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Congresswomen are pushing for the right to ‘bare arms’ with ‘Sleeveless Friday’ photo

They’re standing in solidarity with female reporters who didn’t meet the House dress code.

Photo of Samantha Grasso

Samantha Grasso

sleeveless congresswomen right to bare arms

California Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier has called on other female members of Congress to participate in “Sleeveless Friday,” a sleeveless-dress initiative designed to stand with women reporters who have been kicked out of Speaker Paul Ryan’s lobby for their attire.

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Earlier this month, a reporter was removed from the speaker’s lobby for wearing a sleeveless dress, as Ryan’s preferred dress code for the House bans shoulder-bearing. The reporter even attempted to use ripped notebook pages stuffed into her shoulder openings as sleeves but was still denied entry.

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Speer’s office said she and “several of her colleagues are standing in solidarity with women reporters who were recently admonished for ‘inappropriate attire’ in the Speaker’s lobby…”

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And that they did. Just before noon ET, the congresswomen documented their sleeveless success with a photo on the East Capitol steps.

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As it stands, House dress code rules require women to wear “appropriate attire,” while men must wear a coat and tie. These rules, however, have been sparingly enforced and defined by whoever is the current speaker of the House. Ryan announced Thursday that he and the House Sergeant at Arms will work to update the outdated dress code standards for the House chamber and the Speaker’s lobby.

At least we know Ryan’s in favor of some kind of sleeveless-ness, even if it might be the gym, bicep-curling variety.

H/T CBS News

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The Daily Dot