Bangladeshi pundit Anushay Hossain writes for CNN: “The ugly truth behind Saudi Arabia’s love for Melania Trump” is that her husband, President Donald Trump, makes her behave the way “the Saudi government likes women to behave.”
Furthermore, she writes, the First Lady does not deserve feminist credit for choosing not to wear a headscarf, because “that choice really is not as big of a deal as people are making it out to be.”
From CNN:
Donald Trump’s first major trip overseas may be fraught with diplomatic land mines for the President, but the Trump administration can at least comfort itself with the clear hit that Melania Trump has been with the Saudi press.
The fact that Melania is communicating with the media and the public in Saudi Arabia — mainly through what Saudi news reports have deemed her “classy and conservative” fashion choices — works well in the notoriously anti-woman kingdom. Her intense appeal makes sense, considering the first lady represents so much that Saudi citizens find familiar and can relate to, especially visually. Melania walks behind her husband, is quiet and reserved, does not make obvious demands (at least not ones we can hear), and most importantly, she looks beautiful and polished.
All of that should come as no surprise, given whom Melania is married to. After all, how the Saudi government likes women to behave is similar to how Donald Trump has said he likes women to behave. And they both prefer women to look pretty in pictures, rather than hold actual positions of power.
Read the rest of the hot take here.