By insulting his hair, tan and tiny hands, we're playing Trump's game. And we're losing.

“The hair” is about to become President of the United States of America. The fake tan will be along there beside it, teriyaki-chicken-style, and the small hands will be there too. Wildly gesturing, no doubt.

At the same time as the hair takes the office, so too will a mind and mouth and body.

A mouth that talks about immigrants as “killers and rapists“.

A body that’s mimicked and mocked a disabled reporter.

A mind that thinks it’s okay to make a promise to a 17-year-old daughter “I’ll never date anyone younger than you“.

Introducing Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States….

Donald Trump has made it his business to judge and criticise people on their appearance.

He spoke about his daughter Ivanka as a “piece of ass“.

He responded “look at her” when faced with allegations of sexual assault.

He’s said that women with small breasts certainly “can’t be a 10“.

Hell, the guy bought and sold the enterprise Miss Universe.

But are the rest of us any better?

We need to stop mocking Melania Trump. Post continues below.

“Enormous body, small head, and dinosaur-y hands” said Helen Mirren in October.

“I want to know if that thing on his head has had its vaccinations,” said UK television host Craig Ferguson.

“Donald Trump announced today that he is running for president. And based on the amount of bronzer he uses, he’s also running for president of the Spokane NAACP.”— said US comedian Seth Meyers.

There have been entire articles about his hair. “Expert opinions” from hairdressers on the way it stays just so.

There are memes with the words “orange is the new black” plastered across his face. Comparing his face to a cob of corn – yellow, with a tuft of hair at the top.

Among friends, we laugh at the way he uses concealer. The way he sneers. How he squints his eyes. We imagine what his face might look like without fake tan, or sans that infamous comb-over.

Enough.

We are better than this.

By laughing at the way he looks, we are turning the next president of the United States into a caricature… but without the intelligence that is seen in real political cartoons like those of Bill Leak, Matt Goring and Cathy Wilcox.

Make no mistake: We aren’t commenting on his fake tan to make a broader point about the implications of his policies, we are doing it because it’s easy. 

We are forgetting the bigger issues. We are oversimplifying a complex, dangerous reality into a joke about corn-coloured hair and small hands.

Mamamia Out Loud on why it’s time to stop shouting. Post continues below.

Trump himself has a habit of over-simplifying things.

Immigration: “You have people coming in, and I’m not just saying Mexicans, I’m talking about people that are from all over that are killers and rapists and they’re coming into this country.”

Sexual assault in the US military: “26,000 unreported sexual assaults in the military and only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men and women together?”

Abortion: “I just hate it”… And then, “There has to be some form of punishment for it,” on MSNBC in March last year.

But, when we talk about his hair and his hands and the way the President Elect says “huge” we are doing the exact same thing. We are oversimplifying and dismissing.

We do it because it’s easier to digest.

It’s more enjoyable than thinking about his policies. The 10-point immigration plan, for example, where the number one point reads: “Begin working on an impenetrable physical wall on the southern border, on day one. Mexico will pay for the wall.”

Or the threat he poses to women’s right to choose. With Trump vowing to make abortion laws the responsibility of the state and appointing “pro-life” high court judges in each state.

Or what it means that rumours are circling about the links between Russia and the President Elect’s associates. Documents and investigations into the possibility of Russia assisting in the election of the 45th President of the United States.

Now, more than ever before, it’s important to distinguish ourselves from the language, habits and divisiveness, that define the next US President.

As the world is being lead by a politician who gets his kicks out of humiliating people, commenting on appearance, and oversimplifying complex issues, we need to go in the opposite direction.

We need to be intelligent, compassionate and unified.

Most of all, we need to remember that the colour of Donald Trump’s hair is the least offensive and most nonthreatening component of his presidency. It’s time to treat it that way.