2 Magazine/Nov 2013
Fans constantly talk about and obsess over her outfits; there are even entire blogs that are devoted to helping women dress like Olivia Pope. The Washingtonian called Olivia Pope “the most fashionable power dresser we can think of.” Olivia’s style rarely changes throughout the series; she is almost always wearing well-tailored designer pants, blouses, and jackets in light colors such as white, beige, or grey. Scandal seems like it challenges ideas of power and masculinity by making Olivia more feminine than the traditional woman in Washington, however, the show reinforces the mythical connections between corporate attire and success - a dress code aimed towards privileging the norms of masculinity.
The only time we see Olivia in skirts or dresses are in flashbacks to the times when she was happy and in love with Fitz or when she is going to events at the White House – both of which are instances in which she takes on a more feminine role. When we see
Olivia in skirts or dresses, the focus is less on her career and more on her relationship with a man. The rest of the time, when the show focuses on the present day, Olivia wears pants because she is trying to fulfill a position of power as a business owner - a role that is typically reserved for males. As Harrison makes clear to the newbie Quinn in the pilot episode, she is to be a “gladiator in a suit”, not a gladiator in a dress.
The show’s fascination with the idea of being a gladiator in a suit symbolizes everything that is wrong with the way Scandal portrays Olivia. In Season 2 Episode 13, Harrison discusses what it means to be a gladiator:
“We do what needs to be done and we don't question why. We put the personal to the left...You want to cry about your feelings? Hmm? Really? Here? We don't get to have feelings. That's the job. Gladiators don't get to have feelings. We rush into battle. We're soldiers. We get hurt in the fight we suck it up and we hold the line and we don't question.”
The tagline operates under the assumption that in order to be a tough, powerful woman in Washington – a gladiator – you have to dress and act the part. Gladiators wear armor to protect themselves against enemies, and for Olivia, the only way she can protect herself from her enemies, who are almost always men, is to become one of them through both her attire and her actions. When she is being a gladiator in a suit, Olivia embodies the characteristics Harrison described that are metonymically associated with masculinity, such as stifling her emotions.
While Scandal is great in portraying a woman who is tenacious, determined, and successful, the way that the show goes about doing so is troubling because it perpetuates the ideology that women must conform to masculine practices if they are to ever have the chance of enjoying the same privileges and power as men.
Gladiators in Suits
It is almost impossible to talk about Scandal without talking about Olivia Pope’s wardrobe.