A meme currently making the rounds that pokes fun at the appearance of Ben Carson’s wife, Candy Carson, feels unnecessarily cruel as well as both sexist and ageist.
Why are candidates being judged on how closely their wives fit a standard of beauty? Do we not have enough to criticize Ben Carson about without attacking his wife’s clothing and physical appearance?
I’m reminded of a time when President Obama, who was still just one of the Democratic hopefuls vying for nomination, appeared on Good Morning America. I remember him saying this:
“The GOP, should I be the nominee, I think can say whatever they want to say about me, my track record. I’ve been in public life for 20 years. I expect them to pore through everything that I’ve said, every utterance, every statement. And to paint it in the most undesirable light possible. That’s what they do.
But I do want to say this to the GOP. If they think that they’re going to try to make Michelle an issue in this campaign, they should be careful. Because that I find unacceptable…I think (it) is just low class.”
I agree, Mr. President, and I feel the same about the current criticism of Candy Carson.
Candy Carson is not running for president and even if she were, her appearance is the last thing we should be focusing on at this point. Ben Carson IS running and has given us more than enough to criticize: his statements about Thomas Jefferson’s drafting of the US Constitution, his endless xenophobia, his non-existent grasp of foreign policy, and his ridiculous statements about national tragedies and how he would’ve prevented them had he been there and armed, just for starters.
As liberals, we did not care for the criticism of Hillary Clinton’s appearance in memes that show her looking somewhat haggard at times and off her guard. We blasted those critics as ageist and sexist. We didn’t care, either, for the unending criticism of First Lady Michelle Obama’s appearance by GOP supporters; in fact, we pointed out that many of those critiques were not only sexist, they were incredibly racist.
We cannot descend to using the same tactics. We cannot bash Melania Trump in our criticism of Donald and insinuate that Ben Carson is somehow not respectable because his wife doesn’t fit some narrow standard of beauty. Both Candy Carson and Michelle Obama are former scholars and are quite accomplished in their own rights, but we can’t respect a woman for her accomplishments rather than her looks?
We are better than this, my liberal friends. Criticize the candidates on their policies, on their words, and on their actions. Stop making an issue of how pretty their wives are, or we become no better than those we criticize for doing the same to our candidates and First Ladies.
