A Woman’s Perspective on Trump

My fellow Bearing Drift contributors have posted on Trump’s latest tweets as viewed through the lenses of experience that have shaped their views. I appreciate all of them for the insight they bring to this, and every other subject. I have read their posts and watched the various reactions to them.

I decided to add an additional perspective … looking at President Trump and his documented pattern of behavior as seen through the eyes of a woman and mother.

First of all, I want to state that I am not an extreme feminist, as that term is used today. I am just an average woman who has raised two children. I am old-fashioned in many ways. I was a stay at home mom because I could not fathom someone else raising my kids, but I was fortunate enough to be able to stay home with them.

I usually tend towards individual liberty, but also believe that men and women have different roles in society. Those roles have changed for many people (not always for the better) but I don’t judge how others live. I still believe in ladies and gentlemen.

I really wish Donald Trump was a gentleman.

The latest Twitter storm that came from POTUS was not unlike everything else he says when he remembers he has no conscience. But I think that is by design. It serves his purpose to have the nation focused on how disruptive he is, rather than what he may be doing at any given point. It only works because we allow it to.

While we may rightfully condemn his words, we have come to the point where we are no longer surprised and in some cases even tolerant of them. As a country, we have lowered our expectations to a point that other people, while few in actual number, are emboldened to act as Trump does without any forethought or conscience of their own. He is, after all, The President of the United States; the “face” of our nation.

However, he seems to have an unhealthy contempt for women in general. But women usually have a unique ability to see through contempt, disrespect, and dishonesty and have little tolerance for it. Women who have raised children (assuming they have raised respectful, productive members of society) have almost no tolerance for bullshit. We expect to be treated respectfully by our families, communities, and those who represent us.  We expect to be treated fairly because of those who came before us.

I didn’t use the latest Twitter comments, because that has been well covered, and has by some been blown off because those four women were Democrats and/or whatever negative persona Trump decides to give them. So I did a simple Google search and chose a few of Trumps comments that go back to the mid-1980s. The intention is to show a clear pattern and possibly explain why I think it is dangerous. Here are a few examples:

Vanity Fair
“I would never buy Ivana any decent jewels or pictures. Why give her negotiable assets?” (Trump during the early years of his marriage to Ivana)

Newsweek – Alicia Machado, Miss Universe 1996
“We’ve tried diet, spa, a trainer, incentives. … Forget it, the way she’s going she’d eat the whole gymnasium.” (Trump on Alicia Machado when she gained weight as Miss Universe)

Washington Post – Nancy O’Dell, “Access Hollywood” co-host
“I did try and fuck her. She was married. I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. … I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn’t get there and she was married… Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony tits and everything.” (Trump commenting on O’Dell to her co-host Billy Bush on leaked audio from Access Hollywood)

TMZ
“I think Gloria would be very very impressed with [my penis].” (Trump on TMZ after Gloria Allred sued him)

Vegas Net TV – Maria Ngo Reporter for “The Strip View Live”
“You wouldn’t have your job if you weren’t beautiful. It’s very sad, isn’t it? (Trump explaining to a reporter why beauty is important in beauty pageants)

Twitter – Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor in chief of the Huffington Post
“Arianna Huffington is unattractive, both inside and out. I fully understand why her former husband left her for a man — he made a good decision.” [Author’s note: I thought Trump was against homosexuality?]

Katarina Witt: Trump’s comment about the German gold-medal-winning Olympic ice skater:
“Wonderful looking while on the ice but up close and personal, she could only be described as attractive if you like a woman with a bad complexion who is built like a linebacker.”

Fox News – Alicia Machado, Miss Universe 1996
“She was the worst we ever had, the worst, the absolute worst, she was impossible. She gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem.”  (Trump after Clinton mentioned Alicia Machado)

On Paris Hilton
 “Now, somebody who a lot of people don’t give credit to but in actuality is really beautiful is Paris Hilton. I’ve known Paris Hilton from the time she’s 12, her parents are friends of mine, and the first time I saw her she walked into the room and I said, ‘Who the hell is that?’ ” [2003] [Author’s note: She was 12 years old.]

On Lindsay Lohan
“What do you think of Lindsay Lohan? There’s something there, right? But you have to like freckles. I’ve seen a close-up of her chest. And a lot of freckles. Are you into freckles? … She’s probably deeply troubled, and therefore great in bed. How come the deeply troubled women — deeply, deeply troubled — they’re always the best in bed?”

And then there is this … 24 women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct. I make no opinion on the validity of these claims. I list it here as another layer in the pattern of Trump.

If Trump was not the President, these issues would still matter, but not as much. And these comments represent a small fraction of the things he has said about women and girls.

Anyone who has or is currently raising a daughter … you already understand how devastating comments like this can be. Children need love and reassurance that they can achieve their dreams. They need to know that there is no need to look like a model, be skinny, and have perfect skin and no freckles.

This reassurance is needed sincerely and constantly through the teen age years and I don’t doubt there are millions of parents who spend every day giving their children these messages. But even as loved as kids might feel, what does it say when their parents are devoted to a POTUS who undercuts every message they give?

Anyone who has or is raising a son … do you want your son to look at the way Trump treats and speaks of women and girls as a positive attribute to have when they become men? When your son is a man, if he acts like Trump, will you be proud?

I understand there are people who are devoted to Trump, and that is their right. I am only one woman, so I can’t make much of a difference. All I can do is ask you to consider … how can you justify a POTUS that seems to have nothing but contempt for women, or the sanctity of marriage, and consider yourself a Republican or even conservative?