Re-defining the ‘First Lady’ with Rama Duwaji

Jackie Kennedy Onassis transformed the role of the First Lady, going beyond the traditional role of a hostess to cement the First Lady as a symbol of American political and cultural power. Jackie represented the start of a new era, in which the First Lady was more important to the legacy of the administration than ever before. Even generations later, Jackie is regarded as a cultural icon, not just the wife of the 35th President.

Zorhan Mamdani’s recent election as New York Mayor has proven to be monumental at a time when divisive rhetoric, corruption and apathy seem to define the ‘Land of the Free’. He represents a new form of politics, not bought by billionaires or under the false pretence of ‘for the people’. Instead, he is a notable breath of fresh air. 

As with any high-profile election, Mamdani’s wife and New York’s upcoming First Lady, Rama Duwaji, has already come under mass scrutiny – but, similar to Kennedy, Duwaji seems to be the start of a new era, and thus indicative of a more significant cultural shift in American politics. 

Rama Duwaji is a 28-year-old Syrian-American woman whose career as an illustrator and animator has been crucial to her selfhood and activism. She explores themes of Arab identity, sisterhood and displacement, with her Syrian heritage informing much of her artistry. 

Duwaji runs her own Instagram account, where she posts her artwork and social activism. Many of her illustrations and animations are commissioned for humanitarian causes, ranging from raising awareness for the Palestinian genocide to supporting Syria’s liberation from the Assad regime. Her illustrations have appeared in multiple media outlets, including the BBC, The Cut and even Vogue, supporting articles that explore real people and their stories. 

Duwaji played an active behind-the-scenes role in Mamdani’s campaign, shaping his visual identity by designing the graphics behind his branding and social media. This includes the bold Metrocard orange-yellow and New York Mets blue branding, which became synonymous with his grassroots campaign. 

In ways, Duwaji’s cultural impact resembles that of Jackie Kennedy’s, whose White House restoration transformed the building into a museum of American politics. 

Even so, Duwaji is much more subtle in her support of her husband than Jackie was to JFK, but when she does appear with him, Duwaji's image is equally as intentional in a play to influence public perception of her. On the night of her husband’s election results- a high-stakes moment for them both -Duwaji wore Palestinian-Jordanian designer Zeid Hijazi’s denim top alongside an all-black calf-length skirt and silver jewellery by New York designers, a deliberate choice which sent a message to all: she will not stay silent in the face of intimidation. 

This sense of individualism has already proven to be unique to the position of a First Lady, where her creative work and choice of fashion intertwines to make a powerful political and visual statement.

Duwaji is transforming the role of a First Lady as a mere asset of her husband to something more, branding her own form of politics that supports Mamdani’s but is still her own. 

The Cut’s recent shoot with Rama Duwaji has demonstrated how politics can be portrayed in portraiture and photography. Duwaji worked with writer Danya Issawi and photographer Szilveszter Makó to transform her from an activist into a cultural icon, influencing public perception about what traditional political representation can look like. 

Duwaji and Kennedy both impacted their husbands’ political careers in notable ways, but more importantly, they transformed the role of the First Lady into a role independent of their significant other, rendering it their own. Duwaji is clearly much more radical than Kennedy, acting as a figure of generational change where her unabashedly fierce way of nonconforming to what is expected of her as a First Lady challenges conservative politics. 

The global social media backing of Mamdani, as aided through Duwaji’s influence over his brand identity, has shown that there is an attractive alternative, underpinned by socialist politics that provide hope to the working people of America. 

Duwaji is helping to redefine the conventional and acceptable within American politics, and this will certainly continue as she becomes the official First Lady of New York in January. It’s not about reducing commentary about Duwaji to superficial discussions over ‘what she wears’ or ‘what she posts on Instagram’, it’s about the intended meaning behind her artistic choices, and how this reflects her politics and sense of identity– something separate to Mamdani.