Ayuso's abs

BarcelonaWhen I was starting to worry that I wouldn't find good merchandise to start my summer shift in place of Àlex Gutiérrez, I came across a piece that, on its own, would be enough to write a whole week of Pareu màquines (don't worry, I won't). It's a piece from the supplement Yo Dona, from El Mundo, titled like this: “Isabel Díaz Ayuso wears her summer fetish dress to La Paloma: plunging neckline and waist cutouts to show off her abs” . I honestly don't even know where to start.

The first thing that catches the eye is that Ayuso is treated like a celebrity, and not like a public servant, even if it is at official events. And in this case, she was even accompanied by the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida. The journalist Arancha Navarro informs us that the model in question "has a cut-out detail that serves to discreetly show off her abs and that helps define the waist and create a beautiful figure" (italics are mine).

Deontological doubts

And now the questions. Why is Martínez-Almeida's suit and figure not commented on in the same way? Why is it done with Ayuso and not with other female politicians with non-normative bodies? Is the cloying and laudatory tone essential from a newspaper that receives juicy sums of money from the Community of Madrid? What would El Mundo say if El País made a similar piece praising the abs of, for example, Begoña Gómez?

And now the thesis: this piece is made with Ayuso because she is not a normal politician, she is a kind of pop icon of the right, and pop icons are neither questioned nor bothered; they are only praised and blessed. It is a category to which very few politicians reach. Donald Trump is a clear example, but I remember that not so long ago in Valencia you could buy figurines of the mayor Rita Barberà as a souvenir. Until the joke ended.