In a speech given at the beginning of the Republican National Convention, in which her husband took the Republican nomination for president, Melania Trump gave an eloquent speech that has similar statements by Michelle Obama during the 2008 Democratic National Convention. In a moment of error, she took some of the very same words out of Michelle Obama's mouth and called them her own. The media had a frenzy and soon people started publicly shaming Melania for her discrepancies and calling her things. In fact, the shaming and bullying had gotten so bad, that Melania's speech writer came forward with a formal apology to take some of the heat off the wife of the billionaire business man, Donald Trump. It doesn't matter though. The damage was done, and when Tiffany Trump, Donald's 22 year old daughter took the stage just a few hours later, the media just couldn't get past the fact that she looked like Hannah Montana.
Instead of listening to the words or the message of the speeches they had to give, the internet decided to focus on their looks and their mistakes.
No matter what your personal views of Donald Trump may be, endlessly criticizing his daughters and his wife isn't an attack against him, it's an attack against the already ongoing struggle against women. It's no secret that Melania Trump is a stunning woman. As a former model, she made money off her looks and outward beauty. In politics, there is a certain expectation of a female that society has, and when that expectation isn't met, people like this MSNBC newscaster start creating a toxic view of what women in power are.
By judging Melania Trump or any of the Trump daughters only by their looks, we perpetuate the cycle of oppression against women in the political sphere. We tell our girls that in order to be a woman of influence, we can't be beautiful and smart, we can only be beautiful OR smart.
Melania Trump is incredibly smart and graceful. Even Barbara Walters was shocked by her intelligence in this video, saying that "Because she’s so beautiful we don’t expect her to be as smart as she is."
If we continue to allow the internet and the media to chastise women but their beauty and looks -- even women who's political views we don't agree with -- we are allowing the world to say okay to labels, barriers and status quo.
I say, let's leave Melania and the Trump daughters alone. They may be related to a very brash, moderately racist, definitely angry businessman who may be the next president of the United States, but that doesn't give us a reason to take personal shots, or judge one another.
