Missouri House members clash after ‘ridiculous’ and ‘sexist’ new dress code for women is proposed

Angry Missouri lawmakers went head-to-head after one of them proposed a ‘ridiculous’ and ‘sexist’ new dress code for women: ban bare arms and force them to wear blazers while in the House chamber .

The original dress code for women in the House was a dress, skirt, or pants worn with a sweater or jacket and appropriate dress shoes or boots.

But now Ann Kelley, a Missouri representative and Republican lawmaker, has proposed a dress code amendment, in which jackets, defined as blazers or knit sweaters, must be worn over the arms.

She said the update is necessary because “it is essential to always maintain a formal and professional atmosphere,” but she was outraged during the House session on Wednesday, appearing in a video of the debate with her shirt unbuttoned.

In camera video, Democratic Rep. Ashley Aune told Kelley: “Do you know what it feels like to have a group of men in this room trying to decide if it’s appropriate or not?”

Kelley responded, “You’d think… you’d think… you’d think all you’d have to do is dress professionally and the women could handle it.”

Ann Kelley, a Missouri representative and Republican lawmaker, proposed a dress code amendment, saying the update is necessary because “it is essential to always maintain a formal and professional atmosphere.”

Democratic Rep. Raychel Proudie also stood up and spoke about the new rules.

There are some very serious things in this rules package that I think we should be discussing, but instead we’re fighting, again, about women’s rights to choose something and right now it’s how she covers herself and somebody’s interpretation. who has no background in fashion.

‘Again, this is not a shot, it’s inappropriate to wear sequins before 5pm telling me I can’t wear a nice crisp St. John sweater if it has too many buttons.

“I spent $1,200 on a suit and I can’t wear it in the People’s House because someone who doesn’t rank tells me it’s inappropriate,” he said.

Rep. Peter Meredith discussed the new dress code and some of the drama that unfolded during Wednesday’s session in the House chamber.

‘Yes, the caucus that lost its mind over the suggestion that they should wear masks during a pandemic to respect the safety of others now spends its time honing in on the fine details of what women should wear (specifically how to cover their arms ) to show respect here.

Kelley’s modified version of the bill eventually passed the state House of Representatives, allowing women to wear cardigans and blazers, but still not requiring bare arms.

Viewers on Twitter responded to the heated debate, with many siding with representatives Proudie and Aune, with some commenting on how Kelley herself was introduced.

Rep. Peter Meredith tweeted his reaction to the dress code announced in the House of Representatives.

The Democrat, who represents the city of St. Louis, was elected to his first two-year term in November 2016.

He doesn’t even tuck his shirt in! Speaking of professionalism!’ Justin Long’s Walrus Suit tweeted:

Mia Nill tweeted: ‘Does THIS lady have the final say on fashion? Normally I don’t care: BUT since she’s all about ‘professionalism’, why is her shirt unbuttoned and her jacket buttoned up?

‘What about ESE blue/black/’Business Blah’ olive green/brown? jacket combination? (this coat lives in his office and he wears it every day, right?)

The tightening of the dress code was announced Wednesday during the new session, a standard protocol at the start of the new General Assembly when members discuss changes to the House rules, which takes place every two years.

‘Men must wear a jacket, shirt and tie, correct? If they walked in here without a tie, they’d be beaten up in a heartbeat,” Kelley said.

‘If they walked in without a jacket, they’d be beaten up in a heartbeat. So, we are very interested in being equal.’

On Thursday, in a Facebook statement, Kelley discussed changing the dress code for Rule 98 – A house rule for how members are supposed to dress in the Chamber Chamber and on the floor during session.

“I’ve gotten a lot of hate calls, emails and messages regarding this amendment, which is funny because we already have a dress code, all I was doing was correcting the mistakes and clarifying the rule,” she said.

‘Each business is in charge of its protocols and rules, when you run a meeting there are rules that must be followed. Before the Chamber can begin its work, rules must be adopted. This was something that the Senior Notary, who is in charge of decorum, has asked for many years to be noted in our rules. Now, he has fixed himself.

‘Whenever a bill is introduced to the full House, anyone has the opportunity to add an amendment and then that amendment is voted on by the entire body. There were over 15 amendments that were tabled and less than five made it to the rule packet, one of which was mine.

‘I spoke less than 5 minutes presenting my amendment, so time, I did not waste anyone’s time. Spending 5 minutes to correct a grammatical error in the MO House of Representatives rule book is not a waste of time in my opinion.’

Members of the Missouri House Committee (pictured)

Representative Brenda Shields was one of the members who defended Kelley’s proposal, foxnews informed.

Shields suggested that Kelley was clarifying the rules that were already in place and suggested adjusting the language to allow cardigans to count as jackets.

However, the move was criticized as sexist as the dress code for men in the Chambers (men must wear “business attire, including a coat, tie, dress pants, and dress shoes or boots”) was kept without changes.