The Polish First Lady’s Lack of Respect for Donald Trump

Sometimes, the smallest gestures result in great satisfaction. It doesn’t even matter if they’re conscious decisions, sometimes they are merely accidents that only acquire significance for those that contemplate them. But it doesn’t matter, they are enjoyed anyway. The Polish first lady’s lack of respect for Trump is like sticking up two fingers, saying a big “f – – k you” to all the impertinent male chauvinists that women come across on a daily basis.

The U.S. president was in Poland on an official visit together with his wife. The moment of the official greeting arrived, the famous and studied shaking of hands that provides so much to talk about. The first to shake hands was President Andzej Duda, but when his wife, Agata Kornhauser, took her turn, she decided with an absentminded gesture to bypass Trump and leave him with his hand outstretched. She skipped Trump to greet Melania first. From the look on his face, the bewildered American millionaire seemed to be thinking, “How can this nasty Polish girl think of humiliating such a tough guy like me?”

Some bet that Kornhauser did it unintentionally due to disorientation but who cares. With her lack of respect, the Polish first lady turned to her counterpart Melania, who must be a goddess to support him daily. And then, to all the women who are used to always being second best, purely by being women. They greet us after the men, they introduce us as their women, their girlfriends or subordinates. Your job or social position, achievements or failures don’t matter. Society will always take a man more seriously, even when he doesn’t deserve it. We women are always challenged from the outset, but a man will have to mess up on multiple occasions before being called into question. Agata’s actions are a small act of revenge; they may be miniscule and even accidental, but it feels so good to watch.

The worst thing is that we are so used to this that we don’t even realize it. But when you manage to activate this radar, the one that detects the impertinences of men, you know that it will never go out again. You see the attitudes, the gestures, the male chauvinistic idiocy. There they are, now you see it. You know that you can’t get your claws out every time that little red light appears; it’s not the plan to go through life as if in a constant war. Due to exhaustion, for mental survival on many occasions, you let things go. But out there, the street is full of Trumps. And occasionally, you seize upon a tribute like Agata’s rebuff, our accidental nasty girl.