Almost everyone has heard of Trump’s infamous words “grab her by the pu**y” and has gotten a lot of different reactions, which terrifies me. There seems to be a lot of people defending him, saying that it happened 10 years ago so why should they care, he’s grown since then. He was 59 when he said it. He wasn’t a 16 year old boy. Which even if he was only 16 it isn’t excusable, but there is hope that when he grows up goes to college, gets a job, or whatever other adult responsibilities he will accept that he will also develop a respect for women and all people. Trump was 59, and he’s also had multiple wives and daughters and has been a businessman and celebrity face for decades. How much could he have grown in that time that he didn’t develop earlier? I’ve also done sports most of my life and been friends with multiple athletes (male and female) my entire life and never have I heard such rhetoric. Yes I’ve heard things like “(s)he’s hot, she has nice tits, bet he has a big dick, I would so bang her/him” But never once have I ever heard or heard about someone implying that they would rape someone because of such superficial things. It is common (or at least I hope) knowledge that rape is about power, a rhetoric that Trump has always displayed, and that even on the tape he admitted that it is because of his power and influence that he can do this to women.

I’ve also heard people defending him try and divert the attention away from Trump’s words by bringing up other things in pop culture (which is a red herring fallacy, pop culture doesn’t make Trump’s words okay). The most talked about example is the “50 Shades of Grey” series. Now this is comparing apples and oranges; most importantly because the series is a work of fiction, also because even if it is not an accurate representation of BDSM culture, BDSM is not rape. In fact, for those who have not read the series before any sex would happen Christian Grey made Anastasia sign a contract agreeing to it. And the one time she did something that she didn’t want to and refused to use the safe word he was extremely upset at her. Also reading erotica is not supporting rape culture. And it does go into how rape can permanently damage a person (Grey was taken advantage of in his youth by a grown woman).

Another popular defense is to use celebrity’s promiscuity to defend Trump’s words, most notably using Miley Cyrus. Now I’m not exactly sure how a woman deciding how she wants to dress has anything to do with a man saying to “grab a woman by the pu**y”, but since people think it does, lets address it. This is one of the worst cases of rape culture. Because a woman feels beautiful in what she chooses to wear, anything that happens to her is her fault. Which is utter BS. It doesn’t matter how much skin a woman is showing, men are human beings capable of reasonable thought and in control enough of their bodies to not sexually assault someone, even if they’re drunk. As someone who is currently in college any sexual assault I’ve experienced has been committed by men completely sober. Hell I’ve seen guys who have been drinking turn down women who are absolutely trashed and threw themselves at him. Alcohol is not an excuse, and neither is clothing. The difference between revealing outfits and rape is one is a choice, the other is not. And I will continue to look up to Miley Cyrus as someone who cares for the environment, speaks up for equality for all (gender and LGBTQ), has donated and supported 42 different charities; in fact she’s considered one of the most charitable celebrities. But because she dresses in what society considers inappropriate, she is a terrible role model? That is one of the reasons she dresses the way that she does. Slut-shaming women based on how they dress is incredibly backwards and something we need to fight against, it is a promotion of rape culture. The human body isn’t something to be sexualized and there are a lot of misconceptions about what people biologically find attractive in a possible mate. Such as breasts, they are something that we have been taught to find sexy and scandalous. There is not a biological reason why people are attracted to them. In fact the sexualization of breasts is an extremely western concept. Do not use my fashion choices as an argument to support rape culture.

Then there is the argument about rappers promoting rape. Well quite honestly that is inexcusable and despicable. It shouldn't be a thing either. But how in the world does that argument defend Trump? If anything it should create a dialogue to discredit and prevent both instances of rape culture. But you can despise a song and a person's personality and still like their other music. Yes someone who promotes a rape culture shouldn't be funded in such an extravagant way and should be held accountable, but their voice can still be found to be pleasant to some ears. There is also the simple argument that rappers such as Jay-Z are not running for president or any position of power. You can prevent a child from listening to that type of music, you can turn off the radio, the television. You can't do that with a president, someone who is an influential leader of laws, world policies. You can't turn off the government.