Are Accomplished Women the New Trophy Wives?

She holds a bachelor of laws from Oxford University, a masters of laws from New York University, worked at one of the world's top law firms, served as a United Nations advisor, as a contributor to the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence, and as a representative for Armenia in the European Court of Human Rights. Who could I possibly be talking about?

Amal Alamuddin Clooney.

Clooney is arguably one of the most accomplished females in human rights law in the world, with an impressive biography to match. 

But when did the world become obsessed with her? The disappointing — but honest — answer is after she married actor George Clooney. Did the world pay attention to her accomplishments after entering the public eye or did they treat Clooney like almost every other woman that is constantly watched by the media? Even though tabloids had an inviting opportunity to change the way that they report on women and female celebrities, they chose to discuss her outfits rather than her career success.

When questioned about Clooney in an interview with Vogue, Giambattista Valli stated that, “she is not a reality-show girl. Finally there is someone with a mind and legs.” Instead of talking about how accomplished Clooney is, instead we have to talk about the length of her legs or what her face looks like. Sure the woman is stunning, but for an individual who is as accomplished as she is, you would think that her appearance would be the last thing we are discussing.

Is it not possible to be beautiful and smart? To have a good fashion sense and to be accomplished? Apparently not. In a world that complains about how much coverage celebrities get, in a world that asks for more role models than reality stars, it is astounding how much we focus on appearance over accomplishments. In a society that inherently looks down upon women who are reliant on men, it is truly startling that we do not recognize the accomplishments in all of the cases where women are successful, independent, and impressive with or without a man.

What adds to the beauty of Clooney as a person is that she does not buy in to what the media like to focus on. In January 2015, Clooney showed up to court to defend Armenia in a legal battle against Turkey in a controversial case surrounding freedom of expression. Clooney took a brave and public legal stance arguing that Turkey has been hypocritical defending a Turkish man who claims that the Armenian genocide is an international lie, “because of its disgraceful record on freedom of expression,” including prosecutions of Turkish-Armenians who campaign for the 1915 Armenian massacres to be called a genocide. 

Instead of asking Clooney about the case, a reporter for the telegraph decided to ask her what she was wearing for the appearance. Clooney did not give in, responding with, “I’m wearing Ede and Ravenscroft,” a reference to a famous English company of legal robe makers and tailors. I can’t wrap my head around why we are asking a lawyer what she is going to wear in court — seriously, who cares? — in a global and controversial case. We should be more concerned that an entire nation put their trust in Clooney to represent them.

I’m not the only one who has noticed this double standard. At the 2015 Golden Globes, Tina Fey poked fun at the situation, joking, "Alamuddin is a human rights lawyer who worked on the Enron case, an advisor to Kofi Annan on Syria and was appointed to a three-person commission investigating rules of war violations in the Gaza strip. So tonight, her husband is getting a lifetime achievement award.” 

I can understand why fashion magazines would want to write a piece on Clooney’s style – but why can't they find an angle so the piece can include her accomplishments as well? Why not mention a case she is working on? To the fashion houses in the world: I am sure that you would be appalled if a not-so-respectable person was wearing one of your designs and hurting your brand by doing so, so why not talk about the fact that one of the most accomplished women in the world chooses to wear your designs instead of only talking about the design?

Clooney is much more than her clothing. She deserves much more than being asked what she is wearing or how she spent her time getting ready in the morning. She is capable of answering complex and critical questions -- the very questions the world should be asking. If we have to talk about the fact that Clooney is George Clooney's wife, fine. But lets talk about how she is the new trophy wife – not just another woman married to a celebrity.