Ivanka Trump can't be whitewashed with 'women's empowerment' talk

Ivanka Trump can't be whitewashed with 'women's empowerment' talk


It’s fitting that she was booed at the W20 summit on Tuesday but really, it’s time that she was booed off the world stage

‘To be taken seriously as an advocate for women she needs to stop her meaningless platitudes about ‘empowering women’. Photograph: Michael Sohn/AP


Ivanka is basically the new Malala, isn’t she? It can’t be long now until an inspirational movie is made about her life (He Named Me Ivanka) and she is awarded the Nobel peace prize for her tireless struggle to empower women and fight for women’s rights. Of course, not everyone sees it that way. On Tuesday, the first daughter was loudly jeered at the W20 summit on women’s economic empowerment in Berlin. Speaking on a high-profile panel which included Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, and Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Ivanka Trump drew groans and laughter when she defended her father’s attitudes toward women and described him as “a tremendous champion” of working families. Explaining her father’s misunderstood feminism, Trump told a less than credulous audience: “I think the thousands of women who have worked with and for my father for decades, when he was in the private sector, are testament to his belief and solid conviction in the potential of women and their ability to do the job as well as any man.”

It’s worth remembering that Donald Trump has been accused of sexual assault and sexual harassment by at least 15 women (accusations that he denies). It’s worth remembering that he paid men on his campaign staff one-third more than women, while Hillary Clinton paid equal wages, according to an analysis of payroll data last year. And it’s worth remembering that he appeared to refuse to shake Merkel’s hand when they met at the White House last month. But never mind those inconvenient facts – look how nice he’s been to his own daughter! In what might be described as “clutching at straws”, Trump invoked her own impressive achievements as an example of her father’s commitment to equality. “I grew up in a house where there were no barriers to what I could accomplish beyond my own perseverance and my own tenacity ... There was no difference for me and my brothers.” It’s worth remembering that the president once praised his daughter’s body and said: “If Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.” I’m not sure he ever talked about his sons as sexual objects on TV. But perhaps that’s beside the point. Trump is, indeed, a wonderful example of what women can achieve with just perseverance, tenacity and millions of inherited dollars.

The W20 summit marks Trump’s first international trip as part of the administration. Exactly what she (who holds an unpaid, informal advisory role but has security clearance) does in that administration is not clear. Not even, it seems, to her.Trump’s opening question on the panel, from moderator Miriam Meckel, editor-in-chief of business weekly WirtschaftsWoche, was whether she was in Berlin representing her father, the US or her business. Trump replied: “Certainly not the latter ... I am rather unfamiliar with this role as well, it is quite new to me.” She added that she was “humbled” to be in Berlin “with so many formidable leaders. I’m listening; I’m learning.” It’s all very well that Trump is listening and learning, but her unelected role in the administration isn’t supposed to be some sort of taxpayer-funded degree in international politics.

. . . .

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/25/dont-mention-ivanka-trump-womens-empowerment-same-breath