The New York Post’s Sunday (July 31) cover featured a completely nude photo of Melania Trump from over 20 years ago. Next to the photo was a misogynistic, grossly exploitative headline: “The Ogle Office.” More photos of Trump in various stages of undress filled pages inside the Post. The accompanying article opened with the line, “Donald Trump thinks his wife will be a model first lady — and here’s the proof.” The writer goes on to describe Mrs. Trump as “leggy.”
Mr. Trump has no issues with the photos being released, with a member of his camp dubbing them a “celebration of the human body as art.” For the first time ever, we actually agree with the Trump party. We’re sure other like-minded people do, too, but barely anyone is saying it.
Today's cover: Melania Trump like you've never seen her before https://t.co/wkoDGWTF9g pic.twitter.com/V375rBTUEw
— New York Post (@nypost) July 31, 2016
Why these photos came out is still a mystery. Gawker hypothesizes it was orchestrated by Mr. Trump’s team to distract from his feud with Khizr and Ghazala Khan. Some think it was just a cheap grab by the Post to sell papers. Regardless of the reasoning, the printed Post display language about the photos aims to do one thing (and one thing only): shame Mrs. Trump for posing naked. That should anger every feminist, regardless of political party.
But where are the think-pieces calling out the Post for its slut-shaming? Where are the same people who supported Jennifer Lawrence when nude photos of her leaked in 2014? Yes, there are some supporters, but they’re not as loud or impassioned or ubiquitous. Headlines around the piece claim the photos aren’t important. They’re a distraction! Mrs. Trump didn’t ask for this scrutiny! However, only a small percentage of them tackle the slut-shaming issue head-on. Why? Mrs. Trump’s political preference does not give people an excuse to ignore blatant misogyny.
We should all be rallying around Melania Trump right now–even though her husband makes our skin crawl.
Watch Hillary Clinton supporters attempt to say one nice thing about Donald Trump in the video below.