Donald’s Trump’s money has been the subject of frequent discussion.
Less often discussed is the question of class in relation to the
President, or his family. But the class dynamics at work in the Trump
clan — specifically, the way class is performed by the Trumps — provides
a secret window into an important and overlooked facet of American
life.
Of Trump’s five children, ranging in age from forty to twelve, two take the task of performing class the most seriously: Ivanka and Donald Junior.
It’s true that both are extremely wealthy, but class is not reducible to money. Instead, it’s a set of social markers — clothes, behavior, mien, priorities — that signal belonging to one group over an another.
What’s fascinating is that Ivanka and Don Jr. are both carefully curating class performances — but of different classes. Ivanka is performing upper-middle-class career woman, while Don Jr. is performing working class regular Joe.
And while the two are not-so-quietly locked in a battle for who will become their father’s heir apparent, this performance is not a reflection of Trump but of America.
*
Just four years apart, Junior and Ivanka grew up in the same house, have the same parents, went to similar private schools in Manhattan and the same Ivy League college.
And yet, to look at them today, it’s as if they came from entirely different backgrounds. Oddly, the siblings have decided to weaponize the affects of two completely different social classes.
As “adviser to the president” Ivanka works at her ceremonial White House job, along with her obedient husband Jared Kushner. But she was until recently a “businesswoman” running a fashion brand (it recently shuttered). And not just any fashion brand. Ivanka Trump styles specialized in a super-femme business wear — think pink sheaths and nude high heels. Ivanka’s brand was for the career mom in demure pastels, and she worked hard to embody that brand.
The career mom is not actually a natural fit for a Trump if you think about it. After all, Ivanka was brought up in girls’ schools, the kind that teach deportment.
Indeed, Ivanka is not a modern woman in any sense of the word. From her hair which is foiled a honey blond color and blow-dried to enjoy a shiny bounce — evocative of a 1950s socialite — to her smart skirt suits and heels, Ivanka has been coiffed and dressed to achieve a very particular effect on all who see her.
For women, she’s meant to be an object of envy, with her perfect figure and perfect hair, but as every influencer will tell you, to be envied, the fruits of one’s labors must give the illusion of being achievable; you can’t envy what you could never have, but only what you think you should have, if only you worked harder.
Ivanka is performing the aspirational destiny of every upwardly mobile middle class woman. And in so doing, she’s holding out the promise of the American Dream. Work hard enough and you, too, can look like this.
Of course, you can’t. Ivanka’s success is not her own but her father’s, whose success is his father’s. And this is why you almost never see Ivanka in flats or in pants. Because ultimately, her success belongs to men, and so does she. It’s why those dresses are always in pastel, so no man can ever be threatened by her.
*
Don Junior on the other hand ostensibly runs daddy’s business, and also crisscrosses the country raising money for minor congressmen and the occasional senator in deep red states.
And like his sister, Junior is a throwback to a different time, but in a completely different way.
Junior is the prototypical angry white man of the 1950s. He has five kids. He shoots guns. He wears camouflage. He goes hunting with the navy seal who killed Bin Ladin.
He advertises himself as an entirely testosterone- and ammunition-based life form. He is also famous for his affinity for conspiracy theories. Junior does not aspire to be thoughtful or serious. He is on a continuous, almost spiritual quest to lower the discourse.
And it’s this “authentic” (read: racist) version of American history that Junior is selling. Remember the good ol’ days? Before Jews were allowed into country clubs?
Junior is Archie Bunker. He is Roseanne. Ivanka is Sigorney Weaver in “Working Girl.”
This class war between Ivanka and Junior plays out on social media, among other places. One of Ivanka’s most “iconic” Instagram post was of one of her small children hiding the folds of her enormous ball gown while she laughed politely.
Of Trump’s five children, ranging in age from forty to twelve, two take the task of performing class the most seriously: Ivanka and Donald Junior.
It’s true that both are extremely wealthy, but class is not reducible to money. Instead, it’s a set of social markers — clothes, behavior, mien, priorities — that signal belonging to one group over an another.
What’s fascinating is that Ivanka and Don Jr. are both carefully curating class performances — but of different classes. Ivanka is performing upper-middle-class career woman, while Don Jr. is performing working class regular Joe.
And while the two are not-so-quietly locked in a battle for who will become their father’s heir apparent, this performance is not a reflection of Trump but of America.
*
Just four years apart, Junior and Ivanka grew up in the same house, have the same parents, went to similar private schools in Manhattan and the same Ivy League college.
And yet, to look at them today, it’s as if they came from entirely different backgrounds. Oddly, the siblings have decided to weaponize the affects of two completely different social classes.
As “adviser to the president” Ivanka works at her ceremonial White House job, along with her obedient husband Jared Kushner. But she was until recently a “businesswoman” running a fashion brand (it recently shuttered). And not just any fashion brand. Ivanka Trump styles specialized in a super-femme business wear — think pink sheaths and nude high heels. Ivanka’s brand was for the career mom in demure pastels, and she worked hard to embody that brand.
The career mom is not actually a natural fit for a Trump if you think about it. After all, Ivanka was brought up in girls’ schools, the kind that teach deportment.
Indeed, Ivanka is not a modern woman in any sense of the word. From her hair which is foiled a honey blond color and blow-dried to enjoy a shiny bounce — evocative of a 1950s socialite — to her smart skirt suits and heels, Ivanka has been coiffed and dressed to achieve a very particular effect on all who see her.
For women, she’s meant to be an object of envy, with her perfect figure and perfect hair, but as every influencer will tell you, to be envied, the fruits of one’s labors must give the illusion of being achievable; you can’t envy what you could never have, but only what you think you should have, if only you worked harder.
Ivanka is performing the aspirational destiny of every upwardly mobile middle class woman. And in so doing, she’s holding out the promise of the American Dream. Work hard enough and you, too, can look like this.
Of course, you can’t. Ivanka’s success is not her own but her father’s, whose success is his father’s. And this is why you almost never see Ivanka in flats or in pants. Because ultimately, her success belongs to men, and so does she. It’s why those dresses are always in pastel, so no man can ever be threatened by her.
*
Don Junior on the other hand ostensibly runs daddy’s business, and also crisscrosses the country raising money for minor congressmen and the occasional senator in deep red states.
And like his sister, Junior is a throwback to a different time, but in a completely different way.
Junior is the prototypical angry white man of the 1950s. He has five kids. He shoots guns. He wears camouflage. He goes hunting with the navy seal who killed Bin Ladin.
He advertises himself as an entirely testosterone- and ammunition-based life form. He is also famous for his affinity for conspiracy theories. Junior does not aspire to be thoughtful or serious. He is on a continuous, almost spiritual quest to lower the discourse.
And it’s this “authentic” (read: racist) version of American history that Junior is selling. Remember the good ol’ days? Before Jews were allowed into country clubs?
Junior is Archie Bunker. He is Roseanne. Ivanka is Sigorney Weaver in “Working Girl.”
This class war between Ivanka and Junior plays out on social media, among other places. One of Ivanka’s most “iconic” Instagram post was of one of her small children hiding the folds of her enormous ball gown while she laughed politely.
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