Miss Congeniality Analysis

In today’s political climate, comical discourse criticizing political candidates is not uncommon. On the cover of The New Yorker’s October 10th, 2016 issue, is a comical political cartoon criticizing the current Republican candidate, Donald J. Trump. In this picture, it displays Trump as an overweight model walking down a runway with many onlookers gazing upon him. Trump is drawn the attire of a beauty pageant contestant, which includes: a dress, high heels, earrings, crown, and sash. Trump is also holding a bouquet of flowers in his right arm, while in his left arm, Trump is holding up his crown. In the cartoon, Trump also appears to have a sad facial expression. Trump has his eyes closed, while tears create makeup streaks that flow down his
face. Along with tears, Trump is drawn with a large frown, portraying him as sad and upset. Finally, on the sash displays the phrase, “Miss Congeniality,” written in large, formal font. The words on the sash, “Miss Congeniality”, connects to Trump’s comments regarding the former Miss Universe winner, Alicia Machado.
In a recent scandal, it was revealed that Trump said some derogatory comments about Alicia Machado in regards to her weight and beauty. According to the editor of the political cartoon, Francoise Mouly, Trump “called [Alicia] “Miss Piggy” when she gained weight after [her] pageant” (Mouly). In response of the derogatory comments made about Machado, The New Yorker featured Trump in this political cartoon with the title, “Miss Congeniality”, written on Trump’s sash. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Congeniality means “affinity of genius or disposition; agreeableness to one’s nature or tastes” (OED). To simplify, to be congenial means to get along and agree with others. The New Yorker believes that the role of the title is to highlight Trump’s lack of agreeability and favorability for female voters. The New Yorker believes that Trump’s misogynistic comments about Machado is a crux to his campaign because it slices off the female demographic. Specifically, the title, “Miss Congeniality”, ironically connects Trump’s lack of favorability to his recent comments toward
Machado.
As a result of Trump’s misogynistic comments, Billy Blitt, the artist of the cartoon, uses ironic and metaphorical rhetoric to criticize Trump.
First off, Blitt ironically uses the word “congeniality” to describe Trump, when in reality, Blitt believes the opposite. Blitt believes that Trump’s comments about Machado make him not relatable for women. Trump’s comments disregard the struggles women face when it comes to beauty standards, thus, most women find Trump’s body shaming deplorable. Most women understand that comments that degrade based of looks increases insecurity. Therefore, as a result of Trump body shaming Alicia Machado, Billy Blitt believes most women find Trump unfavorable. In addition, Blitt also believes Trump’s sexist comments “might just be his Achilles’ heel” (Blitt). The significance of the Achilles heel stems from Greek mythology. Achilles was a hero who fought in the Trojan War. In this war, he was fatally shot in his heel, thus the term, Achilles Heel, signifies weakness. Blitt metaphorically connects the Achilles heel to Trump to demonstrate that Trump’s misogyny is his weakness. Because of the use of ironic and metaphorical language, Billy Blitt of The New Yorker believes that Trump’s comments toward Machado and women will cost him the
election.