It was certainly the implication of Trump's comments on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday. Pompeo had been the subject of an investigation for having bypassed Congress in order to advance an arms agreement with the über-misogynist kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as for having performed personal tasks by members of the personnel in violation of the rules governing the functions of the staff. CNN has contacted the State Department for a statement but has yet to receive a response.
In another blatant act of distrust of professional ethics, Trump fired the State Department Inspector General who was examining Pompeo's behavior. This is the kind of dictatorial behavior that we have come to expect from this president - but which is nevertheless deeply detrimental to American democracy and clean governance.
Beyond firing watchdogs, Trump has defended Pompeo's alleged abuse of staff work. "I told you about walks with dogs, dishes and, you know what, I would rather have him on the phone with a world leader rather than having him wash the dishes because maybe his wife is not where his kids are not there, "said Trump. Trump's message and worldview were crystal clear. Wives and children in Trump's world belong to the same category: minors under the control of the most important man and speaking to him. A man who does his own dishes? That, Trump is sure, would be a waste of time - it is work for dependent women or children.
Strong men, and aspiring strong men like Trump, put as much emphasis on "the man" as on the "strong". The strong man is a caricature of masculinity, all boastful to cover deep internal fragility, weakness and cowardice. And the superficial and caricatural masculinity can only be displayed in high contrast by dominating its opposite: the feminine nod. Here's the story of Trump's life: turn women into objects and accessories to make him feel more manly in comparison. If that is not possible - for example, if the woman in question is the former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton or the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi or Senator Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts - then throw this unruly woman as mannish , as a witch, as an emasculator, or as a corrupt liar.
The women who challenge him (like White House journalists) or even defend themselves are not women at all, and they are certainly not trusted; the rejection of the submission is treated as proof itself of a female defect, a sign of deception. These sexist abuses are also directed against other men - Trump insults them as feminized to make him feel like John Wayne when he's no longer a P.T. Barnum. It would be embarrassing if so many people did not fall into the trap.
Trump has publicly stated that he refuses to do the necessary parenting work - instead of weighing on his own weight, he leaves all obligations to each of his successive wives. A diaper change man, Trump told a radio host in 2005, a year before the birth of his son Barron, behaves "like his wife." Trump has gone further, claiming that he is essentially completely useless when it comes to working from home. "I mean, I will not do anything to take care of them. I will provide funds and she will take care of the children. It is not like I am walking the children in Central Park," he said. said on the Howard Stern show the same year. On the same show two years later, when Barron was a young child, he said, "Melania is a wonderful mother. She takes care of the baby and I pay all the costs." And then, of course, there is Trump's penchant for beauty pageants and his alleged harassment of young candidates. Women in the Trump world should be on stage for men's pleasure or in the kitchen doing the dishes. Cleaning up after yourself or raising your own children is apparently under real men like Trump and Pompeo.
It's all raging to read if you're someone who expects men to do the basics of caring for the children they help create (or a man who already does them), and if you believe that women are human beings who exist for their own ends and not to be sex toys for men, machines for babies and maids. But it's much more troubling when it comes from the President of the United States, who incorporated this old-school misogyny into law and politics as the highest office holder in the United States.
The Trump administration is forged in this image. The administration is predominantly male and predominantly white: Trump has appointed more than twice as many men as women. His judicial appointments follow the same path: 78 percent of the federal judges Trump has appointed are men, and 87 percent of them are white, according to NPR. These are lifetime appointments, which means that Americans have many, many years before us white, conservative men who shape the laws that govern us all - including the regular setbacks of women's rights.
And the problem goes beyond the person Trump appoints (although these appointments and appointments speak for themselves: the story they tell is that he believes men deserve and have more power than women). The Trump administration is one of the most openly and shamelessly misogynist in modern history. It is 2020 and the United States has still not ratified the equal rights amendment, which simply gives women equal rights with men under the law. Although the ERA has remained unratified through several Republican and Democratic presidential terms, in January Trump's justice ministry issued a notice that the chance of ratifying it had expired - only after a movement took of the scale to try to move it forward again.
Trump has drastically cut funding for basic health care for women abroad and at home, putting the lives of women at risk. It has enabled employers to openly discriminate against women in health care and pay. It even prevented public health experts from speaking openly and accurately about women's health.
The assumption that men like Pompeo are too important to do the dishes is therefore not just a comment on the dishes. It is a reflection of an entire ideology that Trump has led, from which he places in a position of power the way he handles his own. The men are on top. Women clean up the mess.
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