Last Friday, a video tape of presidential hopeful Donald Trump was leaked where the business tycoon is heard making vulgar comments about Access Hollywood host Nancy O'Dell, Trump's "Days of our Lives" co-star Arianne Zucker, and women in general. The tape sparked outrage across the country and divided the nation in a debate on what exactly is going "too far." But, why exactly do Mr. Trump's comments about women matter if they were recorded over 10 years ago?
The recording was leaked to the media and blew up the internet within hours. In the video, Trump can be heard saying things such as, "I did try and f--k her. She was married."
"I'm automatically attracted to beautiful, I just start kissing them."
"When you're a star, they let you do it. Grab them by the p---y. You can do anything."
Not only are these comments extremely distasteful and straight-up misogynistic, but they also perpetuate the rape culture that is running rampant in the United States. Mr. Trump's comments insinuate that, because of your name or reputation, you're free to take whatever you want from a woman, her body included. Being a man in power, Mr. Trump's comments trickle down mainstream media and end up in the hands of people who take his words seriously, people like Brock Turner, David Becker and countless others. Seeing a person in power make these comments plants the seed that unwanted sexual advances should be accepted, or even expected, by women. To break it down further for you, when a young person is in an impressionable state and they hear a person in a position of power say something like Trump did, they develop a mentality that says, "If it's acceptable for someone like that to do it, then why can't I?"
The bottom line here is that any sexual advance should be mutually consented to. There is no situation where the word 'no' means yes. The act of forcing yourself onto another person is, in fact, sexual assault. Let me remind you, Mr. Trump, for the 284,000 victims who reported sexual assault in 2014, that the precise definition of sexual assault is, "Sexual contact that involves force upon a person without consent."
Being on a college campus and hearing people defend these comments as "locker room talk" is alarming. Do me a favor and think of the men in your life. It could be your friend, brother, father, boyfriend, or any man close to you. Ask yourself: would this person ever say something like this? Would they say it knowing that someone could be speaking in the exact same way about their sisters, wives, or mothers? About any other person in general? For the people who answered no to these questions and are still defending Trump, take a moment to reflect on why exactly you're dismissing the behavior of a presidential candidate if you would question someone you know and love acting in the same way.
