This week Ivanka Trump was given the title of assistant to the president. She will serve as an unpaid adviser to her father, maintaining all the benefits she was previously given such as security clearance and participation in diplomacy. But now, she will have to meet federal ethics regulations.
Her position is another example of President Trump’s nepotism and the fraudulence of his administration. But even though many resisters are quick to confirm her inappropriate employment, liberals still hope Ivanka will be a quasi-savior and act for the good of the resistance, despite all evidence of her values and previous actions.
Ivanka is not a champion for women or any progressive ideal. Ivanka taps into a misconstrued form of feminism that isn’t interested at all about helping other women. Instead, this faux feminism prizes personal ambition instead of the progress of women’s rights. She climbs the career ladder only available to a select privileged group and leaves behind other women in need without remorse. Her feminist façade is entirely about empowerment for herself, not lasting empowerment for others through policy.
Just look at her proposed parental leave policy. The family plan that she collaborated on with House and Senate members would only provide maternity care, with no assistance to stay-at-home fathers. The new welfare policy would only apply to traditional newborns and exclude children of adopted parents, LGBT parents or other guardians.
Most importantly, almost half of American families wouldn’t qualify for the plan at all. The plan proposed that single mothers earning less than $250,000 a year or couples making together less than $500,000 would be able to deduct their children’s expenses from their income taxes.
If only claiming income tax were a reality for more Americans. According to an updated report from the Tax Policy Center, 45 percent of American families don’t make enough annually to pay income taxes. It’s hard to determine whether the income tax credit these non-liable families would receive would even help at all.
These are her stances and her choices. Ivanka is out to help one kind of woman: the career woman.
The kind of woman successful enough that she can start her own business ventures but still be an adoring wife to her husband and his more meaningful work. The kind of woman to be praised for her achievements, but only if she is a “mom first.”
Ivanka, Melania and the rest of the women in Trump’s circle are not being held hostage. They are autonomous, complicit individuals who will be siding with the president no matter how radical his wishes are.
“I think that, for me, this isn’t about promoting my viewpoints,” Ivanka said in a CBS interview with Gayle King. “I think my father is going to do a tremendous job, and I want to help him do that.”
Ivanka has a singular value, and it’s devotion to her family. Don’t believe she’s interested in helping yours.
jsbourkl@umail.iu.edu
