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Code Switch

'Mar-a-Lago face:' MAGA's aesthetic loyalty test

Code Switch

NPR

Society & Culture

4.6 β€’ 14.9K Ratings

πŸ—“οΈ 1 April 2026

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The MAGA look β€” you know the one: dramatic eyeliner, long, wavy hair, sheath dresses β€” is a defining feature of President Trump's Republican Party. And it's about a lot more than appearances. Journalist Inae Oh joins us to talk about what the aesthetics of MAGA tell us about power, influence, race and femininity.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey everyone, you're listening to Code Switch. I'm B.A. Parker. And I'm Gene Demby.

0:07.3

So, Gene, you've probably noticed that a lot of people in Trump world, particularly the women, but not just the women, have a certain look.

0:18.3

Dramatic sort of makeup, heavy on the eyeliner.

0:22.6

Almost all of them have this long, flowing hair.

0:25.7

The outfits tend to be very close to the body.

0:28.4

I know sheath dresses are very big within that circle.

0:33.0

And ultimately, pushing a very sort of like hyper-feminine look in traditional conservative senses.

0:41.8

That like Fox News anchor blonde aesthetic, you know, the TV hair and like the pastel outfits.

0:48.0

Yeah, there are some brunettes too, but...

0:50.9

Right, right, right, right.

0:52.0

It's really, I mean, it's a very hyper-feminine look.

0:56.0

I spoke to the journalist, Ine O, from Mother Jones, and she wrote an article called, In Your Face,

1:02.0

The Brutal Aesthetics of MAGA.

1:04.0

The internet has described this aesthetic as Mar-a-Lago face.

1:10.0

The opposite of Mar-a-Lago would be a sort of more injogenous look, and there's no confusion.

1:15.2

There's no ambiguity, like, this is a quote-unquote, this is a woman.

1:20.0

Yeah, it's kind of given, like, pageant queen.

1:22.7

The taut skin.

1:24.1

It's the conspicuous cosmetic surgery.

1:27.2

For legal reasons, Parker, you should say, presumably.

1:30.6

I heard presumably, presumably, presumably.

1:31.9

Yeah, yeah. And you can find makeup tutorials many tongue and cheek all over TikTok

...

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