The particular grossness of Trump telling Brigitte Macron that she’s ‘in such good physical shape’

Marissa Martinelli writes: Trump making gruesomely objectifying comments about female appearances is clearly old hat at this point. But still: this one’s a doozy. Setting aside the general appropriateness of the American president commenting on the body of the French president’s wife in public, there’s the way he pays the “compliment” first to Brigitte, and then to Macron, as if to praise him on her upkeep, too. And most of all, there is a big difference between telling a woman she looks good and informing her, with a note of awestruck surpise, that she’s “in such good shape.” His choice of words is telling, because the unspoken end of the sentence “you’re in such good shape” is “for your age.” It’s a formulation that highlights a core Trumpian trait: just how obsessed he is with the specter of female decline.

Brigitte is 64 years old, making her 24 years older than her husband and 7 years younger than Trump. Trump’s disgust toward both the aging process and, paradoxically, women’s attempts to combat that process, is a deep current in his general worldview. [Continue reading…]

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