According to a piece in the U.K. newspaper the Independent, Donald Trump’s request that he and Hillary Clinton both be drug tested before the next debate is “the oldest form of sexism in the book.”

“By suggesting that Hillary is either unwell or requiring medical treatment to participate in the campaign trail, Trump is tapping into a latent misogyny that runs deep in American and British society – the persistent idea that women are not physiologically cut out for the tough stuff,” columnist Hannah Fearn writes in a piece titled “Donald Trump wants Hillary Clinton to take a drugs [sic] test because it suggests that women are too weak for power.”

This is the oldest form of sexism in the book. From the claim that the “wandering womb” could turn women hysterical to the modern idea that hormones exert complete control over women’s lives; from the consumptive and swooning heroines of early modern fiction to the spurious claims that men and women’s brains are wired in fundamentally different ways; from tabloid newspapers and glossy magazines reporting research (conducted, dubiously, by luxury “wellness” brands) that “80 per cent of women are pushing themselves too hard”, to this latest claim from Trump (without any supporting evidence) that Clinton was so exhausted after the presidential debate that she could “barely reach her car”, the idea that women are physically unsuited to exert power or leadership – utter nonsense though that is – has been with us since time immemorial.

Listen, Ms. Fearn . . . Donald Trump’s drug-testing suggestion was ridiculous, but chalking it up to “sexism” might be even more so. Honestly, it was pretty clearly just Trump doing what he’s been doing since the primaries: Making weird, outlandish statements that are certain to garner media attention and make people say, “I can’t believe he said that! He doesn’t talk like a politician!” What’s more, anyone who remembers his persistent attacks on Jeb Bush for being “low energy” would have to acknowledge that his criticism of Clinton’s stamina probably has nothing to do with her gender. Let’s also not forget that Donald Trump was accused of using cocaine after his sniffling through the last debate, and his drug-testing suggestion could easily have just as much to do with a desire to defend himself as a desire to attack his opponent.

#related#But my biggest problem with Fearn’s column isn’t the ridiculousness of her accusation; it’s that these kind accusations do far more harm than good. After all, the trend of columnists rushing to label anything and everything that Trump says as “sexist” only prevents legitimate accusations of sexism from being taken seriously. Make no mistake, many people are so used to seeing any and all criticism of Clinton be described as “sexism” that they’ve become jaded by the accusation. This is especially harmful when we have a candidate who has been guilty of actual sexism (like that infamous conversation on the bus) because it makes many of those same people unwilling to even consider it as such. Crying wolf is that best way to ensure that any future issues involving actual wolves won’t be addressed . . . and the treatment of women (read: people) is far too important to be handled so carelessly.