Fairytale Prisoner by Choice: The Photographic Eye of Melania Trump
April 17, 2017 9:40 AM Subscribe
"Why won’t the first lady show up for her job? Why? I became obsessed with this question and eventually looked to Melania’s Twitter history for answers. I noticed that in the three-year period between June 3, 2012 and June 11, 2015 she tweeted 470 photos which she appeared to have taken herself. I examined these photographs as though they were a body of work."
This post was deleted for the following reason: Eh, you know, I left this up at first with misgivings because if people wanted to get into an interesting deep dive into Instagram tea-leaves or photographic criticism that'd be an okay thing, but I'm gonna go ahead and kill it after all and suggest folks take this back over to the current US politics thread if there's anything to discuss; we've gone in circles on the general question of Melania's agency, victimhood, complicity, etc. a bunch before and yet another messy rehash seems not worth its own thread. -- cortex
a woman who is shirking the responsibilities of first lady in favorMy feelings about Trump aside I don't even see how this is a thing, let alone blameworthy. FLOTUS isn't a job, it's a circumstance. Why should someone be pressed into service just because their spouse is POTUS? Maybe she has her own shit she'd rather be doing.
posted by yonega at 10:00 AM on April 17, 2017 [25 favorites]
Her "job"? I didn't know she was hired for anything.
The First Lady is a lot like a pastor's wife, in that people have a whole lot of expectations for what she should and should not be doing, based on the fact that they're paying her husband money.
What a gross article.
posted by themanwho at 10:00 AM on April 17, 2017 [14 favorites]
The First Lady is a lot like a pastor's wife, in that people have a whole lot of expectations for what she should and should not be doing, based on the fact that they're paying her husband money.
What a gross article.
posted by themanwho at 10:00 AM on April 17, 2017 [14 favorites]
It looks like what a terrified little girl held captive in a ogre’s fairytale castle might see when she dares to sneak a peek through her fingers.
The article is interesting, but it feels like the author knew what she planned to diagnose Melania with before she started looking for photos.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:02 AM on April 17, 2017 [9 favorites]
The article is interesting, but it feels like the author knew what she planned to diagnose Melania with before she started looking for photos.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:02 AM on April 17, 2017 [9 favorites]
Interesting interpretations, but let me propose an alternate reading to one section:
I agree, not the best article, but an interesting look at her photographs.
it feels like the author knew what she planned to diagnose Melania with before she started looking for photos.
Exactly my thoughts.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:04 AM on April 17, 2017 [6 favorites]
If Melania sees her family from behind, she sees the rest of the world from above. She posted 74 photographs of the view from her home in Trump Tower. She stays at home a lot, or what seems like a lot for someone with a billion dollars and a private jet, anyway, enough to capture the same view, over and over again, at different times of day and weather, ad nauseam.Capturing the same scene in different lights and seasons isn't exactly passive - scene selection is an action in itself, and Monet's Haystacks series is among his most notable works. I'm not saying she should be compared directly to Monet's impressionism, as many people paint and otherwise capture changing seasons from the same view.
There is a striking passivity to the Trump Tower view photographs. She never changed the composition of these landscapes, she placed no personal mark on them. The time of day changes, she takes a photo, that’s it. There is a calmness, a kind of safety, to this approach. The earth moves around the sun but the photographer is stable, in the exact same position, day after day.
They appear to be the documentation of changing seasons by a doomed recluse. Let the world fall down around her — she’s not going anywhere.That's some deep reading into a topic with limited information. If you want to get really analytical, look for outside sources of information, ideally interviews, that occur near the time that these photos were taken or shared, to expand her "message" by proximity.
I agree, not the best article, but an interesting look at her photographs.
it feels like the author knew what she planned to diagnose Melania with before she started looking for photos.
Exactly my thoughts.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:04 AM on April 17, 2017 [6 favorites]
I really don't like this emerging genre of overwrought Trump hateporn.
I do like the selfie she took in the mirrors with the dark buttoned coat; it has a sort of 'Ralph Lauren secret agent' vibe.
posted by selfnoise at 10:04 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
I do like the selfie she took in the mirrors with the dark buttoned coat; it has a sort of 'Ralph Lauren secret agent' vibe.
posted by selfnoise at 10:04 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
FLOTUS isn't a job, it's a circumstance.
This is true, but certain circumstances do come with responsibilities nonetheless. Further, it's not as if Melania some up one morning and found that she was FLOTUS. She participated in the campaign, and talked about things she would do if her husband were elected. She has not done them.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:07 AM on April 17, 2017 [14 favorites]
This is true, but certain circumstances do come with responsibilities nonetheless. Further, it's not as if Melania some up one morning and found that she was FLOTUS. She participated in the campaign, and talked about things she would do if her husband were elected. She has not done them.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:07 AM on April 17, 2017 [14 favorites]
The First Lady is a lot like a pastor's wife, in that people have a whole lot of expectations for what she should and should not be doing, based on the fact that they're paying her husband money.
There are actual White House responsibilities tasked to the First Lady's office, which I don't understand at all. Like White House tours- there should be a standing, independent office in the White House dedicated to organizing, ticketing and leading tours for the people's house. Why should someone new "take over" every 4-8 years?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:11 AM on April 17, 2017 [3 favorites]
There are actual White House responsibilities tasked to the First Lady's office, which I don't understand at all. Like White House tours- there should be a standing, independent office in the White House dedicated to organizing, ticketing and leading tours for the people's house. Why should someone new "take over" every 4-8 years?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:11 AM on April 17, 2017 [3 favorites]
Overthink Level: Thrawn
posted by The Tensor at 10:13 AM on April 17, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by The Tensor at 10:13 AM on April 17, 2017 [4 favorites]
I would go so far as to say this sort of weird gossipy cultural critique is actively harmful to the anti-Trump cause because it makes us look super petty. Focus on her husband's terrible policies and incompetent governance, everything else is a distraction.
posted by loquacious crouton at 10:13 AM on April 17, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by loquacious crouton at 10:13 AM on April 17, 2017 [12 favorites]
a woman who is shirking the responsibilities of first lady in favor
I think the world is going to be fine if the first lady decides she'd rather have a different life description than the one society expects her to do.
posted by SpacemanStix at 10:13 AM on April 17, 2017 [3 favorites]
I think the world is going to be fine if the first lady decides she'd rather have a different life description than the one society expects her to do.
posted by SpacemanStix at 10:13 AM on April 17, 2017 [3 favorites]
How is this "hateporn"? Why are we so willing to give cover and protection to poor, poor Melania, who claims to want to end online bullying yet eggs on abusers of journalists she doesn't like?
posted by palomar at 10:14 AM on April 17, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by palomar at 10:14 AM on April 17, 2017 [7 favorites]
Overthink Level: Thrawn
Overthink Level: Indoctrination Theory
posted by selfnoise at 10:15 AM on April 17, 2017
Overthink Level: Indoctrination Theory
posted by selfnoise at 10:15 AM on April 17, 2017
I'm torn between thinking of Melania as a passive victim of a monstrous husband and being angry at her for not taking agency to stop the monster, or at least divorce herself of him. Imagine being married to a man who brags about sexually assaulting women. And then he shrugs it off as locker room talk, and everyone laughs, and then he gets elected president anyway. Imagine the horror of that. I have a lot of sympathy for her but also some doubt as to why she doesn't do something. Perhaps she is OK with her husband and position. Is she complicit? A victim? Both?
I'm struck by the comparison to disgraced former Alabama Governor Robert Bentey. You know what took him down? Recordings and iPad screen captures from Dianne Bentley, his wife of 50 years. She found out his lying ass was cheating on her and she collected evidence, then went public. That woman is a hero, at least to herself. Props also to her assistant Heather Hannah who held strong when the Governor's office threatened and bullied her.
posted by Nelson at 10:15 AM on April 17, 2017 [16 favorites]
I'm struck by the comparison to disgraced former Alabama Governor Robert Bentey. You know what took him down? Recordings and iPad screen captures from Dianne Bentley, his wife of 50 years. She found out his lying ass was cheating on her and she collected evidence, then went public. That woman is a hero, at least to herself. Props also to her assistant Heather Hannah who held strong when the Governor's office threatened and bullied her.
posted by Nelson at 10:15 AM on April 17, 2017 [16 favorites]
I mean, frankly, to these people, image is absolutely EVERYTHING, and all this is is an examination of the image being presented to us through information this woman specifically chose to disseminate to her followers on social media.
It never fails to amaze me, how hard we cape for pretty white Trump ladies here. Ugh.
posted by palomar at 10:16 AM on April 17, 2017 [7 favorites]
It never fails to amaze me, how hard we cape for pretty white Trump ladies here. Ugh.
posted by palomar at 10:16 AM on April 17, 2017 [7 favorites]
This is true, but certain circumstances do come with responsibilities nonetheless.
I think you're confusing expectations that one is not actually obliged to meet for responsibilities.
posted by yonega at 10:17 AM on April 17, 2017
I think you're confusing expectations that one is not actually obliged to meet for responsibilities.
posted by yonega at 10:17 AM on April 17, 2017
Eh, taking interesting photos is actually not all that easy. So she's a bad photographer, so what? What's so noteworthy about that?
Anyway, her campaign against Julia Ioffe tells all we need to know about Melania Trump.
posted by My Dad at 10:19 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
Anyway, her campaign against Julia Ioffe tells all we need to know about Melania Trump.
posted by My Dad at 10:19 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
Further, it's not as if Melania some up one morning and found that she was FLOTUS.
Before they were married, Meliana joined Trump during his 2000 campaign for the Reform Party presidential nomination and later supported his repugnant "birtherism" to undermine Obama. She knew exactly what she was getting into then and exactly what she's doing now.
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:20 AM on April 17, 2017 [15 favorites]
Before they were married, Meliana joined Trump during his 2000 campaign for the Reform Party presidential nomination and later supported his repugnant "birtherism" to undermine Obama. She knew exactly what she was getting into then and exactly what she's doing now.
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:20 AM on April 17, 2017 [15 favorites]
This is true, but certain circumstances do come with responsibilities nonetheless.
I think you're confusing expectations that one is not actually obliged to meet for responsibilities.
posted by yonega at 10:17 AM on April 17 [+] [!]
As many others have noted, it seems a special case when one sets up those expectations through their words and actions.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 10:21 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
I think you're confusing expectations that one is not actually obliged to meet for responsibilities.
posted by yonega at 10:17 AM on April 17 [+] [!]
As many others have noted, it seems a special case when one sets up those expectations through their words and actions.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 10:21 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
So she's a bad photographer, so what? What's so noteworthy about that?
But she's not, and that's not what the piece was saying at all.
posted by palomar at 10:21 AM on April 17, 2017 [3 favorites]
But she's not, and that's not what the piece was saying at all.
posted by palomar at 10:21 AM on April 17, 2017 [3 favorites]
I'm not fucking buying the "well I know there's centuries history of First Ladies fulfilling responsibilities, but (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧technically✧ she's not required to do anything, let's just forget she knew what she was getting into and made public speeches regarding what she was going to accomplish".
Why does this white billionaire get a pass when Michelle couldn't even wear a dress without sleeves without being called unfit to be FLOTUS?
posted by FirstMateKate at 10:23 AM on April 17, 2017 [34 favorites]
Why does this white billionaire get a pass when Michelle couldn't even wear a dress without sleeves without being called unfit to be FLOTUS?
posted by FirstMateKate at 10:23 AM on April 17, 2017 [34 favorites]
These aren't private or personal photos. They're public displays of her life to her followers, fans, and the general public. Her Instagram account lies somewhere between image maintenance/branding and propaganda.
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:24 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:24 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
"It never fails to amaze me, how hard we cape for pretty white Trump ladies here. Ugh."
I think we need to learn the difference between what kind of political discourse feels good and what is actually productive. Confusing the two is a problem. We're simply not going to win the next election because we come up with great zingers about Melania Trump, and I don't think it should be a weird thing to point that out.
posted by loquacious crouton at 10:25 AM on April 17, 2017 [5 favorites]
I think we need to learn the difference between what kind of political discourse feels good and what is actually productive. Confusing the two is a problem. We're simply not going to win the next election because we come up with great zingers about Melania Trump, and I don't think it should be a weird thing to point that out.
posted by loquacious crouton at 10:25 AM on April 17, 2017 [5 favorites]
I think we need to learn the difference between what kind of political discourse feels good and what is actually productive. Confusing the two is a problem. We're simply not going to win the next election because we come up with great zingers about Melania Trump, and I don't think it should be a weird thing to point that out.
posted by loquacious crouton at 1:25 PM on April 17 [+] [!]
So first we've got "First Lady isn't a political office leave her alone" and now we've got "Making fun of her instagram is bad political discourse, leave her alone". Uh huh.
posted by FirstMateKate at 10:29 AM on April 17, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by loquacious crouton at 1:25 PM on April 17 [+] [!]
So first we've got "First Lady isn't a political office leave her alone" and now we've got "Making fun of her instagram is bad political discourse, leave her alone". Uh huh.
posted by FirstMateKate at 10:29 AM on April 17, 2017 [5 favorites]
Why does this white billionaire get a pass when Michelle couldn't even wear a dress without sleeves without being called unfit to be FLOTUS?
You know why.
But this criticism is pretty much just calling Melania a bad wife. "She doesn't organize parties, smile at her husband's guests, or keep the house up" or whatever.
I have negative respect for her and her husband both but I don't even understand the emotional payoff for this line of attack.
"She's not doing enough to support the agenda of her hateful piece of shit husband."
posted by yonega at 10:30 AM on April 17, 2017 [7 favorites]
You know why.
But this criticism is pretty much just calling Melania a bad wife. "She doesn't organize parties, smile at her husband's guests, or keep the house up" or whatever.
I have negative respect for her and her husband both but I don't even understand the emotional payoff for this line of attack.
"She's not doing enough to support the agenda of her hateful piece of shit husband."
posted by yonega at 10:30 AM on April 17, 2017 [7 favorites]
I'm not even going to read this, because it's just creepy as fuck. Melania sucks, her husband is a thousand times worse, but who or what is served by this?
posted by tobascodagama at 10:32 AM on April 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by tobascodagama at 10:32 AM on April 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
Yeah, uh... I'm seeing no "great zingers" in the linked post, nor here, but your dismissiveness is very much noted. Like, sorry you don't think these things are worth discussing, but painting anyone engaging in it as looking for zingers or being a weird gossip is... well, it's very telling, I'll say that much.
Like I said, the caping, y'all. Get it under control.
posted by palomar at 10:32 AM on April 17, 2017 [5 favorites]
Like I said, the caping, y'all. Get it under control.
posted by palomar at 10:32 AM on April 17, 2017 [5 favorites]
These aren't private or personal photos. They're public displays of her life to her followers, fans, and the general public. Her Instagram account lies somewhere between image maintenance/branding and propaganda.
For sure, but the linked article is pure navel-gazing wankery. Indeed, the writer seems to treat Melania Trump as a "real person" here.
Still, the photos aren't any good, and they look like they were taken and "curated" by Melania Trump. BORING.
posted by My Dad at 10:34 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
For sure, but the linked article is pure navel-gazing wankery. Indeed, the writer seems to treat Melania Trump as a "real person" here.
Still, the photos aren't any good, and they look like they were taken and "curated" by Melania Trump. BORING.
posted by My Dad at 10:34 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
Melania is actively helping her husband set up all the money they will make having been former occupants of the White House, regardless of the real details of their marriage. That is extremely worthy of cogent criticism. I have not yet seen it, however, just a lot of arguing about whether or not she's a poor little rich girl or actually in a desperate situation or a gold digger or should just be left alone cause she did not want this.
She absolutely looks forward to the post-office cash grab and she'll do whatever it takes to get some of it.
posted by crush at 10:38 AM on April 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
She absolutely looks forward to the post-office cash grab and she'll do whatever it takes to get some of it.
posted by crush at 10:38 AM on April 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
My objection to the article has nothing to do with giving Melania Trump a free pass because she's white or rich or "beautiful". There are plenty of things I can and will fault her for, like her plagiarism of Michelle Obama's speech, her support for her husband's birtherism and her support for his campaign in general.
But this demand that the wives of American Presidents (and yes I use wives advisedly) completely subordinate themselves to a role, which in other countries is accomplished by a team of paid staff is ridiculous and archaic. I'll have no part of holding a woman to these unreasonable standards. Many of the things in this article seemed like really teaching and gendered criticisms. We can find plenty of other things to criticize her for. And really why not just focus on criticizing Trump? But the Republicans do it has never been a good reason to do anything.
posted by peacheater at 10:40 AM on April 17, 2017 [5 favorites]
But this demand that the wives of American Presidents (and yes I use wives advisedly) completely subordinate themselves to a role, which in other countries is accomplished by a team of paid staff is ridiculous and archaic. I'll have no part of holding a woman to these unreasonable standards. Many of the things in this article seemed like really teaching and gendered criticisms. We can find plenty of other things to criticize her for. And really why not just focus on criticizing Trump? But the Republicans do it has never been a good reason to do anything.
posted by peacheater at 10:40 AM on April 17, 2017 [5 favorites]
Why does this white billionaire get a pass when Michelle couldn't even wear a dress without sleeves without being called unfit to be FLOTUS?
So is your logic here that Republicans spent eight years wasting everyone's time with gross sexist (and racist) crap about Michelle Obama that had zero relevance to Obama's presidency, so now it's our turn? Like we need to distract people from paying attention to Trump's popular policies?
posted by straight at 10:46 AM on April 17, 2017 [6 favorites]
So is your logic here that Republicans spent eight years wasting everyone's time with gross sexist (and racist) crap about Michelle Obama that had zero relevance to Obama's presidency, so now it's our turn? Like we need to distract people from paying attention to Trump's popular policies?
posted by straight at 10:46 AM on April 17, 2017 [6 favorites]
Melania is actively helping her husband set up all the money they will make having been former occupants of the White House, regardless of the real details of their marriage. That is extremely worthy of cogent criticism.
Sounds like a post. Me, I would have thought that he could have done better financially by continuing to rent lawmakers and carry on with private business under a Hillary or Jeb administration, but if there is evidence to the contrary, I'm all ears.
The article - there are too many writers and not enough eyeballs and so many feel forced to post what a sober editor would quietly deep six.
posted by IndigoJones at 10:49 AM on April 17, 2017
Sounds like a post. Me, I would have thought that he could have done better financially by continuing to rent lawmakers and carry on with private business under a Hillary or Jeb administration, but if there is evidence to the contrary, I'm all ears.
The article - there are too many writers and not enough eyeballs and so many feel forced to post what a sober editor would quietly deep six.
posted by IndigoJones at 10:49 AM on April 17, 2017
I mean, that was the whole point of Republicans turning to sexist and racist attacks on the First Lady. Because they didn't have any substantive critique's of the president's policies that a majority of people would agree with.
posted by straight at 10:50 AM on April 17, 2017
posted by straight at 10:50 AM on April 17, 2017
I really like how people are looking at the photos and exclaiming about how cute the outfits are or how bad the framing is... without doing any further examination, which is what the whole point of the post was about.
Gosh, maybe we can talk about mean everyone is to Ivanka, too, since that's the only way we're allowed to discuss the Trump women -- always the victims.
posted by palomar at 10:55 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
Gosh, maybe we can talk about mean everyone is to Ivanka, too, since that's the only way we're allowed to discuss the Trump women -- always the victims.
posted by palomar at 10:55 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
So is your logic here that Republicans spent eight years wasting everyone's time with gross sexist (and racist) crap about Michelle Obama that had zero relevance to Obama's presidency, so now it's our turn? Like we need to distract people from paying attention to Drumpf's popular policies?
It predates Michelle, though I'll own that the nastiness factor got cranked up with her. Still, Hillary got crap for not being a doting good wife like her predecessors. She had the ovaries to say she didn't want to stay home and bake cookies, and the conservative establishment tore into her like a pack of starved dogs.
But Melania meanwhile stays away and barely registers with the public, and the establishment's response is a collective ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
And me, I'm okay with the whole idea of the FLOTUS being the mother of our nation going the fuck away. If that takes a rich lady deciding to cloister herself in Drumpf Tower, then so be it. Stop making kings out of our presidents, and princesses out of our first ladies.
The fact that the article refers to her as a "Fairytale Prisoner" is just sigh-inducing for exactly that reason. Though I will say the fact that she sits in the backseat of the car infuriates me, and that's probably the author's point.
posted by offalark at 10:56 AM on April 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
It predates Michelle, though I'll own that the nastiness factor got cranked up with her. Still, Hillary got crap for not being a doting good wife like her predecessors. She had the ovaries to say she didn't want to stay home and bake cookies, and the conservative establishment tore into her like a pack of starved dogs.
But Melania meanwhile stays away and barely registers with the public, and the establishment's response is a collective ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
And me, I'm okay with the whole idea of the FLOTUS being the mother of our nation going the fuck away. If that takes a rich lady deciding to cloister herself in Drumpf Tower, then so be it. Stop making kings out of our presidents, and princesses out of our first ladies.
The fact that the article refers to her as a "Fairytale Prisoner" is just sigh-inducing for exactly that reason. Though I will say the fact that she sits in the backseat of the car infuriates me, and that's probably the author's point.
posted by offalark at 10:56 AM on April 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm going to hazard a guess and say that if these same photographs were presented to the author without a name attached to them, the resulting article would have been EXACTLY THE SAME, DEFINITELY
posted by beerperson at 10:57 AM on April 17, 2017
posted by beerperson at 10:57 AM on April 17, 2017
Donald puts the minimum of effort into the work of being President, except where it benefits him directly. Hypothesis: Melania does the same in the role of First Lady.
To say "not the spouse's job" here is ... I am sure on Metafiter it comes from a place of equality and justice, but anywhere else I would read it as yet-another-exception-for-the-Trumps. Because Michelle, because Laura, because Hillary, because Barbara, because ... jeez because over two centuries of partners to date.
Melania and Donald campaigned together. They both knew the responsibilities, and claimed they'd be up to them. Either one could have said nope, I'm going to break with this, or just stopped running, before the election.
And yes, they can do this after the election, but then we also get to have opinions about that.
Like, we can ask "is Melania exercising her right not to take on some bs expectation of wives?" Sure! Can we wonder if she's doing this as a mark of her independence, perhaps as a feminist? Of course! Can we also think "is this maybe just what Donald is doing as President, picking the positive trappings of the job and skipping anything he doesn't like?" I think that's valid too.
posted by zippy at 11:01 AM on April 17, 2017 [7 favorites]
To say "not the spouse's job" here is ... I am sure on Metafiter it comes from a place of equality and justice, but anywhere else I would read it as yet-another-exception-for-the-Trumps. Because Michelle, because Laura, because Hillary, because Barbara, because ... jeez because over two centuries of partners to date.
Melania and Donald campaigned together. They both knew the responsibilities, and claimed they'd be up to them. Either one could have said nope, I'm going to break with this, or just stopped running, before the election.
And yes, they can do this after the election, but then we also get to have opinions about that.
Like, we can ask "is Melania exercising her right not to take on some bs expectation of wives?" Sure! Can we wonder if she's doing this as a mark of her independence, perhaps as a feminist? Of course! Can we also think "is this maybe just what Donald is doing as President, picking the positive trappings of the job and skipping anything he doesn't like?" I think that's valid too.
posted by zippy at 11:01 AM on April 17, 2017 [7 favorites]
Melania at least has a better sense of protocol than does her husband. [FB]
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 11:02 AM on April 17, 2017
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 11:02 AM on April 17, 2017
Why does this white billionaire get a pass when Michelle couldn't even wear a dress without sleeves without being called unfit to be FLOTUS?So is your logic here that Republicans spent eight years wasting everyone's time with gross sexist (and racist) crap about Michelle Obama that had zero relevance to Obama's presidency, so now it's our turn?...
Nope, not my logic, thanks for wasting your time. Wondering why Melania is wasting hundreds of millions of dollars, while not actually doing any one fucking thing as FLOTUS is not sexist. Sorry but calling women on BS isn't sexist. I'm not coming for her because of Trump's shortcomings, I'm not making her responsible for her husband's actions, I want her to responsible for her actions.
"...Like we need to distract people from paying attention to Trump's popular policies?"
MeScreamingThereCanBeTwoThingsForFiveHours.mp3
posted by FirstMateKate at 11:04 AM on April 17, 2017 [6 favorites]
I do not think of Melania Trump at all, she needs photography lessons, however. Visual literacy is a must have in this era. I do not think of any members of the Trump family, including the POTUS. All I can do is witness the effects of this administration, dual linked with a Republican congress. I don't have room in my life to ponder the lives of billionaires, nor the need to fawn over their largess. I do not like what we have to pay for their commuter lifestyle, as if The White House is not good enough for the first family. The people of the US do not owe the Trump family anything. Their debt to us is rising, and like their other debts will be ignored.
posted by Oyéah at 11:10 AM on April 17, 2017
posted by Oyéah at 11:10 AM on April 17, 2017
As some posters have done above, I definitely think it's helpful to periodically remind ourselves of the Republican discourse around Michelle Obama. I'm sure I'm not unique in this, but the way many Republicans treated the Obama family and especially Michelle remains to this day one of the animating forces in my visceral dislike of the Republican party. I just think the best way to get revenge is to beat them at the polls, not to pat ourselves on the back as we scroll through Melania's instagram feed. She's certainly a terrible first lady and most probably also a bad parson, but let's be real, we already knew that.
posted by loquacious crouton at 11:11 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by loquacious crouton at 11:11 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
When this is over, the family will never be the same again. Not the Trump family, but the US person one.
posted by infini at 11:11 AM on April 17, 2017
posted by infini at 11:11 AM on April 17, 2017
I just think the best way to get revenge is to beat them at the polls, not to pat ourselves on the back as we scroll through Melania's instagram feed.
Cool story, bro, but that's not what we're doing. Did you read the fucking article? I will admit that it's not pullitzer material, but trying to study how Melania represents her life to outsiders, in order to understand the kind of life she wants and how her role as First Lady as been dropped in order to fulfill that life is nothing like scrolling through her insta feed for lulz.
posted by FirstMateKate at 11:13 AM on April 17, 2017 [4 favorites]
Cool story, bro, but that's not what we're doing. Did you read the fucking article? I will admit that it's not pullitzer material, but trying to study how Melania represents her life to outsiders, in order to understand the kind of life she wants and how her role as First Lady as been dropped in order to fulfill that life is nothing like scrolling through her insta feed for lulz.
posted by FirstMateKate at 11:13 AM on April 17, 2017 [4 favorites]
Let's see. Where is my tinfoil hat. Hmm. Here it is. OK. Melania's plight is that she is in fact a prisoner. Being held against her will by our ogre of a president.
He is making sure the one person in the world who could take him down instantly never has the opportunity to do so. Easier for him to do in Trump tower than in the Whitehouse.
Really?
posted by notreally at 11:15 AM on April 17, 2017
He is making sure the one person in the world who could take him down instantly never has the opportunity to do so. Easier for him to do in Trump tower than in the Whitehouse.
Really?
posted by notreally at 11:15 AM on April 17, 2017
"If Michelle Obama had insisted on living inside a golden tower at taxpayer expense white people would have burned this country to the ground"
Heck, white people chose to burn this country to the ground just because the Obamas lived in the White House, never mind a golden tower. That's exactly what voting for Trump was intended to accomplish.
posted by Autumnheart at 11:18 AM on April 17, 2017 [4 favorites]
Heck, white people chose to burn this country to the ground just because the Obamas lived in the White House, never mind a golden tower. That's exactly what voting for Trump was intended to accomplish.
posted by Autumnheart at 11:18 AM on April 17, 2017 [4 favorites]
Hey! snarky comment people! Enough. Lay off. Someday you might be a president and then you will not want people making fun of your wife's photos. She plans to move into the White House next year, with her son, and then we might soon have gallery of West Virginia coal miners working the mines as her hubby promised.
posted by Postroad at 11:26 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Postroad at 11:26 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
Whatever happened to two wrongs don't make a right? I was also disgusted and horrified when they said terrible things about Michelle Obama, who seems to be living her best life atm.
She's not my favorite person. But this seemed like a fairytale written expressly for the purpose of turning her into some wicked witch/princess amalgam. She is smart enough to keep herself mostly out of the public eye - an eye that is dying to be cruel to her in any way it can. One that took something everyone else in the world does and assigned it a meaning to further an agenda. Have we lost any sense of being better than that?
posted by LuckyMonkey21 at 11:27 AM on April 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
She's not my favorite person. But this seemed like a fairytale written expressly for the purpose of turning her into some wicked witch/princess amalgam. She is smart enough to keep herself mostly out of the public eye - an eye that is dying to be cruel to her in any way it can. One that took something everyone else in the world does and assigned it a meaning to further an agenda. Have we lost any sense of being better than that?
posted by LuckyMonkey21 at 11:27 AM on April 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
If, during the campaign, a candidate's wife* said "I am not interested in fulfilling this role; I have other interests such as X and Y on which I will be focusing and I think that this is a very important job which deserves someone's full attention, and thus the responsibilities of the Office of the First Lady will be ably and thoughtfully executed by PERSON" I would respect that a lot. It IS a job with a lot of important responsibilities that matter to a lot of people and I don't think a woman should have to do it because her spouse is President.
Conversely, I think if someone helped her husband's campaign by talking about her potential role as First Lady, particularly if that campaign is against a woman who has been vilified for decades because she didn't want to do First Lady stuff, and now expects taxpayers to help pay for a lifestyle that is lavish beyond anything else we have seen for a presidential family without doing any work or even hiring a staff then I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for that.
*"Wife" said advisedly here; if a candidate's husband doesn't want to do First Lady stuff fuck him, women have been doing it for hundreds of years, suck it up and pick a damn color scheme, why do you think you're so special just because you're a man?
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 11:28 AM on April 17, 2017 [7 favorites]
Conversely, I think if someone helped her husband's campaign by talking about her potential role as First Lady, particularly if that campaign is against a woman who has been vilified for decades because she didn't want to do First Lady stuff, and now expects taxpayers to help pay for a lifestyle that is lavish beyond anything else we have seen for a presidential family without doing any work or even hiring a staff then I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for that.
*"Wife" said advisedly here; if a candidate's husband doesn't want to do First Lady stuff fuck him, women have been doing it for hundreds of years, suck it up and pick a damn color scheme, why do you think you're so special just because you're a man?
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 11:28 AM on April 17, 2017 [7 favorites]
Let's see. Where is my tinfoil hat. Hmm. Here it is. OK. Melania's plight is that she is in fact a prisoner. Being held against her will by our ogre of a president.
Oh for fucking fuck's sake, did you even read the article? That's the exact opposite of what the author is trying to say. I'm literally dumbfounded at this comment. Her "plight". Where, at all, does the article even begin to say that the situation Melania is in is not beneficial for her? Where are we supposed to feel sad for her? I mean you say "against her will". It says right in the damn headline she's doing it by choice. You don't even have to read the article for that. Where the hell are you coming from?
Look. Melania, herself, campaigned to be first lady. She even decided her own platform. She, with her own words and actions, decided she was going to try and accomplish things as FLOTUS. So even if you're in the weird "she didn't sign a contract actually so we shouldn't have expecataions camp", we can at least take her word for it.
But she hasn't done anything.
She has spent months doing...nothing? Spending money? Who the hell knows! Which is exaclty what the author is getting at. Melania has retreated into her own life instead of showing up for her job. No, it's not the best writing ever, but comparing her to a willing princess who lives in a high tower where she's safe and gets gowns and gold really isn't that far of a stretch.
posted by FirstMateKate at 11:28 AM on April 17, 2017 [3 favorites]
Oh for fucking fuck's sake, did you even read the article? That's the exact opposite of what the author is trying to say. I'm literally dumbfounded at this comment. Her "plight". Where, at all, does the article even begin to say that the situation Melania is in is not beneficial for her? Where are we supposed to feel sad for her? I mean you say "against her will". It says right in the damn headline she's doing it by choice. You don't even have to read the article for that. Where the hell are you coming from?
Look. Melania, herself, campaigned to be first lady. She even decided her own platform. She, with her own words and actions, decided she was going to try and accomplish things as FLOTUS. So even if you're in the weird "she didn't sign a contract actually so we shouldn't have expecataions camp", we can at least take her word for it.
But she hasn't done anything.
She has spent months doing...nothing? Spending money? Who the hell knows! Which is exaclty what the author is getting at. Melania has retreated into her own life instead of showing up for her job. No, it's not the best writing ever, but comparing her to a willing princess who lives in a high tower where she's safe and gets gowns and gold really isn't that far of a stretch.
posted by FirstMateKate at 11:28 AM on April 17, 2017 [3 favorites]
I just... I mean, this is incredibly gentle critique of imagery that an impossibly wealthy public figure has chosen to disseminate to the public, in order to tell a story about her life. And some of y'all are honestly calling that sexist, as if it compares in any way to the horrendous shit that was done to Michelle Obama?
What on earth, y'all?
posted by palomar at 11:29 AM on April 17, 2017 [6 favorites]
What on earth, y'all?
posted by palomar at 11:29 AM on April 17, 2017 [6 favorites]
Someday you might be a president and then you will not want people making fun of your wife's photos.
you don't know much about my marriage i guess
posted by beerperson at 11:29 AM on April 17, 2017
you don't know much about my marriage i guess
posted by beerperson at 11:29 AM on April 17, 2017
She plans to move into the White House next year
I'll believe that when I see it.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 11:33 AM on April 17, 2017
I'll believe that when I see it.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 11:33 AM on April 17, 2017
some of y'all are honestly calling that sexist, as if it compares in any way to the horrendous shit that was done to Michelle Obama?
I mean can't it both be sexist? The expectations of Michelle Obama and Melania Trump are /both/ Sexist As Fuck? And it feels gross to have people be full throatedly like "fuck yeah sexism, because I hate that woman for being married to that man, women are totally responsible for their husband's actions".
posted by corb at 11:36 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
I mean can't it both be sexist? The expectations of Michelle Obama and Melania Trump are /both/ Sexist As Fuck? And it feels gross to have people be full throatedly like "fuck yeah sexism, because I hate that woman for being married to that man, women are totally responsible for their husband's actions".
posted by corb at 11:36 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
What I think so many people miss, even here, is that the FLOTUS does not have to be the wife of the President. Yes, it's highly traditional, but if Melania did not want the job, she could have refused. It was floated as a theory for a while that Ivanka would serve as First Lady instead.
What's damning is that she's accepted the title and the privileges (including an official portrait), but not the responsibility. I have no sympathy for her because she absolutely has the ability to abdicate the position, and seemingly refuses to do so.
posted by explosion at 11:37 AM on April 17, 2017 [7 favorites]
What's damning is that she's accepted the title and the privileges (including an official portrait), but not the responsibility. I have no sympathy for her because she absolutely has the ability to abdicate the position, and seemingly refuses to do so.
posted by explosion at 11:37 AM on April 17, 2017 [7 favorites]
And it feels gross to have people be full throatedly like "fuck yeah sexism, because I hate that woman for being married to that man, women are totally responsible for their husband's actions".
posted by corb at 2:36 PM on April 17 [+] [!]
How is her deciding a platform, campaigning with it, and then doing literally nothing about it when the time comes making her responsible for her husband's actions? I'll wait.
posted by FirstMateKate at 11:40 AM on April 17, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by corb at 2:36 PM on April 17 [+] [!]
How is her deciding a platform, campaigning with it, and then doing literally nothing about it when the time comes making her responsible for her husband's actions? I'll wait.
posted by FirstMateKate at 11:40 AM on April 17, 2017 [5 favorites]
And it feels gross to have people be full throatedly like "fuck yeah sexism, because I hate that woman for being married to that man, women are totally responsible for their husband's actions".
Oh, please. Point to where anyone has even come close to saying this.
posted by palomar at 11:40 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
Oh, please. Point to where anyone has even come close to saying this.
posted by palomar at 11:40 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
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Who does that remind me of? Hmmmm...
posted by Splunge at 9:59 AM on April 17, 2017 [2 favorites]