I am however deeply concerned about Donald
Trump's negative and damaging attitudes and behaviors concerning women. It
concerns me because Donald Trump has so much influence over American society.
And half of that society is made up of women.
I am also disturbed by the multitude of
people who dismiss, excuse or downplay Donald Trump's unhealthy attitudes and
behaviors towards women. Because it illustrates that our society has a serious
sickness when it comes to how women ought to be perceived and treated.
I will attempt to illustrate that Donald
Trump does not respect women, and why his attitudes and behaviors towards women
is damaging to all women.
In the recent leaked 2005 video of Donald
Trump speaking with Billy Bush, Donald Trump says;
"Yeah, that's
her. With the gold. I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing
her. You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing
them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait."
I personally believe that
this not only brings into question, Donald Trump's lack of self control over
his own sexual urges but that kissing a woman without her consent is
inappropriate and wrong.
Unless a woman has
established a consensual relationship that merits a man kissing her, it is an
intimate invasion of her personal space. And the truth is there are many women
who are intimidated and uncomfortable with being kissed by a man who they don't
even know - all you need to do is ask women, and they will tell you.
Now from country to
country there may be cultural differences regarding acceptable ways to greet
the opposite sex but if there's a chance it may make a woman feel
uncomfortable, and intimidated, than why would you do it?
Than Donald Trump goes on to say;
"And when you're a star they let you do
it. You can do anything."
And Billy Bush asks;
"Whatever you
want?"
And Trump replies;
"Grab them by the pussy. You can do
anything."
So now Donald Trump is
positing that because he's a star, he has special permission to sexually
assault any woman, and they'll let him do it. Not just grab them by the
genitals, but do anything you want.
This is a 59 year-old man
essentially bragging about sexually assaulting women.
This is extremely
troubling, because at 59 years-old, this man has still not learned that sexual
assault is not only a crime but absolutely wrong. And goes on to further
promote a behavior that can easily turn to rape. And rape destroys lives of
women.
And far more troubling is
the possibility that Donald Trump is talking from experience. Otherwise how
would he know he could get away with such actions towards women? I suspect that
Donald Trump severely lacks appropriate boundaries when it comes to interacting
with women.
And this man may even
justify his behaviors towards women as appropriate if there fails to be
any protest on behalf of the women. But
just because the woman in question does not protest does not mean she approves.
She could be feeling shocked, humiliated, embarrassed, or angry.
Than in 2016 (9 years later)
after Donald Trump's comments were made public, he issue's an apology;
"I never said I was a
perfect person nor pretended to be someone that I'm not. I've said and done
things I regret. And the words released today on this more than a decade old video
are one of them. Anyone who knows me, knows these words don't reflect who I am.
I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize..."
Then he goes on to talk
about how his travels during his campaign changed him, and how he's humbled by people's faith in him. And he
pledges to be a better man tomorrow. And says he will never ever let you down.
Then goes on to say;
"Let's be honest,
we're living in the real world. This is nothing but a distraction from the
important issues we are facing today."
Here are my issues. He
starts off his apology by saying, "I never said I was perfect." That
sounds like an excuse because he is implying that any imperfect man could or
would do the same. And all men are imperfect. So it can't be that bad, right.
Then he goes on to state
that the video is more than 10 years old, and that anyone who knows him knows
those words don't reflect who he is. One thing we can be sure of is that that
video reflected exactly who he was 10 years ago when he does not think he's
being recorded.
So there could be a bit of
a contradiction because a man is the product of his past. And even Dr.Phil will
tell you that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. But maybe
he did learn that his comments were wrong after-all he said I was wrong, I
apologize.
But then he dismisses the
seriousness of his comments by saying, "this is nothing but a distraction
from the important issues."
I could not disagree more.
Number one this is an insight into how Donald Trump viewed and perceived women just
10 years ago. If his views and attitudes concerning women did not change during
the first 59 years of his life - how likely is it that they changed during the
last 9 years?
And secondly, if this man
truly does not respect women what kind of president will he be when he is
representing that half of the US population that is made up of women? And if he
becomes president will he appropriately deal with other women in positions of
power? And what kind of example and message will his conduct concerning women
have on the US population and other countries.
So I believe it is a potentially important
issue. It is more than a distraction - it's a serious concern.
The key here is that Donald
Trump never explained 'why' his comments were wrong. I honestly believe he does
not know 'why' his comments regarding women were wrong. And if he does not know
why his comments regarding women were wrong than how can he truly learn from
it, and therefore truly be apologetic.
But then during his second
debate with Hilary Clinton, Donald Trump refers to his comments on tape as,
'Locker Room Talk.' And goes on to posit that they are 'just words not
actions.'
To brag about sexually
assaulting women as locker room talk is deeply troubling. That is to posit that
it's common for men to brag about sexual assault in the locker room behind
closed doors.
But that does not mean it's
any less wrong.
Even if there is a
multitude of men speaking this way in the locker rooms it does not mean it's
okay to do so. Even if women have heard worse than those words spoken by Donald
Trump - it does not make it okay. What it means is that there is a serious
societal sickness when it comes to how men in general ultimately perceive women
and what they think of women.
A sick perception that
needs to be addressed.
It is not indicative of a
man's human nature - it is indicative of what a man has been taught as being
acceptable behavior. And women who think this is simply who men are by nature
have been desensitized to the very ugly nature of this type of behavior by the
frequency of this behavior.
The inherent danger of this
type of talk, belief and attitude is that it will ultimately mold the actions
of certain men concerning women.
Going back to Donald Trump's statement that his
comments were just words and not actions. Women like Temple Taggart (21
Year-old, Miss Utah) was reported to have been kissed by Donald Trump without
her consent back in 1997.
In an interview with the
New York Times, she commented;
"He kissed me directly
on the lips,"
"I thought, ‘Oh my
God, gross."
"There were a few
other girls that he kissed on the mouth. I was like ‘Wow, that’s
inappropriate."
This sounds exactly like
what Donald Trump essentially admitted to on the 2005 leaked video. I just kiss
them, I don't even wait.
Remember during the second
debate against Hilary Clinton, moderator, Anderson Cooper asked Donald Trump,
"Just for the record, though, are you saying that what you said on that
bus 11 years ago, that you did not actually kiss women without consent or grope
women without consent?"
Back in 2005, on the
Howard Stern show, Donald Trump admitted to going into the dressing rooms
during the Miss USA pageant which he owned while the contestants were changing.
“I’ll go backstage before a show, and everyone’s getting dressed and ready and everything else,” he told Howard Stern.
“And you know, no men are anywhere. And I’m allowed to go in because I’m the owner of the pageant. And therefore I’m inspecting it.”
Trump continued from there. “You see these incredible looking women. And so I sort of get away with things like that.”
A contestant at the 2000
Miss USA pageant told BuzzFeed Trump had walked into a pageant changing room
when everyone was naked.
Now there's a report of
Donald Trump walking into the change rooms of the Miss Teen USA pageant back in
1997.
Girls were “just scrambling to grab stuff,” she added.
Billado paraphrased the GOP presidential nominee as saying: “Don’t worry, ladies, I’ve seen it all before.” When she first learned that Trump was running for president she thought, “Oh, gross, this guy walked in on us in the pageant.”
BuzzFeed said three other women also remembered Trump entering the changing room while the contestants - some as young as 15 years old were in and out of their clothes.
So this guy feels it appropriate to walk into a changing room filled with women changing, women who could be naked just because he owns the pageant.
I don't care if he paid for their schooling, paid their bills, bought their houses - he has no right to walk into a women's changing room, period. That to me is nothing short of perversion.
No warning, of his entering, no everybody has 5 minutes to cover up Donald Trump wants to inspect how things are going. That is just absolutely wrong.
And if the story of Donald Trump walking into the change rooms of Miss Teen USA are true, than that is beyond inappropriate - especially when there are girls as young as 15 years old.
This man has absolutely no sense of appropriate boundaries when it comes to women.
Now, there is increasing
news reports through various media of Donald Trump sexually abusing women. At
least 5 women who allege Donald Trump sexually abused them. Honestly I cannot
keep up with these reports.
Whether you believe the
newest reports of sexual assault, Donald Trump admitted to Howard Stern that he
goes into the Miss USA pageant change rooms and gets away with it.
As a note, however, the
newest allegations of sexual assault do align very well with Donald Trump's
comments on the 2005 video, "grab them by the pussy, you can do
anything...and they'll let you do it." Perhaps these women only coming
forward now after so many years gave Donald Trump the impression that, 'they'll
let you do it.'
Another concern regarding
Trumps attitudes towards women is his objectifying women. In a recent 1992
video, Trump asks a 10 year-old girl if she's going up an elevator, she
replies, "yea." Than Trump turns to the camera and say's, "I'm
going to be dating her in 10 years - can you believe it."
Trump has made his share of
highly questionable comments regarding women. Back in 2006 on the View, Trump
made a comment regarding his daughter, Ivanka, "I've said if Ivanka
weren't my daughter, perhaps, I would be dating her."
His comments are creepy
because they are aimed at those people that we don't associate sexual thoughts
with like his own daughter, and a 10 year-old girl.
There is no shortage of
insults aimed at women that can be found online on behalf of Donald Trump. Most
comments usually carry a commentary insulting their appearance.
In fact, there are too many
for me to comment on.
In fact there is far too
many examples of Donald Trump miss treating women for me to comment on. All you
need to do is do your own research. And you will most likely come to the same
conclusion that I have that Donald Trump does not respect women.
Alas, let's not forget that
on the 2005 video, Donald Trump talks about trying to have sex with a married
woman. Donald Trump is heard saying," I did try and fuck her. She was
married.."
This is a man who thinks
nothing about a respecting a married woman and the possible consequences of
destroying a marriage, and possibly lives connected to that marriage. This
demonstrates a complete lack of empathy for the possible consequences of one's
actions on other people's lives.
I have worked hard on this
presentation because Donald Trump has become a role model to so many people,
and as such, his negative values concerning women carry a huge influence unto
American society. And I am making the point that his perception, values, and
behaviors towards women is not appropriate and should not be tolerated.
It is my opinion that
Donald Trump approaches women as if they are all sexually available to him, and
that their quality as a human being can be rated by their appearance - with no
consequence to him. And that is not acceptable, period.
I don't believe my
presentation will be popular with too many people, but I have to stand up for
women because half of humanity is made up of women.
And women live in a reality
where they face the possibility of stalking, sexual harassment, domestic abuse,
discrimination based on sex, being objectified, rape, and unwanted sexual
attention. It's not right that half the human population has to put up with
this.
People want to be
appreciated for who they are, not taken advantage for what they have.
Thank-you.
Darryl Learie
