U.S. Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC) drew attention to herself (and her chest in particular) when she wore a tight white t-shirt (emblazoned with a large red letter A) to Capitol Hill, where she attended the candidate forum to hear from Republicans (Reps. Jim Jordan, Steve Scalise) running for U.S. Speaker of the House.
When asked about the shirt (video below), Mace said: “I’m wearing the scarlet letter after the week I just had. Being a woman up here and being demonized for my vote and for my voice.” She was one of eight Republicans (and the only woman) who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy from the House Speakership.
[Republicans voting to remove McCarthy were Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eli Crane of Arizona, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Bob Good of Virginia, Mace, and Matt Rosendale of Montana.]
Mace: I’m wearing the scarlet letter after the week I had being a woman and being demonized for my vote and voice. pic.twitter.com/guVpxGHUq7
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 10, 2023
After the forum, Mace appeared on CNN (in a different top) with exposed cleavage, and told Jake Tapper “there are Democrats who trust Jordan.” The claim shocked Tapper. When he asked Mace to name one Democrat in Congress who trusts Jim Jordan, Mace smiled and said, “I’m not going to name people.”
[Related: Rep. Nancy Mace Says “I’m A Sinner” After Sex Talk Blows Up]
Mace is not the first Congresswoman to flash cleavage at work. According to the 2022 book This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future by New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, former Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Arizona) “boasted knowingly to colleagues and aides that her cleavage had an extraordinary persuasive effect on the uptight men of the GOP.”
(Rep. Lauren Boebert‘s decolletage has also made news lately, but not while she was at work.)
I just know #KyrstenSinema is a Dirty Girl pic.twitter.com/1OCliwRgxB
— 🎳WizOfDudeowski🎳 (@AssusReamus) January 14, 2022
The cleavage at work debate is an old one, which has prompted research. In 2016 The Guardian reported that “according to research from the Paris-Sorbonne University” women wearing low-cut tops in job application photos are likely to receive five times more interview offers “than those who wear round-neck clothing.”
Note: Mace’s mention of The Scarlet Letter is a reference to the 1850 novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne about a woman condemned by her Puritan neighbors for having a child out of wedlock. Prynne is forced to wear a scarlet letter A (the A is for “Adultery”) for the rest of her life.
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