“It’s absolutely appalling that Nina Burleigh chose to attack the first lady and first daughter over shoes.”
Of all the ridiculous headlines I have read over the course of the past few days, one particular story came completely out of left field. Newsweek published an article attacking First Lady Melania Trump and First Daughter Ivanka Trump over their fashion choices.
According to Nina Burleigh, author of the article—titled Melania and Ivanka Trump Wear High Heels, a Symbol of Everything That is Beautiful and Horrifying About Them—the Trump women have set women back a whole century with their decision to wear high heels.
Burleigh writes, “Historically, the Trumpian women’s shoe choice was invented not for women but aristocratic men, men who would never have to work and who didn’t have to walk much but were carried in litters or carriages.” Burleigh talks like the Trump women look like bums or are walking around flipping every other woman off.
With everything that’s currently happening in the United States, it doesn’t surprise me that the Trump administration is under fire and being picked apart by various media outlets and social justice warriors. However, I find myself disappointed at the level people are lowering themselves to in the name of trashing President Donald Trump and his family.
I don’t agree with how he’s handled many things lately. The beauty of democracy is that I have the right to effect change by way of voting or taking a stand in many other countless ways. It’s absolutely appalling that Nina Burleigh chose to attack the first lady and first daughter over shoes.
She also went on a tangent about how high heels are out of style. I’m going to need to know where this lady gets her fashion advice from.
When did it become acceptable to attack other women over clothing and accessories? Considering the Ivanka Trump brand runs a fashion line for career-oriented women, it’s not unheard of that she would be impeccably dressed at all times. The first lady is expected to be a fashion icon. Melania Trump has yet to disappoint in that category.
They’re shoes, lady. I myself had a brief introduction to high heels and it was a definite nope for me…
So why in the world do we care about what these ladies wear on their feet? Nina Burleigh even compared the Trump women’s photograph poses to Louis XIV of France. I follow both of these women on social media and have never seen any polarizing statements from either. While people have accused Ivanka Trump of being complicit, she’s not the president. Melania Trump is not the president.
Ripping into other women over shoes is not feminism. Supporting another woman’s decision and choices for her own body—to include how she dresses—has taken a backseat to policing minute details of public figures.
Nina Burleigh accuses the Trump women of projecting a binary standard of what defines a woman and man. They’re shoes, lady. I myself had a brief introduction to high heels and it was a definite nope for me, so more power to any woman who possesses the strength and balance to walk in heels. It’s not a task that should be taken lightly—ask any woman anywhere.
