Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, often known as AOC, caused quite the chatter on social media because of the outfit that she wore at the 2021 Met Gala event. The Met Gala is a charity event formally known as the Costume Institute Benefit. The charity event is for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute of New York City. Many big name celebrities show up to this event often with stunning or rather interesting outfits on. The articles retrieved are from The Daily Wire (An openly Conservative news outlet), CNN (Often viewed as a more liberal news outlet), and the New York Times (doesn’t typically push an agenda).
This year, AOC’S outfit was one of the most talked about outfits. AOC wore a white dress that said “Tax the Rich” in red on the back of the dress. Cortez is often criticized online, even by her own supporters. AOC is very opinionated and not afraid to get into debates with people who disagree with her. Ryan Saaverda from the Daily Wire reports that tickets to the Met Gala are around the $30,000 range, while getting a table at the event is around $275,000. Many people are finding it very ironic that she is wearing an outfit that basically applies to everyone at the event. Considering that AOC is a politician in New York, it is fair to say that she makes a fair amount of money and would fall under the “rich” class of living.
While AOC took a bunch of heat for her outfit, she also got a lot of praise. With AOC being a democrat, she has obviously established her point of view on political issues. With this, she has a very strong fanbase and a very strong group of people who do not agree with her and her views. Megan Hills from CNN reported that many called her stunt bold and subversive, while many called the stunt hypocritical. AOC’s outfit was not the only outfit that caused controversy. Many outfits were talked about throughout the event. Some outfits were bold and some outfits were odd, but the outfits that steal the show are the outfits that send a message. US Women’s Soccer player wore a red, white, and blue suit that said “IN GAY WE TRUST”. Rapinoe is very open about her political ideas as well.
The criticism that AOC seems to take most is that she’s pushing a political agenda, but she’s also partying with celebrities who are all rich. Taxing the rich means raising taxes for people who make a certain amount of money. If you make a certain amount of money, you are taxed a higher percentage of your yearly income, than people in the upper and lower classes. According to Anni Karni of the New York Times, AOC has been putting off signing a bill that would increase the federal minimum wage to $15/hour. While AOC’s outfit at the Met Gala is very informative and could be something that people should look into, it doesn’t fit in well with some of the other things she does in office. Taxes go to the Government, not so many people in need of it, which could raise eyebrows on why she isn’t passing that bill.
AOC’s outfit stirred a lot of controversy. Some of it was good and some of it was bad. The outfit got people on the internet talking about it which is the ultimate goal. It helps push the agenda she was going for.
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/aoc-met-gala-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-dress/index.html
www.nytimes.com/2021/09/15/style/aoc-met-gala-dress.html