Democracy Has Prevailed.

November 5, 2016

All Sins Trump: Misogyny Edition - Election Day Minus 3

So far we've explored these Trump sins:
I'd like to expand on that last one into a broader discussion of Trump's misogyny since it seems to me that not all sexual assaults are misogyny (in the sense that the perpetrators are men and victims are women - tea-bagging, for instance) and not all misogynists commit sexual assault.  We just happen to have a happy overlap with Donald J. Trump.

But first things first.  Let's start with a good definition of "Misogyny."  The English Oxford defines it thusly:
Dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women.
Yea, that works.  So how does someone show contempt for women?  As Hamlet said to Polonius, "Words, words, words" (Hamlet, Act II Scene ii).

Here's some of Trump's misogyny words - and he has the best words, believe me.  He has the best words, bigly.

Last year, when he wasn't too happy with how he was treated by debate moderator Megyn Kelly (a known woman) Trump's post-debate response to her was this:
You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.
Ooo, menses - that's the explanation for why that Kelly lady to be so mean to Mr Trump!  To be clear, after a short period of time, he did try to walk back the comment with this: what he meant to say was that there was blood coming out of her...nose.

Of course.  Because that so fits the narrative of why he might think a woman would be challenging him on what he said that might be offensive about other women - a nose bleed. The clue as to what stimulated his flow of misogyny words is found when you look at what Megyn Kelly was challenging him about:
KELLY: Mr. Trump, one of the things people love about you is you speak your mind and you don't use a politician's filter. However, that is not without its downsides, in particular, when it comes to women.

You've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals.

(LAUGHTER)

Your Twitter account...

TRUMP: Only Rosie O'Donnell.

(LAUGHTER)

KELLY: No, it wasn't.
That's exactly true.  It was all about women and it wasn't only about Rosie O'Donnell.  For example, the above Washington Post article tells us about one reaction he had to Arianna Huffington:
[W]hy is it necessary to comment on [Huffington's] looks? Because she is a dog who wrongfully comments on me
Say something wrong about Trump and he calls you ugly.  And then there's another:
[Huffington] is unattractive both inside and out. I fully understand why her former husband left her for a man- he made a good decision.
Hmm, that's some Trump misogyny mixed in with a little Trump homophobia - Oh, look!  A twofer!!

I'm no expert on sexuality, but I don't think that a wife's actions or looks can "un-straighten" a husband in any way whatsoever (and truth be told, Huffington knew Michael was bisexual before they were married).  But think about it.  If what Donald is saying is possible (that someone's "attractiveness" could determine someone else's sexual orientation) then good looking guys could have a field day "straightening" lesbians whenever they wanted. 
("Dear Penthouse Forum, I always thought your letters were fake until this happened.  I'm a good looking guy, believe me.  Big hands.  Worth billions.  Real Estate.  I can't tell you my name but I can tell you what happened to me when I walked into this lesbian bar last week...")
Ridiculous, right?  That's Trump.

The Telegraph in the UK has a list of some more of Trump's mysogyny words.  Here's his view of women and prenuptial agreements from 1997 (the same year the Huffingtons divorced, by the way):
There are basically three types of women and reactions. One is the good woman who very much loves her future husband, solely for himself, but refuses to sign the agreement on principle. I fully understand this, but the man should take a pass anyway and find someone else.

The other is the calculating woman who refuses to sign the prenuptial agreement because she is expecting to take advantage of the poor, unsuspecting sucker she’s got in her grasp. There is also the woman who will openly and quickly sign a prenuptial agreement in order to make a quick hit and take the money given to her.
Did Ivana sign a prenup?  Did Marla?  Did Melania?  I wonder if he still thinks this. 

Sadly this discussion about Trump's misogyny could go on for days.   The font of material from Trump's he-man woman haters club tweets is, sadly, endless.

And for that, I have to ask a question, yet again, of my Senator, Pat Toomey: Pat, isn't this enough for you yet?  Isn't this enough for you to declare "No, I just can't support Donald Trump with my vote.  I just can't."  If not, what does that say to all the women in Pennsylvania that you won't say that you can't vote for such an obviously obnoxious excuse of a man like Donald J. Trump?

What else do you need to know, Pat?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

The problem may be even more hidden at this point. Trump supporters might need to have some basic primer on why misogyny is bad in a more back-to-basics sense. The same with gender bias in general, with race bias, religious bias, economic bias, and 'Murica bias to name a few. I frequently wonder if people even know why these things are such a big deal? Why would things be better for them if these things did not exist? Why does it matter if I don't like blacks and think that whites are better? Why should I care if women don't make as much as men? People just do not understand.