Former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton has been the target of some nasty insults on social media for her looks lately and good for her for standing up. Challenging her on policy positions is welcomed, but critics should keep the comments about her looks to themselves.
Clinton is back in the headlines because a person posted an image of her with the head of Howdy Doody (a freckled-face, fat-cheeked puppet from a famous children's program dating back to the 1950s and 60s) talking about President Trump. Others tweeted that she looked like a donkey and pig.
Chelsea Clinton had a good response to the person who likened her to the puppet though:
@ChelseaClinton: Thanks to Richard & all the people on @Twitter who’ve compared me to Howdy Doody, I now know a bit about him, including that he stood up to bullies & believed in being kind to animals. I’m always happy to be on the side of allyship & kindness. Thanks again!
Chelsea Clinton has said some baffling things in the past such as equating the concerns of child marriage to that of climate change. She works for her parents' foundation that should be alleviating poverty among the world's poorest nations but has had some questionable dealings such as in Haiti. There is no shortage of issues to press or express differences with Clinton about.
If the only criticism someone can think of about a woman in public eye is her looks, then it's best they keep it to themselves.
Civility and respect have been replaced by vulgarity and rudeness that has no grounding in any substance. There is no explanation or defense for that.
Conservative women, especially those working in the Trump Administration, have had an avalanche of sexist insults, jokes, and criticism hurled at them by the left. SNL took aim at Kellyanne Conway which irked even liberals. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has been viciously by Jim Carrey, Cher, and most recently comedian Michelle Wolf. Samantha Bee has had to apologize again and again for her vulgar comments about current First Daughter Ivanka Trump.
None of those insults were acceptable and neither is it acceptable to do that to Chelsea Clinton.
Being a champion for women means defending all women against sexist attacks.