Ivanka Trump Says Her Dad Is A Feminist. He Very Obviously Is Not.

Just because a woman who is related to you says you are a feminist does not mean it is true.

In a July 3 interview with the Sunday Times, Ivanka Trump, eldest daughter of The Donald, tried to outline her father's feminist credentials. First she pointed to his record of hiring women:

My father is a feminist. He’s a big reason I am the woman I am today. People talk about gender equality. He has lived it, he has employed women at the highest levels of the Trump Organization for decades, so I think it’s a great testament to how capable he thinks women are and has shown that his whole life.

Then, she pointed to her own childhood, which she says was full of strong women, thanks to her father:

He always told me and showed me that I could do anything I set my mind to if I married vision and passion with work ethic. He’s also surrounded me with strong female role models who have done just that since I was a little girl.

These are certainly nice sentiments. It's wonderful that Ivanka feels like her dad surrounded her with women role models. And it is absolutely true that Trump has a record of hiring whoever he believes will be the best in a job -- er, make him the most money -- regardless of gender. That's great.

But that still does not make him a feminist -- not least because the presidential campaign he is running stands in direct opposition to the advancement of women's rights (and really, the rights of anyone who is not a straight, white, cisgender, Christian man).

Treating a handful of women like human beings deserving of jobs and independent thoughts does not make you a feminist. And for Ivanka to casually throw around labels that have real meaning without us questioning those assertions is problematic.

So, here's a quick refresher on what feminism is: The belief in and advocacy for the social, political and economic equality of all genders. (Something much more expansive than giving a few select women limited power within one space that you, a man, ultimately control.)

And here's a quick refresher of what it is not...

You are not a feminist if you routinely call women "fat pigs," "dogs" and rate them on a numeric scale by how sexually attractive you personally find them.

You are not a feminist if you comment on the bodies and weight fluctuations of the women you employ.

You are not a feminist if you publicly say you are annoyed that your wife has a job because that cuts into her ability to prepare you dinner each night (Marla Maples), or because you are upset that she talks about said job (Ivana Trump).

You are not a feminist if you pay the male staffers on your presidential campaign 35 percent more on average than your female staffers, as a June analysis by the Boston Globe found.

You are not a feminist if you incite online harassment against female journalists who you don't agree with.

You are not a feminist if you say women should be punished for having abortions and vow to appoint Supreme Court judges who will overturn Roe v. Wade.

You are not a feminist if you have said so many offensive things about women that a publication has created a Sexism Tracker dedicated to you!

Basically, if anyone truly believes that Trump is a feminist:

Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.