December 7, 2017

Don't those Ivanka haters know about Mother Ginger in "The Nutcracker"?

I'm reading "'So creepiness runs in the family?' Twitter users slam Ivanka Trump for sharing 'gross' photo of her children playing 'peek-a-boo' under her dress.... She shared a photo of Arabella, six, Joseph, four, and Theodore, one - attempting to hide under her flawless red, floor-length gown/Critics called the photos 'creepy' and 'gross'...." (at The Daily Mail).
'Oh good lord, there is so much wrong with this picture,' one Twitter user wrote. 'Are you seriously so utterly tone deaf than to post a picture of boys looking up your dress?'


I'd say the haters are tone deaf. It's Christmastime. The first thing I thought of when I saw that picture was the great Christmas classic "The Nutcracker." Look! It's Mother Ginger:



I wonder how these fools react when they see a mother breastfeeding. So twisted they're missing the beauty of motherhood and the innocence of children.

It makes me think of the old Anglo-Norman maxim, Honi soit qui mal y pense — "May he be shamed who thinks badly of it" or "Shamed be he who evil of it thinks."
According to historian Elias Ashmole, the foundation of the Garter occurred when Edward III of England prepared for the Battle of Crécy and gave "forth his own garter as the signal." Another theory suggests "a trivial mishap at a court function" when King Edward III was dancing with Joan of Kent, his first cousin and daughter-in-law. Her garter slipped down to her ankle causing those around her to snigger at her humiliation. In an act of chivalry Edward placed the garter around his own leg saying, "Honi soit qui mal y pense. Tel qui s'en rit aujourd'hui, s'honorera de la porter."

72 comments:

tim in vermont said...

It's a movement of the cynical and the psychologically troubled, and it is never certain who is in control.

Phil 314 said...

Why do we pay so much attention to comments on twitter.

Do we need the power of mind reading to appreciate our hearts of darkness?

Fabi said...

My second attempt at a comment -- maybe it won't get Blogger'd.

She looks divine. Let the whiny left eat cake.

stevew said...

Trump derangement syndrome as expressed through petty attacks on him and his family.

-sw

MadisonMan said...

Ignore stupid people on Twitter : your life is a lot simpler.

rhhardin said...

They missed child abuse. The narrative depends on sex and child hysteria.

#KiddieMeToo suggested.

tim in vermont said...

Of course, had he lost, all of this talk of male perversion, even down to toddler males, would be strictly verboten! Matt Laur wold still be on Today. Mark Halperen would be giving us his unbiased take on the days political events. His Nibs would be patrolling the West Wing in search of new "talent." Al Franken would still be grabbing the asses of the prettiest constituents at Christmas markets in Minneapolis, Lena Dunham would still be in good odor with the powers that be, Harvey Weinstein would be hosting glamorous fundraisers for the worlds great power couple. The stars would shine!

By winning, Trump has turned the whole fucking world upside down. What a beautiful world we have lost!

Quayle said...

They can’t see and recognize innocence because they feel no innocence in their heart.

Bu they could. They might not understand that truth yet, but they could feel that joy of innocence again. it can come in an instant.

rhhardin said...

It's not innocence. Just lack of interest.

Like women and math.

David Begley said...

Liberals and Trump haters don’t know nothin’ about no Nutcracker.

Even though I am a fan of maxims I was not familiar the one cited by Althouse. How about this? Get your mind out of the gutter.

Bryan Townsend said...

That's "Honi soit qui mal y pense" not "sense"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honi_soit_qui_mal_y_pense

rhhardin said...

He can spell cunt and he's only three.

Curious George said...

Didn't know of Mother Ginger, but do know the left are deranged.

You know what would be scary? Hillary's grandkids doing this to her our their mother. I mean who knows what you'd see.

Ann Althouse said...

"That's "Honi soit qui mal y pense" not "sense""

Thanks. I would not have noticed that. I cut and pasted, but autocorrect had its own idea of right and wrong.

Darrell said...

A related little-known story is that King Edward III had the laughers guts for garters shortly after. Hence the expression.

Gretchen said...

I thought the left believed in abolishing taboos against nudity. They want women topless on the street and run around stark naked at protests and street fairs, but something pretty innocent is now considered gross because Ivanka is doing it?

Paco Wové said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
David Begley said...

I should amend my post and note that liberals who are Trump haters deliberately omit (or are ignorant of) the Nutcracker reference in the picture in order to smear the entire Trump family as sex perverts.

This is why some good people don’t run for office.

Big Mike said...

@Gretchen, you broke the code! Well done!

Bad Lieutenant said...

Macaulay Culkin?

Darrell said...

Ivanka is the Cat's Pajamas.

Merny11 said...

Gretchen nailed it!

Merny11 said...

Gretchen nailed it!

whitney said...

The only thing any Trump can do to please these people would be resign or die. That's it

robother said...

Wait'll someone tells them how babies are actually delivered. Ewww!

Rick said...

'Are you seriously so utterly tone deaf than to post a picture of boys looking up your dress?'


Actually the picture shows they aren't looking up her dress. And while the picture shows only a moment that moment shows looking up her dress isn't interesting to them.

These people just can't help revealing how disgusting they are.

Ralph L said...

They assumed she was wearing a thong or less, because they would.

At first I thought she was holding a cigarette, which would be horrible.

rehajm said...

You can't look up a pantsuit.

Ralph L said...

The truly amazing thing is that she lets her kids into a room with a white sofa.

Quaestor said...

Macaulay Culkin?

Good eye.

tim in vermont said...

There's Russian collusion under that dress! It's the one place Mueller hasn't looked. It's a taunt!

Mr Wibble said...

Wait, wasn't it common in the past to describe children as peeking out from behind/under mom's skirts?

Leland said...

I can't imagine to many people used to communicating at 128 characters a time sitting through the Nutcracker or many other kinds of ballets or musicals once thought to teach culture. Their culture now is the pithy putdown insult. Indeed, they are impressed they can expand F'you into 120 more characters.

Ralph L said...

It's 280 characters, Leland. You're so ignorant!

Used to be 140.

Michael K said...

The hatred of the entire Trump family is amazing. Just amazing.

tcrosse said...

So now it comes out. Trump alleged to have sexually abused Honey Swat and Maly Pence.
Impeach the bastard !

Carter Wood said...

John Cale, 1981, the song and album, Honi Soit.

Streets of Laredo is a classic. To me, at least.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

@ Tim in Vermont
By winning, Trump has turned the whole fucking world upside down. What a beautiful world we have lost!

I think you forgot to put on the sarcasm tag :-)

Kate said...

"The truly amazing thing is that she lets her kids into a room with a white sofa."

My vote for thread winner.

(Apparently Blogger disagrees.)

Birches said...

The thing I first thought was wondering how she can keep that all white room clean.

tcrosse said...

White privilege.

Birches said...

Oh! I guess I wasn't the only one who thought that.

We're shopping for new couches right now and sticking to upholstery that can be removed and washed. And even then, I wouldn't go white.

SteveBrooklineMA said...

They are Ignorance and Want! Beware him most. Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses ?

LilyBart said...


Mean-girl stuff. Love how the left likes to give themselves credit for being 'finer' people.

Unknown said...

How did the Victorian Age come about? Virtue signaling by the elites? Outdoing the queen? What’s the larger outrage? Hinting at a celebration of Christ’s birth? How non-PC, eradicate it. Me, I always liked Amanda Kerr in “Santa Baby.” My kind of secular. gives Ivanka a run for her money. Curious expression is that.

Darrell said...

One thing I know, when it comes time to replace that white couch, taxpayers won't be footing the bill. Unlike with the Clintons.

Darrell said...

Althouse--
Has Blogger informed you what is going on? Is Google using half their server farms for Leftist political mischief? Have you filed a compliant?

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

So there's no Trump Family Derangement Syndrome tag yet? People on the left are absolutely nutty about sneering at Ivanka and the boys, alleging that every issue, every bill is designed to enrich the Trumps. It is a type of mass hysteria. Usually a smart and beautiful blonde liberal is embraced by these people, but because she's his daughter all cultural norms are inverted.

WTF is wrong with these people?

(By the way, it takes more clicks to post through this error-riven edits screen than it used to through the "I'm not a robot" test. Isn't that weird too?)

Richard Dillman said...

The final line of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." circa 1390, is " Hony soyt qui mal pence." Think about it, with all of this romance's emphasis on a green garter and issues of infidelity and seduction.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Ivanka is always lovely as are her children. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with her children and she having fun before some event. As for the white furnishings, there are household staff to keep things sparkling, no doubt.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

I recall some pretty nasty comments directed toward Michelle Obama and the girls coming from the Right, I guess that’s different though, huh?

Bad Lieutenant said...

tim in vermont said...
There's Russian collusion under that dress! It's the one place Mueller hasn't looked. It's a taunt!

12/7/17, 7:34 AM


You spelled taint wrong.

tcrosse said...

I recall some pretty nasty comments directed toward Michelle Obama and the girls coming from the Right

Cue the cut-and-paste-a-thon.

chickelit said...

Prurients' Progress

urbane legend said...

I recall some pretty nasty comments directed toward Michelle Obama . . .

Ms. Obama was a terrible scold and had a terrible sense of fashion. Hmmm, just like Hillary; imagine that. It's a requirement for Democratic women I guess.

Unclebiffy said...

Get ready, we will be seeing stories exactly like this non-stop for the foreseeable future. Consistent sneering and inuendo suggesting sexual abuse and molestation in any remotely plausible situation regarding republicans.

The left, after years of denying and covering for sexual predators in their own party have finally reached a point where it is beneficial for them to admit doing so. Beneficial in that the multitude of bad actors in the party are in safe democratic districts and can be renounced and easily replaced with other like minded democrats. The Clinton's appear to no longer have a future in the party so there is no down side for denouncing them. Virtue with no penalty.

The media and their party believe that Roy Moore will be elected in Alabama and they will try to tie the entire Republican Party to this one person forever. Any and every opportunity to do so will be repeated ad nauseam at least through the 2018 election if not further.

Sebastian said...

"Shamed be he who evil of it thinks." Progs don't do shame. They want to win.

rhhardin said...

Shamed be he who evil of it thinks

My inclination is that it ought to be "him" because it's the subject of a non-finite verb (be).

Kevin said...

I wonder how these fools react when they see a mother breastfeeding.

Oh they have the talking points well established on that one. It's when they have to think on their feet that you can clearly see why there is so much effort to get the talking points out quickly to them.

It takes an industry to keep these people from spouting off their own damn opinions!

stevew said...

The privileged know the best way to keep white couches, chairs, and carpets safe from dirt and stain making children is: Scotchgard! It's in the manual under 'Protection of Valuable Things'.

-sw

chuck said...

Not much to say that hasn't been said about the kerfuffle, but wow, those kids in the video are amazing dancers.

tcrosse said...

Being jealous of a beautiful woman is not going to make you more beautiful.
- Zsa Zsa Gabor

Martin said...

Small, hate-filled people like that tell us much about themselves, and nothing at all about their targets.

Hunter said...

This Melania tweet makes a good palate cleanser for such moments.

LilyBart said...

Inga said...
I recall some pretty nasty comments directed toward Michelle Obama and the girls coming from the Right, I guess that’s different though, huh?


I recall that too. I didn't defend it with "whataboutism".

MayBee said...

George Spix said...
How did the Victorian Age come about?


I was just thinking about this yesterday. Surely nobody said, "I want us all to become prudes!" No, it would have happened in a way that seemed desirable to people. In a way the smart set thought it made sense. It's happening again, I think, and fascinating to watch.

MayBee said...

I recall some pretty nasty comments directed toward Michelle Obama and the girls coming from the Right, I guess that’s different though, huh?

Yes.
That was racist, remember?

Bad Lieutenant said...

MayBee said...
I recall some pretty nasty comments directed toward Michelle Obama and the girls coming from the Right, I guess that’s different though, huh?

Yes.
That was racist, remember?

12/7/17, 12:27 PM


Hey! So maybe this is anti-Semitic!

Bad Democrats. Bad Democrats! Why do you hate the Jews?

JaimeRoberto said...

Twitter is a constant reminder that opinions are like assholes. Everybody's got one, and most of them stink.

Brian McKim and/or Traci Skene said...

Mr. Begley is correct. Being a standup comic, my first interpretation was, "Get your minds out of the gutter." Edward III would be a good Republican campaign manager. Or standup comic.

Jim at said...

Typical leftists.

Can't live with 'em.
Pass the beer nuts.

David Begley said...

This post and the comments should win some type of award. Classic Althouse blog. Very funny. Very true.