It was only a matter of time until Trump and Cruz’s wives were dragged into this bizarre, machismo-fueled Republican primary race. In an election campaign seemingly more concerned with how big Trump’s “hands” are than with actual political discourse, no one’s shocked these potential first ladies have been reduced to nothing more than weapons — but that doesn’t make it any less unsettling.
To briefly recap for those readers who have successfully dodged the finger-pointing hype, it all started with an anti-Trump super PAC called Make America Awesome. No, I’m serious. According to The Atlantic, the PAC ran an ad in Utah featuring a nude photo of Melania Trump from a 2000 issue of British GQ with the accompanying text, “Meet Melania Trump. Your next first lady. Or, you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday.” Despite “Lyin’ Ted” Cruz’s claim he had no connection with Make America Awesome, Trump threatened to “spill the beans” about Heidi Cruz via Twitter. The beans remained unspilled, but Trump still managed to retweet a picture comparing Heidi and Melania’s physical appearance with the description, “No need to ‘spill the beans.’ The images are worth a thousand words.” Chaos ensued.
Again, no one is surprised this happened. Despite general rules of civility making it a low blow to bring spouses into the presidential scuffle, it happens. Adding to the Twitter feud’s inevitability is Trump’s overwhelmingly misogynistic rhetoric, something he frequently employs in his unending feud with Fox News reporter Megyn Kelly. In fact, many people claim the candidate’s wives are fair game, pointing to Melania’s conscious decision to take the GQ photos and Trump’s knowledge they would inevitably be used as political ammo.
Like it or not, nude bodies don’t hold the same gravitas they once did. New York Times columnist Jennifer Weiner makes the observation that “now, in the worlds of politics and pop culture, boudoir shots and even sex tapes have gone from guaranteed embarrassments to occasional assets to, sometimes, barely mattering at all.” So, while the Utah ad may make an insignificant impact — if any — on the campaign or on Melania Trump’s public image, that doesn’t make it any more forgivable. The same goes for Trump’s attack on Heidi Cruz and her husband’s response of “Donald, real men don’t attack women. Your wife is lovely, and Heidi is the love of my life.”
The true issue at hand is these women are being reduced to their bodies, transformed into political currency and used as symbols of their spouses’ power and masculinities in two different ways. For Cruz, Heidi’s modesty and his readiness to defend it are testaments to his morality. For Trump, Melania’s sex appeal proves his power and social status. Both women are stripped of their personhood and individual accomplishments, qualities that are traded in for the labels of “hot” and “beloved.” Cruz may sound chivalrous coming to his wife’s defense, but he’s equally to blame for employing these tactics.
It’s misleading to look at this incident solely from the perspective of winning over women and cultural conservatives in the polls. There’s no doubt that a wide swath of voters is turned off by this “Battle of the Wives,” but that’s not the only issue. More than anything else, this feud is a manifestation of the candidates’ severely misled gender politics, and while the mudslinging may fade into the background, the motives aren’t going away anytime soon.
Marisa Papenfuss is a UF English junior. Her column usually appears on Tuesdays.
