President Donald Trump snapping at CNN top reporter Kaitlan Collins for not smiling after she asked about the Epstein files was more than a clumsy deflection of a valid question. It was a worldview.

“Why don’t you ever smile?” He asked her.

“You never smile when you ask a question. You should smile more.”

“You don’t look very happy.”

Smile, girl. Be pretty. Make me think you like me. Deliver your questions like room service, not subpoenas.

Trump has never asked a male correspondent why he isn’t smiling. He didn’t say it to Jim Acosta. He didn’t say it to David Sanger. He didn’t even say it to Don Lemon. Men are allowed to look grim, severe, even hostile, while women are expected to look decorative, happy, even pleasing. Even if they’re asking about rape, corruption, and moral rot, a lady reporter must remember her lip gloss.

Expecting women to grin and bear it is nothing new. When women speak with authority, they are “shrill.” When they persist, they are “scolds.” Flip the gender and men who speak with........

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