Everyone Needs to Stop Talking About Ivanka Trump’s Nipples

Ivanka Trump has had her share of Instagram mishaps, like the time she posted a photo of herself attending a gala as her father signed an executive order banning refugees from entering the country. But her latest post is causing a stir for all the wrong reasons.

On Monday the First Daughter shared photos while at a town hall on tax reform in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, wearing a pink turtleneck and a plaid skirt (possibly a nod to her “punk” days). And rather than getting comments about her position on taxes and finance, people are focusing on her mildly visible nipples.

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Comments range from jokes on how freezing it must have been in the room to the ever-straightforward “Good tits!,” confirming my theory that people just want to say something even when it’s much easier and better for everyone to keep their mouths shut. One user even suggested that “no one understood what you did because all they can see is your nipple.” Of course! Who could possibly hear a woman’s voice over the raging cacophony of her breasts?

We already knew that sexism has no political affiliation. In 2015 First Lady Michelle Obama was subjected to similar public speculation about her nipples after her appearance on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. Some even suggested that she had nipple rings, which, even if she did, is just not the point of anything.

The thing about nipples is: Who cares about nipples? Most people have nipples. Sometimes they get pointy when it’s cold, or are just pointy all the time, and they’re one of the the least interesting things about anyone. And yet men tend to act like gross children whenever they see them on a woman.

Honestly, this is just exhausting. One of the problems with sexism is that it’s often impossible to extricate its influence from all the other, reasonable criticisms one might throw at a woman. And, boy, are there plenty of things you could reasonably criticize Ivanka for. So now we have to sit here and make the point that it does not matter whether the First Daughter’s nipples are showing; it matters whether she should be charged for felony fraud for giving inflated numbers to potential condo buyers.

Anyway, because we can and should understand what Ivanka is doing regardless of her nipples, here’s what she talked about at the town hall: She reportedly called tax reform a top priority of her father’s administration, saying that they are putting a “priority on middle-income American families.” However, protesters at the event argued social services like Medicare would be hit under Trump’s proposed tax plan. Donald Trump has boasted that his plan would be “the biggest tax cut in U.S. history” (it wouldn’t be). The plan calls for “$473 billion in cuts from Medicare over 10 years,” while giving wealthy individuals and corporations tax breaks.

“The bottom line on this budget is that it’s a right-wing fantasy document that paves the way for a hyper-partisan process on tax reform and trillions of dollars in handouts to big corporations and the wealthy,” said Oregon Senator Ron Wyden. Hardly the boost to middle-income families.

But of course, who can blame commenters for ignoring all that in favor of Ivanka’s visible nipples? Donald Trump is notoriously obsessed with women’s boobs and bodies. They must just be acting presidential.

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