No, this isn’t the easy blog attacking Donald Trump as a misogynist.
In fact, the warranted attacks on Trump’s many flaws are often incomplete by omission: Trump’s racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, misogyny, et al, are ours.
But the presidential race has exposed misogyny 2016:
- You Can Be Anti-Trump Without Slut-Shaming Melania, Zeba Blay
- So what if Malia Obama wants to dance and Melania Trump once posed nude?, Laura Bates
And let us not ignore the misogyny and sexism in how Hillary Clinton is portrayed and vilified.
Bates, I believe, sums up the mess perfectly in her closing:
To tear down wives and daughters as if they are empty vessels of family honour is dangerous and demeaning. But it also distracts us from the real issues. Most political men offer ample opportunities for criticism, all by themselves.
In many, too many, ways, the Trump monster is the ugly manifestation and reflection of who we are. In our finger pointing, let’s recognize how many fingers are turned back at us.
I don’t like picking on the spouses and families of politicians as I feel they have probably suffered enough.
Well, except for Bill … Bill can never suffer enough …