional hearing.
As more and more people make comments showing ignorance on the topic, it becomes more and more clear to me that people need professional training on workplace rules and laws.
She sould speak with her Senate colleague, K. Gillibrand, about the military, their dress code and the ensuing total absence of sexual assault. *eyeroll*
While her words anger me, a part of me feels for the sort of culture she grew up in that emphasized so much internalized self-hatred in women. I see it in my own grandmother, who wound having to marry the man who sexually assaulted her because of the social mores of the time. These women have been taught to view themselves through an unkindly lens. I’m not surprised at how many of them are filled with toxic ideology that places the blame of men’s actions in their hands.
Fair enough, but if you don’t have the capacity to recognize that and at least STFU with your views, then if you occupy a position of power and you perpetuate those harmful messages, then you deserve all the condemnation you receive.
I’m not excusing it, don’t get me wrong. More that I find it depressing to see that even accomplished, experienced women have difficulty shedding that social conditioning. Patriarchy’s cuts run deep.
Distraction, possibly, but never an invitation.
Ugh I wish people would give up the “she showed some skin so she invited it” BS. If that were the case every beach, pool, gym, or rec center would have to close due to rampant rape/ assault.
Agreed. And conversely, no nuns would ever be the victim of a sexual assault, which is not the case.
I wish it were that easy. I wish there was a magic outfit we could wear that made us impervious to creeps, made us judged on our actions and merits and not on our perceived level of attractiveness, made us human beings worthy of respect and courtesy instead of objects to be ogled.
But alas there is not. No dress code in the world will protect us. No amount of modesty will stop boors and abusers from perpetrating crimes against us. No amount of professionalism will stop men from viewing us as objects, there for the delight of the male gaze. It’s almost as if the problems didn’t lie with us at all…….
Look, it’s a shit viewpoint but it’s internalized misogyny. She’s not evil she’s ignorant. I want to help change minds not crush people who have always been fed one, warped narrative. When that narrative has been taught to you all your life and by people you love and respect it’s not always easy to see the flaws in it. I have a friend who slut-shames other women because her dad cheated on her mom with a woman who dressed provocatively and incurred the wrath of every other woman in our small town. I can’t get my friend to reflect and honestly unpack her reactions. I haven’t cancelled her though. I have faith that she’ll eventually understand.
She is about the same age as my mom, and she gives the same cringer advice about How Not to be Raped as my mother gives. They mean well, they just sound really bad. My mom wasn’t trying to make me feel like I would be to blame, but to empower me so I could protect myself from being a victim from a predator. I hope that she just spoke poorly because I looked up her position and voting records and it doesn’t align to this type of statement. She is ranked with an over 80% approval rating by the Human Rights Campaign, NIAC Action, the ACLU, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and the League of Conservation Voters.