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Ivanka Trump Ridiculed for Participating in Online Women’s Empowerment Challenge, ‘You Only Help Yourself!’

The “Challenge Accepted” [1] trend has become popular an Instagram and it’s supposed to promote women’s empowerment and encourage women to support other women. So of course, Ivanka Trump has hopped on that bandwagon. But apparently this new trend is a lot of talk and not much substance. It’s also been suggested the 2020 trend originates from Turkey as an effort to support women’s rights. But that’s not what New York Times journalist Taylor Lorenz found, and she’s debunking that claim, noting that the whole “challenge accepted” trend has been around since at least 2016, Glamour [2] reports.

View this post on Instagram

No, #challengeaccepted did not originate with Turkish women. Instagram/Facebook even dug into the data to confirm this. I debunked this misinformation here. What women in Turkey have turned this into is great, but they did not start this trend *or its more recent resurgence in the US,* which spread here from Brazil. Also ignore the typo in my Stories post!) 🥴 [3]

A post shared by Taylor Lorenz [4] (@taylorlorenz) on

So why is Ivanka catching heat for this? Well, it’s all down to her role [5] in the Trump administration and its policies [6] on women’s issues. And on Instagram, she posted:

“#ChallengeAccepted. Gratitude for the sisterhood—the women who have held me up and pushed me forward! Each day brings countless opportunities, large and small, to spread light and uplift those around us. Let’s be kind to each other. Let’s choose to love, support, and strengthen one another. We are ALL mothers—we each bring something unique and beautiful into this world. Let’s (heart emoticon) each other,” she writes. “I challenge all of my followers to lead with love. You create the future as you live. #womensupportingwomen.” [7]

She added a black-and-white photo of herself when she was pregnant.

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#ChallengeAccepted. Gratitude for the sisterhood – the women who have held me up and pushed me forward! ❤️ Each day brings countless opportunities, large and small, to spread light and uplift those around us. Let’s be kind to each other. Let’s choose to love, support and strengthen one another. We are ALL mothers — we each bring something unique and beautiful into this world. Let’s ❤️each other. I challenge all of my followers to lead with love. You create the future as you live. #womensupportingwomen [8]

A post shared by Ivanka Trump [9] (@ivankatrump) on

More than a few social media users had thoughts on her post, and she even got smacked down [10] for her “all women are mothers” comment.

Glamour writer Abby Gardner [17] couldn’t help but wonder if Ivanka’s participation would put an end to the Challenge Accepted gambit and said that readers who decide to participate should follow up by doing something that actually benefits their sisters by signing petitions, donating, or bringing attention to worthwhile accounts that are (unlike Ivanka) actually helping women. She also encouraged readers and their friends to register to vote.

“Giving this challenge actual substance might help make it less polarizing.”

Why not go forth and help?