Ivanka Trump tried to celebrate International Women’s Day and it backfired
‘On International Women’s Day I call for our President to apologise to all the women he has hurt!’
‘On International Women’s Day I call for our President to apologise to all the women he has hurt!’
Yesterday marked International Women’s Day, with women and men across the world taking the day to support each other and call for gender equality.
High profile figures of course took part, with everyone from Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon to Barack Obama and Emma Watson using their platforms to highlight the importance of the international day.
Everyone is welcome on International Women’s Day - and while it prompted an outpouring of love, support and sisterhood vibes on the internet, there seemed to be one person who wasn’t welcome in the movement - Ivanka Trump, first daughter and as a result, advisor to the president of the United States.
‘Today we come together in recognition of women at home & around the globe,’ the 36-year-old tweeted to her 5.48 million followers. ‘We celebrate women’s achievements, past & present, & pledge to empower women to reach their full economic potential for generations to come. When women thrive, we ALL succeed. #InternationalWomensDay.’
The internet predictably didn’t take too well to the post, with some angry users calling the First Daughter out as a hypocrite.
While Ivanka, author of Women Who Work, has insisted that she is behind gender equality and ending the mistreatment of women at work, her credibility took a blow last year when she was seen to be blocking Obama’s gender pay gap policy – you know, the system working towards equal pay. And then her credibility slumped even lower last week when she reprimanded a reporter for asking about her father’s sexual harassment allegations.
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‘I want to like you, I really do,’ tweeted Ariana Jade. ‘But you can't act like you care about women's rights and stand by silently when your father undermines women's rights and demeans strong women leaders in the way that he does.’
Another posted: ‘Ivanka, your hypocrisy and lack of awareness are pitiful. Save yourself and go back to New York. You just make a fool of yourself with every fake tweet about caring for women, or anybody but your money.’
And Ivanka wasn’t the only one in the Trump family who chose to ‘honour’ the day, with Melania and Donald also trying to get involved. Unsurprisingly, they weren’t welcomed by the sisterhood either.
‘Happy #IWD2018. Today we recognize, celebrate & honor women around the globe,’ tweeted First Lady Melania Trump. ‘On March 21, I will be at the @StateDept to present the #WomenOfCourage award to some extraordinary women.’
‘Melanie - I don’t know where to begin,’ tweeted one angry user. ‘Your husband’s administration is undermining women every day. When will you truly stand up for women’s rights instead of being #complicit? I wish you greater empathy and compassion.’
Others agreed, with another user, Resistance Mia tweeting, ‘You have no self-awareness whatsoever. I stand amazed and stunned at how you try to keep up this act.’
Understandably, Donald Trump received the biggest backlash of all, with Twitter users taking to social media to highlight how he is perpetuating the very problem, with Ed Krassenstein tweeting, ‘Melania needs a lot of courage to live with you…well sorta. On #internationalwomensday I call for our president to apologise to all the women he has hurt!’
So it’s safe to say that the Trump family's efforts to own International Women’s Day have not gone well as it was proven once again that actions speak A LOT louder than words.
Jenny Proudfoot is an award-winning journalist, specialising in lifestyle, culture, entertainment, international development and politics. She has worked at Marie Claire UK for seven years, rising from intern to Features Editor and is now the most published Marie Claire writer of all time. She was made a 30 under 30 award-winner last year and named a rising star in journalism by the Professional Publishers Association.
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