Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton may have gone five for five Tuesday night, but she still faced a “micro-aggression” by MSNBC host and former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough.
The host of Morning Joe sent the tweet below to Clinton after primary results were announced.
Either Scarborough didn’t get the memo that women are tired of men asking them to smile, or he did get the memo and was being deliberately provocative.
Whatever the reason, it sparked outrage on social media.
Many took offense, claiming gender discrimination because none of the equally-grumpy-looking male candidates were being told to show off their pearly whites.
Some converted their anger into humor, like the hashtag #SmileForJoe launched by comedian Samantha Bee, who encouraged women to tweet images of themselves offering a sarcastic smile for Scarborough.
Clinton isn’t the first woman who’s been expected to smile whatever the circumstance.
Last year, tennis star Serena Williams was asked by a male journalist why she wasn’t smiling at a press conference, despite the fact she had won.
Williams answered that it was late, she was tired, and didn’t find the press conference “super enjoyable”.
Artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh created an exhibition entitled “Stop Telling Women to Smile” as a response to gender-based street harassment.