As Hillary Clinton informed the world during the first presidential debate, Donald Trump called a former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado, “Miss Piggy” and “Miss Housekeeper” after she gained weight. Ms. Machado said that she developed an eating disorder as the result of Trump’s comments. Another Miss Universe pageant contestant, Jodie Seal of Australia, has come forward to say that Trump shamed her as well, telling her to suck her stomach in, and said she heard him call other contestants insulting and hurtful names. Trump has referred to Rosie O’Donnell as being “fat” and a “slob.”
Women and our daughters already are bombarded by enough messages in pop culture and the media saying that we aren’t thin or attractive enough, which leads me to wonder:
Do we really need our president to make us feel this way as well? Tearing women down instead of boosting us up? Fat-shaming women sends a terrible message to our country’s girls that they aren’t good enough and that looks are the end all be all.
And that’s not all. Here are nine other reasons why women/moms are better off without Donald Trump as our president and, therefore, should not cast their vote for him. (Click on the hyperlinks for more information.)
1. His Sexist and Misogynistic Views About Women
Besides calling Ms. Machado “Miss Piggy,” there is a list a mile long of offensive things Trump has said about women. Some of the adjectives or terms he has used:
“Disgusting,” “fat pig,” “dog,” “animal,” “crazy,” “extremely unattractive,” “ugly,” “grotesque,” “piece of ass,” “wacky,” “neurotic dope,” “bimbo,” “nice tits, no brains” (and that last one was in reference to his then-second wife, Marla Maples).
A reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer has come forward to say that Trump called her the “C” word (yes, arguably the single worst thing you can call a woman) when she called him up on the telephone for an interview.
Trump has a distorted perception of how women view and treat him as well, and has said that all of the female contestants on Trump’s reality show, “The Apprentice,” flirted with him “either consciously or unconsciously. That’s to be expected.” (Or not. Very recently, contestants from “The Apprentice” have complained about Trump’s degrading on-set conduct towards women. More on this later.)
Trump calls women disgusting for, or reduces us to, our essential functions as female humans, such as going to the bathroom, menstruating and pumping breast milk to, you know, feed our babies. During one especially crass interview (even for The Donald), he told Howard Stern that his then-girlfriend, Melania, never poops or farts. Really.
Trump has told Stern that “vagina is expensive.”
During one bizarre exchange, Trump called into the Stern radio show to brag to Stern’s guest, A.J. Benza, about how Trump had stolen Benza’s girlfriend. Trump then went a step further to stay he “took her away” from Benza “like he was a dog.”
Trump had no problem letting Stern ask Melania sexist and misogynistic questions about their sex life and the clichéd question about what she was wearing during the interview (which was, according to the couple, apparently very little or nothing).
In the world according to Trump, “a person who is very flat-chested is very hard to be a 10.”
He has publicly rated some of the world’s most famous and accomplished women on a scale from 1 to 10. Within months of her untimely death, Trump was already talking about how he would have slept with Princess Diana because of her great beauty (even though he also said she was “crazy”).
Trump has been married three times, and each time he selected a woman who was a professional model. Coincidence? I think not. Indeed, Trump pressured his second wife, Marla, to pose nude for Playboy magazine before they were married, and even negotiated the deal.
Do we really want a president who thinks it’s cool to judge women on a scale of 1-10 based solely on their appearance and doesn’t treat women like human beings? Do we want a president who has called women the worst kind of names. What kind of role model is this for our sons and daughters?
2. His Objectification of Girls
Possibly even more repugnant is Trump’s record of objectifying young girls and women, including his own daughters.
When giving an interview with Marla Maples, and asked about their infant daughter and how she was like her mom, Trump said, “Well, I think that she’s got a lot of Marla. She’s a really beautiful baby—she’s got Marla’s legs.” He then goes on to point to his chest, saying, “We don’t know whether or not she’s got this part yet, but time will tell.” In other words, he is speculating about whether his baby daughter will have boobs like her model mom. Yuck.
Commenting on her very nice figure, Trump has said that he would date his daughter, Ivanka, if only she, you know, wasn’t his daughter.
Trump told Howard Stern that when he saw his friends’ daughter, a 12-year-old Paris Hilton, he thought she was beautiful. (Incidentally, he’s admitted to watching Hilton’s infamous sex tape, with his wife, Melania.)
Do we really want a president who has said creepy and inappropriate things about his own daughters (and lusts after the daughter of his good friends)?
3. His Sexist Attitudes Towards Female Workers
Trump has said that women taking leave after having children are an “inconvenience” to employers.
While he very recently said he would support paid maternity leave for women, this doesn’t take into account situations where it is the man who is taking time off to care for a child or loved one. Perhaps his “Mad Men” approach to working women isn’t a surprise given his comment that, while he would like to have more children with Melania, he certainly wouldn’t be helping her take care of them.
Trump does not seem to understand the concept of equal pay for equal work, saying that if women want to be paid as much, then they should do as good a job as men. He has said that putting a married woman (first wife Ivana) to work is a bad idea, calling it “very dangerous.”
Trump has said that he wasn’t thrilled about his second wife, Marla Maples, working because he’d have days where if he came home and she didn’t have dinner waiting for him, he “would go through the roof.”
He has said that women running against him for president—Carly Fiorina (”look at that face!”) and Democratic party-nominee Hillary Clinton—do not seem or “look” presidential, the sexist implication being that this is because a woman cannot look nor be presidential.
Do we really want a president who doesn’t support working women nor thinks that women are, nor should be treated, equally to men?
4. His Views on a Woman’s Right to Choose and the Fate of Planned Parenthood
Trump says Planned Parenthood should be defunded as long as it supports women in obtaining abortions.
He says that he doesn’t support a woman’s right to choose whether to have a safe abortion in consultation with her physician.
He has even said that women should be subject to punishment for having an abortion and promises to appoint conservative justices to the Supreme Court who will overturn Roe v. Wade.
Do we really want a president who doesn’t believe a women should have control over her own body and health care decisions?
5. His Love Affair with Guns
Endorsed by the NRA, Trump thinks that Americans should have virtually unfettered rights to own guns in this country.
He has pledged to do away with gun-free zones in public places, such as schools.
Trump has told inappropriate jokes about gun rights advocates taking matters into their own hands if Hillary Clinton is elected president, which sounds an awful lot like incitement to violence against our first female president.
Don’t we already have more than enough gun violence in this country, impacting women and our children and loved ones? Do we really need a president who doesn’t support common sense gun regulation and incites violence against his female opponent?
6. His Running Mate, Mike Pence
Those who are concerned about Trump’s complete lack of experience and apparent ignorance when it comes to many areas of importance to women, as well as all Americans, may look to his running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, as a well-seasoned public servant who knows what the heck he’s doing. Pence’s own record should give women cause for grave concern, however.
Pence is extremely anti-choice (backing legislation in Indiana that is degrading to women who seek abortions, while simultaneously raising the costs; seeking to deny abortions to women carrying fetuses with genetic abnormalities; wanting to mandate the burying of aborted fetuses).
He has been called “vicious” in his crusade to destroy Planned Parenthood (even for basic health care).
Other views held by Pence that are way, way to the right of mainstream Americans include his desire that Americans should have a national right to carry guns in public (not surprising given that he receives tens of thousands of dollars from the NRA, the lobbying arm of American gun manufacturers). Oh, and he also thinks discrimination against LGBT people is just fine and dandy. Ugh.
Do we really want a president who chooses as his vice president a man that is at least as conservative and unforgiving as he is (if not more) when it comes to issues that matter to American women?
7. His Backwards Views on Sexual Harassment
Trump has defended his friend, Roger Ailes, who resigned from Fox News as its CEO, amid allegations of sexual harassment made against him by many female employees, including Gretchen Carlson. Trump said that they could have or should have just quit and, further, that they were actually ungrateful given that Ailes has allegedly “helped” or promoted them over the years.
Perhaps the Wolf of Fifth Avenue is living in the past when it comes to blatant sexual harassment of women in the workplace. Indeed, following interviews of more than 20 employees of the show, “The Apprentice,” the Associated Press found a pattern of lewd and sexist conduct that would make the real “Wolf of Wall Street,” Jordan Belfort, impressed. On set, Trump commented on the size of women’s breasts and told all present in the room who he would like to have sex with. He routinely demeaned women by commenting on their rear ends, comparing various women to his daughter (is it just me or is Trump kind of obsessed with his daughter, Ivanka), and asking between takes a female contestant’s male colleagues if they would sleep with her. Trump also asked women to wear more revealing clothing on the show. If true, all of this would appear to add up to a classic hostile work environment under sexual harassment laws. Should all of the female contestants on The Apprentice just quit, Don?
Trump has also been sued multiple times by female employees in connection with his businesses, including employees at his Florida golf course and Trump Tower restaurant, for sexual harassment by male employees. In both instances, the women who came forward alleging sexual harassment were fired within weeks of making their claims, which if done in retaliation (as seems likely), would itself violate federal law.
Do we really want a president who defends the perpetrator and blames and punishes the victims of sexual harassment? Do we really want a president who can’t seem to resist engaging in sexual harassment himself?
8. His Misogynistic Views on Rape and Victim Blaming
Trump has engaged in classic victim blaming when it comes to rape, essentially saying in a tweet that of course there is a lot of sexual assault in the military, since that’s what happens when you “put men and women together.”
He defended convicted rapist, boxer Mike Tyson, saying in essence that Tyson’s 18-year-old rape victim shouldn’t have gone to Tyson’s hotel room if she didn’t want to be raped.
He has joked around with radio host Don Imus about the statutory rape of a 14-year-old boy by his teacher.
Maybe Trump’s misogynistic worldview about rape explains how he chose his campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, who thinks that if only women were stronger, they wouldn’t be victims of rape, rather than advancing the more enlightened view that men shouldn’t be committing the crime of raping women in the first place.
Trump has also been accused both of sexual assault and attempted rape. Makeup artist Jill Harth filed a complaint against Trump in 1997 stating, among other things, that Trump pursued her and groped her in his own 10-year-old daughter’s bedroom during a tour of his mansion.
Trump’s first wife, Ivana, accused him of ”violating” her against her will during a “violent assault.” She later said she wouldn’t call what Trump did as rape in the legal sense of the term but did not recant her statement about what he, in fact, did to her which certainly didn’t sound consensual.
Trump’s own attorney claimed on Trump’s behalf in 2015 that a married man cannot “rape” his wife as a matter of law, which as of 1993 (years after the alleged incident involving Ivana) is an untrue statement in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia.
Even if he neither actually raped nor attempted to rape anyone, do we really want a president who believes a woman is to blame for criminal acts committed against her and does not take sexual assault seriously?
9. Sexist Policies at His Own Businesses
Given his sexist views on the role of women in society to look good for men, it comes as no surprise that Trump has reportedly wanted to fire women at his Los Angeles area golf club for not being “pretty enough” or thin enough.
On the other hand, he made the slimy remark on his show, “The Apprentice,” that it would be a “pretty picture” if a female contestant dropped to her knees before him.
Purchasing the Miss USA pageant, an apparent match made in heaven for a man so obsessed with physical appearance, Trump swore to improve the event by making the bathing suits smaller and the heels higher.
-He made very clear on the Howard Stern show when promoting the event, that women competing in his pageants were beautiful, but “not rocket scientists.”
-In 2007, he made the remark that he hired for one of his restaurants a 17 or 18 year old girl solely because she was a “world class beauty,” though she was completely lacking in experience.
Do we really want a president who cares far more about an employee’s physical appearance than about her intelligence or ability level?
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Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.
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