This weekend the New York Post published decades old nude photos of Melania Trump, and lots of folks have taken to social media to share the piece, along with similar memes juxtaposing her and First Lady Michelle Obama. At first these things seem like political fair play; a clever tit-for-tat response, doing to the Trumps what Donald Trump has been doing to people for decades.
But really it’s just disgusting and reprehensible and sad.
I understand the justifications, because I’ve made them at times myself:
Those resorting to such tactics might imagine they are pointing out the audacious inconsistency of a GOP that recently called pornography a “public health crisis” in their official platform, but are apparently fine with a Presidential candidate who has been on the cover of Playboy and a First Lady whose body is plastered all over the Internet. They would be correct in noting this.
They might be doing it to illustrate the incredible double standard of raw-throated Conservatives who beat their breasts over Michelle Obama’s bare shoulders, yet are now totally cool with Melania’s “full monty.” That assessment would be accurate too.
They might be calling out the staggering hypocrisy of Evangelical Christians who have practically fallen over themselves to support a Godless, three-time married, world-class misogynist like Trump, after spending eight years destroying the Obama family who have modeled faith and fidelity. Again, this would be quite sensible.
They could be right in each of these cases and it still wouldn’t merit making Melania Trump’s body news or using her nudity against her.
Doing that objectifies her, the very way Donald Trump has objectified his female detractors and political opponents by addressing their physical appearance or attractiveness or sexual activity. By making her body a story, it is perpetuating the very rude, shallow, sexist America that we who oppose Trump’s campaign claim to be pushing hard against.
Do we really need to body-shame Donald Trump’s wife to show how shameful Donald Trump is? If we do, we’ve really lost the plot here, and probably the election to boot.
When she was twenty-five, I’m quite sure Melania Trump never imagined the scrutiny she would be under in these days. Few of us would at that age. But she isn’t running for President, and really her life story or her younger career choices are irrelevant. I certainly don’t believe she is First Lady material or that she at all represents the best of America or that I’d have any confidence in her as a spokesperson for our country, but these won’t be an issue if we look at the right things as we walk towards one of the most important Novembers our nation has ever had—and a naked photo shoot twenty-something years ago by the wife of a candidate simply isn’t one of those things.
Humiliating Melania Trump for her past doesn’t further tarnish Donald Trump’s present, and there’s more than enough there to critique without attacking his wife, whose most questionable behavior isn’t posing nude—it’s marrying Donald Trump (but that’s neither here nor there).
It doesn’t educate people about the many reasons Donald Trump is a flat-out ridiculous choice for a Middle School football coach, let alone the Leader of the Free World.
It doesn’t persuade those still on the fence to vote against him, it only makes both sides of the aisle seem equally petty and desperate and devoid of class.
It doesn’t strike a blow for Feminism, because it turns a woman’s decision to reveal her own body into something she should be embarrassed by or apologize for, pulling us back into the very Stone Age Donald Trump seems freshly thawed from.
The only thing nude-shaming Melania Trump does is lower the conversation to the embarrassing depths Donald Trump has made a living and a campaign sinking to. It turns us into the very kind of people we’re supposed to be outraged by.
Honestly friends, Donald Trump is all we need to invalidate Donald Trump. He gives us all plenty to work with.
We don’t need anyone other than him to make a fool out of him, and we shouldn’t become him by responding the way he and his supporters do to the inherent humanity of other people. Regardless of the outcome of this election, we’ll also want to look ourselves in the mirror.
We who oppose Donald Trump are not fighting Melania Trump in these days. We’re fighting against a candidate for President who dehumanizes people for a living. That’s why we’re all so outraged at his prominence.
Maybe dehumanizing his wife is a really lousy way of protesting that.
