Donald Trump’s Unconscious, Unending Sexism

[babylonsister]

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/jia-tolentino/donald-trumps-unconscious-unending-sexism


Jia Tolentino
Donald Trump’s Unconscious, Unending Sexism
By Jia Tolentino , October 10, 2016

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It’s been obvious for a long time, of course, that Trump has essentially no respect for women whatsoever. In a divorce deposition detailed in the 1993 book “Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J. Trump,” Ivana Trump alleges that her husband violently assaulted her: angry about a botched scalp-reduction surgery, Trump ripped Ivana’s hair out, tore her clothes off, and raped her, she said. (She later explained, in a formal statement, “I referred to this as a ‘rape,’ but I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.”) Trump has repeatedly spoken about his daughter Ivanka in a sexual manner, and, on “The Howard Stern Show,” he nonchalantly admitted to being attracted to Paris Hilton when she was twelve. Among many other damning professional incidents, Trump once called a lawyer “disgusting” because she needed to pump breast milk, and then defended himself for doing so; he reportedly wanted to fire female employees at his California golf club whom he deemed unattractive. In the four days since the “Access Hollywood” tape was released, more graphic and vulgar audio has surfaced from Trump’s “Howard Stern” appearances, as have details from a variety of lawsuits accusing the Trump Organization of systematically mistreating women.

And this is part of the reason it’s so excruciating to watch Trump debate Clinton: as a candidate, he is unprepared for the historical particulars of this election in every way—save for his vast reserve of natural sexism. Trump is perfectly and uniquely equipped to tap every last ounce of normalized gender discrimination in this country and throw it at our first female major-party Presidential nominee. He’s not even really doing it consciously, I don’t think: he lacks political training and, apparently, a conscience, and he is not, it seems, in sufficient control of himself to act otherwise. Trump tried to overpower Clinton onstage in the same manner that he dismisses every woman who’s not attractive and subservient to him—as simply the natural and best way of doing things, a matter of course.

Trump also once again modelled, at the debate, the one way he has picked up on to get women to accept his sexism: to tell them that he’s no different from any other guy out there, and then to suggest that, all things considered, he’s the best they’re going to get. There’s a kernel of truth to this, if we limit our inquiry to the G.O.P. only: at The Cut, Rebecca Traister detailed some of the anti-woman legislation supported by Paul Ryan, Jason Chaffetz, and Mike Pence—all of whom denounced the Trump tape over the weekend. “Which is worse: Threatening to grab someone by the pussy or forcing someone to carry and give birth to a baby that is the result of rape?” she wrote. “Popping a Tic Tac in preparation for forced extramarital kissing with a stranger or actively discouraging women’s full participation in the workforce?”

We might understand how women come to feel that there are no good options available to them: that sexism is as fixed as gravity, and so working with it, never against it, is the only thing we can do. Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s campaign manager, told Ryan Lizza that being a female consultant in the Republican Party means “when I walk into a meeting at the R.N.C. or somewhere I always feel like I’m walking into a bachelor party in the locker room of the Elks club.” She alluded to being harassed by congressmen, calling it an “occupational hazard.” She elaborated on this after the debate last night, in an interview with Chris Matthews, on MSNBC. When she was “younger and prettier,” Conway said, she saw some of the conservative politicians who are now trying to distance themselves from Trump “rubbing up against girls, sticking their tongue down women’s throats . . . uninvited.”

And still, we are witnessing, parallel with Trump’s anti-woman assault—and likely exacerbating it—the ascendance of a woman to a height we’ve never seen in American politics before. There are so many people who have become invested in the idea of sexism persisting into eternity; in less than a month, we’ll be able to count exactly how many people tried to make the opposite come true.

[PJMcK]

1. Well written article, K&R

Thanks for posting this link, babylonsister. Jia Tolentino's writing is excellent and the column is piercingly direct.

[babylonsister]

2. You're very welcome! nt