Over the weekend, President Donald Trump complimented his ally Nicki Minaj’s butt as “one hell of a beautiful ass” at a Michigan rally ― continuing his recent habit of complimenting the derrieres of his supporters.
“By the way, I looked at one hell of a beautiful ass before: Nicki Minaj. That’s
hard to miss. Stand up. That’s hard to miss,” Trump said during the rally.
Last week, Trump also repeatedly complimented the butt of Ohio Sen. Jon Husted, for whom he is campaigning for ahead of the November midterms, comparing Husted’s bottom to “a pile of muscle.”
When HuffPost asked the White House to comment on Trump’s body-focused statements, Natalie Baldassarre, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, responded, “President Trump has a great sense of humor, unlike the far-left media who take everything he says as a reason to clutch their pearls. The president’s rallies are generating enthusiasm, driving voters to the polls, and supercharging our candidates to defy history on November 3.”
While the president keeps praising the physical appearance of the male Republican Senate and gubernatorial nominees, Trump’s idea of a “compliment” for Minaj is different because of how it reveals his worldview toward women, therapists told HuffPost.
What Trump is doing “is the definition of objectification: reducing someone to their body parts –– and objectification puts people at risk of dehumanizing behaviors,” said Lauren Appio, a psychologist and executive coach.
“When we dehumanize people, we lose sight of their humanity, their unique thoughts, feelings and needs, and can see them as a means to an end, rather than a whole person deserving of respect,” Appio continued. “In these cases, Trump’s women allies are certainly a means to an end –– they are only as good as what they can do for him.”
When Trump called Minaj’s backside a “beautiful ass,” he asked her to stand up to show it, and she did, waving to the crowd.
The fact that Trump asked Minaj to stand up in front of an audience after making a sexualized comment about her body may be the most telling behavior of all, said Jennifer Chappell Marsh, a marriage and family therapist in San Diego, California.
“There’s a difference between complimenting someone and turning their body into a source of entertainment for everyone else,” Chappell Marsh said.
“When someone does this, they’re putting the other person in a position where they may feel expected to laugh, smile or go along with it, regardless of whether they’re comfortable,” she noted. “That dynamic becomes even more complicated when the person making the comment holds a position of power. It’s a display of their own power over someone else.”
Minaj has become a vocal supporter of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement. After Trump’s shout out to her looks, Minaj took to the stage and led the crowd in a “We love Trump” chant.
Sammy Peachey, a licensed marriage and family therapist, said Trump’s actions are an “incredibly loud red flag” that he doesn’t see women as equals.
“The fact that he aggressively objectifies even his allies is a clear indicator that he does not care to see women as anything but something to ogle and enjoy,” Peachey said.
Why Some Older Men Fixate On Complimenting Women’s Bodies
Many men who aren’t Trump also have a habit of complimenting strangers’ bodies, regardless of how annoying and creepy this behavior is to women.
For Greg Kushnick, a psychologist specializing in cognitive behavioral therapy, it’s clear that Trump values physical beauty, and his idea of a compliment is common for men of his generation.
“This behavior is common in older men, and especially in more conservative men who believe that it’s appropriate to convey their reactions to physical beauty without much care for what the impact is on people,” Kushnick said.
Appio noted that objectification is a behavior that is not limited to older men, but this older generation may be more exposed to a society that normalized such behavior.
“I think older men can be more at risk of acting this way because they were likely raised with messages that being masculine equates to dominating others,” Appio said. “They may still hold outdated views about women and sexualizing language.”
Men who are from older generations are often taught there is a hierarchy between men and women, also known as patriarchy, “which can lead to a social norm of men treating women as lesser than they are,” Peachey said.
Therapists Have Advice If You Get This ‘Compliment’ Too
There are other options beyond standing up and waving if you get this kind of compliment. If you’re on the receiving end of this kind of attention, you don’t have to play along with accepting this behavior as a compliment, therapists said.
“You have every right to say that you don’t appreciate comments about your body. You don’t owe someone gratitude simply because they intended their words as a compliment,” Chappell Marsh said.
And if you’re the person doing this compliment, you should stop, no matter what position of power you hold.“Start seeing women as whole humans and see what else you can compliment: their thoughts, their contributions to society, their creativity,” Peachey said. “There is so much more to a person than their body.”