ColumnDonald Trump is running for president. That read problematic when I first saw the news. But since Trump‘s garish announcement, it’s become his obvious disdain for women that has me really upset. His outward hate also makes me wonder why the hell any American women or men could support him. Really folks? Come on. #nowwhat.
The Republican Party has never been a warm, cuddly place for women. The majority of the candidates in the modern Republican party tend to dismiss and judge female birth control, and women’s health in general, and most especially Planned Parenthood (even though the organization provides valuable low-priced family planning services, not just abortions). But Donald Trump has taken the party’s strange need to micromanage women’s bodies to new lows. His vitriol is so unbelievable that some conservatives in the Republican party even think he’s going to far. The party’s hemming and hawing has Trump considering an Independent run… goody.
Trump’s most recent well-known foray of disparaging women was when he came to blows with Fox New’s Megyn Kelly. During Fox News’ republican debate, Trump didn’t take kindly to Kelly’s questions. When the reporter questioned Trump about his proclivity to call women “fat pigs, slobs, and disgusting animals,” he got all bummed out. After the debate, he belittled her question by saying she had “blood coming out of her wherever.”
Then, Trump took things to a whole new level of ridiculousness. When Kelly recently returned from vacation (nearly three weeks after the debate), he took to Twitter like a drunken fool and started insulting the newswoman, calling her a “bimbo.”
While all the above Trump news is gross, I’m more disturbed that this guy is continuing to poll well. An August Reuters/Ipsos poll found that Republican women still chose him as their favorite presidential candidate.
According to TheWeek.com, the poll, which was conducted from August 7-11, showed that “Trump had the support of 20 percent of female respondents, down from 26 percent on Aug. 3. Overall, Trump polled at 23.3 percent, and Jeb Bush was in a distant second with 12.4 percent. (The poll has a confidence interval of about 7 percent).”
Barf.
I mean, what the hell does Trump have to do to be seen for what he really is–that is, a totally sexist bully. It seems he can continue to do and say whatever he wants because most people already know he holds incredibly sexist viewpoints.
According to Slate, Trump has equated women’s cunningness to their inherent feminine wiles. And it’s those mysteriously sexy ways that, apparently, help women get ahead in the business world. The article quotes a passage from Trump’s 1997 book, “The Art of the Comback”:
“Women have one of the great acts of all time. The smart ones act very feminine and needy, but inside they are real killers. The person who came up with the expression ‘the weaker sex’ was either very naive or had to be kidding. I have seen women manipulate men with just a twitch of their eye — or perhaps another body part.”)
Trump also has been quoted as saying some equally cringe-worthy things in the past, too. Here’s one quote to chew on, courtesy of Bustle: Trump has said that his daughter, Ivanka, has a “very nice figure,” and that “[if] Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.”
So, why is it so easy for people to toss all this terrible PR aside? Probably because Trump seems like a rebel for “telling it like it is.”
“Part of what Trump is cashing in on is your standard umbrage fatigue,” reports Slate:
“The year of the woman in 2012 was totally bracing for a blowback. Michelle Letner, who donated $225 to Trump, told MSNBC’s Frumin, ‘I like that he’s not politically correct. … He’s saying it like it is. If you want to be treated like a lady, act like a lady.’ Or, as Amanda Marcotte explains here, trashing women and defending that as a refreshing tonic to political correctness is a way of life in some conservative circles.”
So, it looks like this guy is going to be on our screens and newspapers for months to come. All while being praised by some as a political “breath of fresh air.” But I am guessing that anyone who says Trump’s political incorrectness is refreshing also can’t see that Trump is just trolling all of us. He’s using his genuinely crass views about women to rally the very people who don’t think gender inequality exists. Well, good for him.
No, really — I’m happy he’s rallying the sexist masses.
Here’s the thing: every time a local or national news station interviews a Trump supporter who can so easily ignore the candidate’s open dislike of women, they magnify the very vocal section of the world who thinks feminism doesn’t need to exist. So, thanks for proving that we still need feminism, Trump.
And now that you’ve helped us make our point, can you kindly go away?
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