A white woman effectively ends the conversation on 45’s campaign tactics by turning our gaze toward the dessert tray. How beautiful, she says. Homemade brownies on a silver tray? Hers is the fey gesture I have seen exhibited so often by white women in old movies—women who are overcome by shiny objects. It’s so blatant a redirect I can’t help but ask aloud the most obvious question: Am I being silenced?
