There are many who I am sure will disagree with me here and I don’t usually enter the political fray but I just have to say one thing:
BEAUTY PAGEANT
i.e.
Please JUDGE me publicly on my outward APPEARANCE
If you place yourself in the position to be JUDGED specifically for superficial and shallow aesthetics then you are in NO position to feel entitled to be respected by anyone – not by women and especially not by the person who is manipulating women (who volunteer) in a culture that still ‘values’ a misogynistic view of what women should look like.
If the person in question – Alecia Machado – has any self-respect, she would have (and maybe she did) given interviews Tuesday stating, to the effect of:
I am sorry.
I apologize to all women who work hard using their minds to make their way in this male-dominated world.
I realize now that I have demeaned and marginalized all women by prioritizing body image and superficial “beauty” and I should have had the foresight to have known that in gaining weight I would have undermined the whole purpose of the contest, being judged for my appearance in the slimmest and most narrow criteria, in the first place. Criticism for the weight gain, although hurtful, should have been anticipated since it undermines the whole purpose of a ‘beauty pageant’ and I’m glad I learned the lesson; when we as women allow ourselves to be manipulated and judged by men (and women) for our looks by strutting a cat-walk almost completely nude, we should not be surprised to be disrespected for not meeting those narrow and biased expectations.
Go ahead, call me ignorant. I don’t feel bad for her at all. Do I think Trump was in the ‘right’? No. But that doesn’t negate the fact that she subjected herself to the scrutiny for a financial and social gain, undermining what women have been trying to accomplish for hundreds of years (treat us like people not objects. we have minds and we are capable of more than just ‘looking good’) while the rest of us have to work for a living.
Clinton won no points with me on this subject.
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