I cannot bear Donald Trump. There is so much to despise about that man. The hate. The racism. The misogyny. The homophobia. The narcissism. The stupidity. He stands for absolutely everything I despise in the world.
I cannot respect anyone who supports Trump, particularly not females. After all, we women have a responsibility to call out misogyny, not champion it.
So what are we to think of Melania Trump, Donald’s wife? She actually married this terrible man. I mean, Trump’s children cannot help who their father is, but she chose him! And, as I said, we women should be calling out misogynists, not marrying them.
And so I cannot feel any respect for Melania Trump, and particularly not for her choices. Still, the recent leaking of her nude shots, taken twenty years ago, is completely inappropriate.
This is how the New York Post decided to break the story… Really?
Firstly, there is nothing wrong with posing nude when you are a model. There is nothing wrong with posing nude, full stop. To imply otherwise not only shames models, but shames every woman who has ever posed nude for a photo. And this is unfair. There is nothing shameful about the female form, and there is nothing scandalous or salacious about being photographed nude, as long as it is consensual. The whole ‘scandal’ just contributes to the endless shame we women feel about our bodies. Melanie Trump was a model. She did a nude cover. Big deal. Move on.
Secondly – and separate from the above – those pictures were taken in Melania’s previous life. And let’s be honest – we have all had previous lives. I, for one, have had many. These days I am a divorced mother of three who writes columns and books for a living. Twenty years ago I was a weight loss consultant in a relationship with a man I can barely now remember. I am not that person anymore. Melania Trump is not her twenty-five year old self, either. Life is long. We all made decisions in our youth that does not reflect the people we are today. Judge Melania Trump for who she is now, not for the young woman she was two decades ago.
Thirdly, and most importantly, Donald Trump is a despicable man. The consequences for the United States if he gets into office – the consequences for the world – are dire. We need to focus on his fear mongering, on his dramatic inconsistencies, on his hyperbole and falsehoods, on his sexual slurs of his female colleagues and opponents. Focus on his lack of economic policies, on his championing of guns, on his desire to criminalize abortion, ban Muslims, close the borders, support nuclear weaponry, repeal Obamacare. Focus on everything that makes Trump a real and present danger to minorities and the underprivileged in the United States and around the world.
But Melania Trump is not part of that real and present danger. She is a woman who has extremely questionable taste in men, and a disturbing lack of commitment to the feminist cause. Other than that, she’s utterly irrelevant to the Trump problem.
Donald Trump and Melania Trump on day one of the Republican National Convention.
Go after Trump, not his wife.
After all, we women should be calling out misogyny, not helping it along.
You can get more from Kerri Sackville on Twitter at @KerriSackville
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