To be honest, I always thought there was this assumed rule within politics to never bring up the family. It’s one thing to sling attack after attack at your political opponent, criticizing everything from their previous voting record to, more recently, the size of their hands. However, it seemed to me that the family was generally kept above the mud-slinging.
Yet, the current US presidential election is following its present trend of being completely unpredictable and unorthodox as Republican candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz recently engaged in an online Twitter battle over who’s wife was the hottest.
There are many pressing issues that face our nation – police brutality, toxic water supply, and racism – yet these ‘candidates’ are choosing to waste our time by attacking each other in the pettiest of ways.
In case you’ve missed all the drama, here’s the situation. The independent group Make America Awesome – excellent naming, by the way – released an ad in support of Cruz, which featured a nude photo of Melania Trump from a 2000 GQ shoot.
The ad was captioned with the phrase “Meet Melania Trump. Your Next First Lady. Or, you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday.”
Trump responded quickly taking to Twitter to threaten to “spill the beans” on Heidi Cruz and firing back with a retweet of a tasteful (note the sarcasm) image – a juxtaposition of a purposefully unflattering picture of Mrs. Cruz next to a favorable one of his own wife.
The accompanying caption insinuates that due to her looks, Melania Trump is better than Heidi Cruz. Interestingly, this comparison is supposed to extend to their husbands as well. There are so many things wrong with this entire situation; it seems almost impossible to know where to begin. Let us start with the ad that Make America Awesome released. I understand this is a conservative group with traditional values, but ‘slut-shaming’ is never acceptable.
Regardless of how you may feel about Mrs. Trump and her choices, it is never okay to degrade someone for choosing to pose nude. That is her decision, because it is her body. END OF STORY.
Next up, we have the whole ‘wife vs wife’ image, which is absolutely disgusting. While I understand Trump’s urge to defend his wife, it should not be done by going after another woman.
It troubles me that many people, judging by a handful of news broadcasts I’ve seen, seem to think that Trump’s actions were appropriate and even justified because he was trying to stand up for Melania. However, threatening to reveal some secret about Mrs. Cruz and then retweeting an unfair picture is extremely sexist. To me, this does not seem justifiable in any situation.
These two women are their own people – they are not simply side props for the two lumbering center pieces, i.e their spouses. They have their own careers and accomplishments that are separate from their husbands’.
Heidi Cruz has her own political career, serving under the Bush Administration as director for the Western Hemisphere on the National Security Council. She later went to work for the global investment banking firm, Goldman Sachs. Melania Trump has had a successful modeling career and engages in charity work with a variety of organizations. She also speaks five different languages.
So… why are their lives boiled down to their appearance? Why is there so much hateful rhetoric based on what they look like and what they want to do with their bodies?
Regardless of the blatant sexism present in this situation, it is sadly unsurprising that Cruz and Trump behave in this way, because these are the values that our society has built. It is so commonplace for women to be heralded for their beauty and tore down if they do not meet society’s ridiculous standards. Our unrealistic expectations even include the garments that we wear – that dress is too short or that hijab is too oppressive.
BUT we are more than that – we women are more than what people see. It is not up to any other person to decide what someone can and cannot put on or take off their body. It is up to each of us to fight for the right to our own bodies and for the respect that we deserve. So I ask that we leave the wives alone and that instead we focus on dismantling such sexist values within our society.