I Knew Yesterday's Post Would Strike a Nerve

I may have joined Donald Trump as a serial insulter because of yesterday's post, but I stand by my position.

Two people, both acquaintances from another website whom I like and admire through what I've learned of them there, say Trump is a misogynist. I've said before that he's not, and I still don't believe that he is. Particularly after doing research for this post.

According to Merriam-Webster, misogyny is the 'hatred of women'. Just Googling the term comes back with 'a person who dislikes, despises or is strongly prejudiced against women'.

So that's the baseline. If we believe the misogynist label, Donald Trump either outright hates women, or he dislikes, despises and/or is strongly prejudiced against women - all women. Not one, not two or this one or that one or the other.

I don't buy that. I think he is an equal opportunity insulter without the sense God gave a chicken when it comes to shutting up.

If Donald Trump is a misogynist, why has he been married three times, to three women who are unarguably better looking than most and who are, independent of their marriage to him, successful?

Ivana Trump, Marla Maples, Melania Trump

If he hates women, why did he appoint Ivana to several high-profile positions within the Trump Organization? She was the Vice President of Interior Design and had a hand in the design of Trump Tower. In 1990, she was named Hotelier of the Year when she was president of Trump's Plaza Hotel in New York. This is hardly the profile of a weak woman, or one overrun by her husband.

And, if he 'hates' women, why did he put her in a position of apparent power? Why not show his disrespect by making her some low-level worker bee, or keep her out of his company altogether?

Marla Maples was a model who, after her divorce from The Donald, became an actress in movies and on television. She's had a radio talk show. I don't think a weak woman could be successful in the shark tanks of talk radio and Hollywood.

Melania certainly had plenty of opportunity for a successful life without Trump. She has a degree in design and architecture from University of Ljubljana, Yugoslavia. She was a successful model. She currently runs two businesses - one for jewelry sold on QVC and another for a high-end moisturizer. This is not your typical abused woman hated by her husband. She is successful in her own right and has plenty of opportunity to stand on her own two feet if things were ugly in her marriage.

Googling 'Donald and Melania Trump news' doesn't come up with lurid headlines about troubles or fights or splits or gossip. They appear to be a solid couple and the pictures of them together don't show any sign of discord. In fact, if you look at his expression in those pictures where he's looking at her, they're almost prideful. They're certainly admiring.

He's got his daughter Ivanka out there stumping for him and, according to some I've listened to on the chattering shows, she is one of his strongest advisers. Another woman whom he respects.

But those are family - of course he treats them well. Yet - if we go back to the original basis for the label, it's a universal behavior. He (supposedly) dislikes women - all inclusive. I hold that he doesn't.

Take a minute and read this article from last November's Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/donald-trump-a-champion-of-women-his-female-employees-think-so/2015/11/23/7eafac80-88da-11e5-9a07-453018f9a0ec_story.html

Or this, from Yahoo:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/whats-up-with-donald-trump-and-the-women-not-090043983.html

In this, the position I take is confirmed: Donald Trump is a serial insulter. He is even-handed in his opinions - men and women - with just two tags for people: 'Great' or 'Loser' and once on the list it's hard to get off.

Based on reading both of these articles and a few others, he is superficial in his judgement of people - appearance matters. That does not make him a misogynist, though. It just proves he is shallow. Just like most people who make snap judgements based on appearance rather than character.

After all, if you climb aboard a bus or train or a shared transport of any kind, or are even at an airport terminal waiting for a flight and you have the choice between taking the seat next to someone good looking and well groomed or someone who is, at best, lazy about their appearance, which seat will you choose?

That's a superficial judgement. For all you know that sharp well-dressed person is a perv and the lazy slob is another Einstein. Looking at these two guys in the pictures above, and given the choice of taking the empty seat, guess which I would pick. And, I suspect you'd do the same.

We all make judgements about other people's appearance. We just have the sense to keep our opinions to ourselves.

Oh, and those two guys there? One is a serial killer and the other is a multi-billionaire - Ted Bundy and Mark Cuban, respectively.


I liken Trump's behavior to Tourette's syndrome. That is a condition where a person has an inexplicable, unfortunate and uncontrollable urge to spew whatever hits their tongue no matter where they are or who they are with. Tourette's is also linked to ADHD - a tendency toward impulsive behavior. I don't believe that Trump has either of these things overtly or clinically, but based on observation - the tendency to jump from topic to topic to topic and back again, to say precisely what's front and present in his awareness, perhaps there's a touch there.

Another possibility might be found in research done by the Max Planck Institute on the psychology of speech.

It has been studied and proved that we start to speak before we decide precisely what we're going to say. Unlike in writing when we at least have the opportunity to go back and edit before releasing our wisdom into the world, speech is immediate and difficult to correct because there is a delay between our starting a sentence and what we end up deciding to say.

Perhaps Trump's linkages are weaker than most or maybe they're quicker. Instead of having time to apply the filter the majority of us use, the synapses are so fast that the words escape before his brain has a chance to intervene.

Does this excuse what he says? No. But it is one explanation and I still say that the 'misogynist' label is misapplied when it's applied to Trump. Not because I'm stubborn, but because I judge people on what I see and weigh them on what I hear. He's not perfect, not by a long stretch, but I recognize the good things about him. Based on what I've read about this particular person, I'm comfortable defending my support of him.

Does this proclivity to speak what's on his mind disqualify him from public office? I don't think so. I would much rather have someone who speaks what he thinks, even if I don't like hearing it, than have yet another snake oil salesman who thinks and rehearses every single thing and makes promises he has no intention of keeping.

In my opinion all of the other candidates in this horse race are just another snake oil salesman, aka Professional Politician.

Clinton has been in politics almost all of her adult life - from when Billy-Jeff was governor of Arkansas in the 1980s to today.

Sanders is a career politician who has been around Washington for decades, getting started as a mayor in Vermont back in the 1970's.

Cruz is another career politician - first working at the Federal Trade Commission for four years (1999 - 2003), serving as an advisor to Bush II during his campaign, working as Solicitor General of Texas and, more recently became a Senator.

None of these choices will change anything in Washington - so I would rather have a Tourette-tainted equal opportunity serial insulter in the Oval Office who might actually have the stones to get something done. At the very least it'll shake things up an awful lot.

So, with that out of the way, I hope your day is wonderful.

Best~
Philippa

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