Buzzfeed senior culture writer Anne Helen Petersen wrote on Thursday what could only be described as a hit piece on President Donald Trump’s oldest daughter Ivanka by throwing shade at her faith, family, and feminism.
Peterson claimed that her piece, “Ivanka Trump And The Aesthetics Of Denial,” was to “analyze Ivanka's celebrity and how she's crafted that image on social media,” which was interesting since Peterson actually had to issue that statement to clarify the meaning of her story. Take, for instance, Peterson’s description of Ivanka Trump’s power and femininity:
Unlike [Hillary] Clinton, Ivanka camouflages her power grabs beneath her beautifully blown-out hair, her 4-inch heels, her tasteful shift dresses, and her three delightful children. Ivanka’s mother, Ivana, was a perfect feminine specimen — a Slavic Model Barbie who looked great on Donald’s arm. Ivanka is the updated version: Barbie 2.0, the sort of woman men want to both marry and fuck, but who also doesn’t alienate women…
Basically, Peterson argued Ivanka’s feminism is different than Clinton’s; instead of wearing pantsuits flats and short hair, Ivanka wears beautiful dresses and heels with the kind of blown-out hair you’d see on a catwalk instead of the Oval Office; a “Barbie” instead of …a Ken. As if that’s a bad thing.
Peterson took a few digs at the family, as if Ivanka uses her children as a shield for her father’s so-called controversial policies. After social justice warriors threw a fit over an Instagram photo Ivanka posted with her husband prior to a black-tie event, Peterson claimed Ivanka became more vigilant in the timing of her social media postings:
Generally, Ivanka’s … post about once a day. But after the silver dress, she posted just a single video over the course of the next week. That video, of her daughter, Arabella, singing a song for the Chinese New Year, is a subtle suggestion that of course Ivanka (and her family) loves other cultures! … She’s still deflecting, but she’s now doing so at intervals that can’t be directly tied or contrasted to the material effects of her father’s policies…When Donald Trump lashes out at the press, Ivanka posts a picture of him walking hand-in-hand with her children on the White House lawn. When Trump rescinds protections for trans children, she poses with her daughter on the steps of the Supreme Court. When Trump calls the media “the enemy of the people,” she posts pictures of her kids at their first monster truck rally...
When it came to Ivanka’s 2009 conversion to Judaism (which is the faith of husband Jared Kushner), Peterson’s remarks were degrading. Speaking about the increase of anti-Semitic bomb threats and vandalism to Jewish community centers and cemeteries, Peterson wrote that Ivanka hasn’t been vocal enough:
There was no invocation of her own identity as a Jew, and in fact, no invocation of Jewishness at all — save the hashtag, #JCC, whose meaning, for most, would remain opaque…”and even questions if Ivanka is “ashamed” of her faith, or, rather, “she understands that to remain as publicly palatable as possible, Jewishness cannot be central to her public identity.
It’s amazing. For years, feminists have wanted to show how women can have it all – whether it’s balancing work and home, or succeeding in positions of power - and here’s Ivanka Trump, showing that it can be done, but all they do is tear her down. It makes you wonder who the true feminist is now.
