First off; I’d
like to apologize if I offend anyone with my blog as I do not intend to try to.
This is just an area I’m rather passionate about. I’m not trying to tear down
anyone. Also, before saying that just because I don’t like Trump, I must
support Hillary; that is also not true. We’re screwed either way. I’ve also
included links at the bottom of my blog in case you would like to fact check me
or are interested in what happened and what was said.
Over this past weekend,
a video was released of republican presidential candidate Donald Trump making
lewd comments about women in 2005 while doing an interview with Billy Bush.
Some of these comments included, “I’m automatically attracted to beautiful-I
just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait’ and ‘Grab
them by the pussy, you can do anything.’ (The Huffington Post, 2016) . During the second presidential debate this
past Sunday, Trump was asked about the comments he had made. He stated that is
was ‘locker room talk’ and then proceeded to talk about ISIS. One comment he
made was, ‘But it’s locker room talk, and it’s one of those things. I will
knock the hell out of ISIS (The New York Times, 2016) . Before anyone begins
to get upset about my blog and think, I’m not trying to tear down Trump. I’m
simply showing the down play of these comments and how they perpetuate rape culture
within our society. Yes, rape culture is a thing and this is a prime example of
it. When these comments about just kissing women and grabbing them by the
pussy, without consent I might add, are downplayed you are automatically
sending a message to everyone saying that it’s okay to do so. That you are
allowed to do what you want, especially if ‘you’re a star’. It’s the downplay
of comments like these, that lead to people such as Brock Turner who considered
raping a girl behind a dumpster as ’20 minutes of action.’
Throughout the book,
March, you see derogatory terms that are used towards the African American population
within society. Over this time, these words were used consistently, thus making
it seem as those they were okay to use. You could go ahead and use them
nonchalantly and everything would be great. It was also conditioned that these
words were not a ‘big deal’ either. However, there is one other area of the
2005 video, which should also be addressed. Trump was not alone during the
interview on the bus. He was accompanied by television host, and then Access
Hollywood host Billy Bush. What happened to Billy Bush you ask? He has been
suspended from the Today show (he hosts the third hour) pending further review
and investigation of the comments that were made through this interview (USA Today, 2016) . Bush was suspended,
Trump is still running for president? There is a differential in the power
status here, which also ties into March. The entire book is about the civil
rights movement. Where one race believed or felt as though they were superior
to another and could do anything, they got away with it as well. Although we
may have come some way from the civil rights movement, we still have a power differential
in our country. The richer you are, the more power you hold. You can do
anything from make lewd comments about women to deleting emails, and nothing
will come of it. However, if you did that as a ‘normal’ person, you would have
a multitude of charges hoisted upon you. In the end, you have an increase of ‘power’
if you are Caucasian, rich or a presidential candidate.
Links:
Billy Bush’s
Suspension- http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2016/10/10/billy-bush-donald-trump-tape-today-show-suspension-savannah-guthrie/91845784/
Donald Trump’s
Comments/Video- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-women-comments_us_57f8016de4b0e655eab4148d
Transcript of
the Debate/Debate Video- http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/10/us/politics/transcript-second-debate.html?_r=0
