Why Donald’s fat-shaming

Iam not supporting Hillary Clinton for President. In fact, most of my life I have identified as conservative or “conservatarian,” a blend of conservatism and libertarianism common among my generation of millennials. But the rehashing of Donald Trump’s cruel, fat-shaming behavior toward Alicia Machado, the 1996 Miss Universe, has wounded me greatly — and convinced me yet again why Trump must not be President.

Machado has reminded us that, after she won the beauty crown at age 19, Trump made nasty comments about her weight, and then broadcast her workouts to lose the 10 to 12 pounds. All this caused her to experience trauma that lasted for years.

And, in an attempt to defend himself, Trump this week has basically repeated the initial insults.

I am a survivor of a fierce battle with an eating disorder. I suffered from anorexia as a young ballet dancer, and after a hard-won recovery, used my platform as Miss America 2008 and since to raise awareness of these complex illnesses.

One in five Americans will struggle with an eating disorder in their lifetime, and these illnesses to do not discriminate. They affect people of all backgrounds, genders, races, cultures and ages. They have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, due to medical complications or suicide.

Even scarier is that just one one in 10 sufferers will receive treatment due to lack of access to quality care, shame and stigma.

To this day, people think eating disorders are on the opposite end of the spectrum from the obesity crisis, when in reality they can be two sides of the same coin.

Even after I recovered, I have been called alternately too fat and too skinny. While lobbying for eating disorder legislation, a congressman told me that I “didn’t look like” I had an eating disorder.

All of this is to say: The misunderstanding and diminishing of the seriousness of these conditions are real and painful to me.

I’ve watched Trump’s attitude toward and comments about women with concern and frustration. A frequent topic of conversation among my strong, smart and young conservative friends — some of whom are Trump supporters — is how the GOP does indeed have a “woman problem,” and that for the future of our party, we’d like to see things change, starting with the language used to depict our sex.

I’m not excusing Hillary Clinton or the Democrats’ treatment of women during President Bill Clinton’s time in the White House. It is similarly deplorable (yes, I’ll dare to use the word).

But for me, this issue hits closer to home.

Whether a woman has a job as a beauty queen or an engineer, weight should not be part of the evaluation of whether or not she is good at her job — unless it is explicitly stipulated in a contract.

In this case, the judges (not Trump) chose Machado for many reasons, not just her looks. Yes, I know it’s a beauty pageant — but winning a pageant is about much more, as is evidenced by my own long year of traveling 20,000 miles a month on a speaking tour in 2008 and my advocacy since.

Even if beauty were the only criterion, that doesn’t give anyone the right to consider a few extra pounds disqualifying.

In fact, most women gain weight after winning a pageant, due to the fact that they get into pageant shape for the competition (think of “Olympic shape,” for an Olympic athlete), which is not necessarily something anyone should maintain for any length of time.

But even more, this is an important moment because it reminds us that our leaders and their words matter. Yes, I believe in free speech and yes, Trump has garnered significant support for not bowing to political correctness.

But we need to think about our children. They are young and impressionable — as Machado once was. Their world is shaped by the attitudes of their elders, and, even more so, by our nation’s leaders. The man at the helm of the Republican Party, a man who wants to be President, publicly shamed a teenage girl for gaining weight, broadcast her forced workouts on television, and to this day defends that decision and evaluates her ability to do her job based on her weight. What message does this send?

I’ve read the squabbling about whether Machado is lying or exaggerating about what Trump said to her back then. That’s beside the point. Trump’s public comments now and then are proof enough of how poorly he handled the situation.

For the sake of the future of the party, Republicans with resounding voice must condemn this treatment of women. This is about more than the next election; it’s about the world I want the daughter I’ll have someday to grow up in — one where she’ll be valued for her character and intrinsic worth rather than her weight.