Donald Trump’s male gaze

A reader's letter argues that Donald Trump's recent habit of remarking on the physiques of political allies and rivals, while strange on its face, echoes a pattern from history. Randy Fair, the letter's author, wrote in reply to an analysis by Adam Gabbatt, published on October 23, that examined the president's comments about the male bodies of figures in his political orbit, both friends and foes, according to The Guardian.

Fair points to the Nazis as the main parallel. In his telling, the movement was contradictory: it dreaded desire between people of the same sex, yet it treated an extremely masculine physical ideal as the pinnacle of beauty. He says the same preoccupation shows up among other far-right leaders, and he singles out Vladimir Putin, whose bare-chested photographs are meant to project the image of a strongman.

Fair adds a wry note about the American president. So far, he says, Trump has kept such pictures of himself from the public, with the exception of ones produced by artificial intelligence.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Guardian’s reporting. Read the full story at The Guardian →