New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shared her plan to get a manicure as a form of “resistance” in response to recent U.S. issues.
Ocasio-Cortez posted a video to Instagram on Friday, saying that “personal acts of reclamation” can serve as political protest.
“Joy too can be an act of resistance,” she said after wishing her followers a “happy Friday”.
“I want to talk about personal acts of reclamation because sometimes people will say there’s nothing I can do…I feel so powerless… And there is no act too small that you can engage in,” AOC added.
“Today, I have a personal errand: I need to redo my nails. And I’ve decided that I am going to use my new manicure as almost like a personal act of reclamation for me and my story,” she continued to say as she walked down the street.
In another video, the congresswoman explained that she views a manicure as an act of defiance because of how red nail polish was seen in her conservative upbringing.
“There was just a lot of discussion about how red nails, red lipstick, it’s just… portrays the kind of message about the kind of woman that you are,” AOC said.
“Um and I think a lot of times, that kind of woman, which is ungovernable, it often gets translated to loose and is seen as bad or negative,” she added.
She then said she is choosing to reclaim that idea and noted how she stepped “into that energy” when she wore red lipstick during her campaign.
Following the overturn of Roe v. Wade, AOC has encouraged other acts of “resistance,” including protests outside the Supreme Court.