There are a lot of glaringly obvious faux pas with Donald Trump’s recent statements about women. I’m not here to talk about them.
What I do intend to talk about is a very specific part of another comment made by the Trump campaign in order to cover up this indiscretion: “Locker Room Talk.” To me, this phrase is simply deconstructed into a two-part conglomerate of sexist rhetoric, the first being the obvious rape culture, and the second being the more subtle sexism that has gone more or less overlooked by the media. I am here today to talk about the latter. What are the underlying implications of a phrase like locker room talk being used to discuss sexist language? The answer is simple.
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By saying “locker room talk” is sexist rhetoric that objectifies women, you imply that women don’t use locker rooms.
I understand this assertion can seem a farfetched liberal scheme and to further attempt to demonize the Republican Party, and believe me, I could write an article that way. I’m not going to. I understand and in no way believe Donald Trump is under the impression that women don’t use locker rooms. Regardless, I am of the opinion that this comment is harmful is more ways than one; a trickle down effect of degradation and hurt. The obvious implications of what I feel comfortable calling hate speech can and probably should overshadow the minutia of word choice and analogy selection. Furthermore, as American citizens, it is our job to dissect all that we can from the scripted and preconceived language funneled out of our candidates in the remaining days in this election cycle. It is our job to scrutinize these candidates under microscopic lens until this year-long job interview concludes, because if we don’t, the rest of the world will do it for us. Thus, I present to you a deconstruction of Trump’s most recent scandal, and all that we can glean from it.
Of course, there are the obvious implications of Trump’s now infamous comment about assaulting women. There are more than enough articles, interviews, and commentaries about this topic for you to uncover, and I do not intend to waste time reiterating a moot point. All I will say on the topic is this: there is no dignity in harming your fellow man, no pride in tearing people down. If you were not hurt by Trump’s comments, not frightened or even jarred, congratulations. There were a lot of people who were. You are not better than those people for being unaffected, and you are worse than those people for kicking them while they’re down.
Now, on to the more subtle, and in my opinion more interesting, implications of Trump’s comments. In the marvelous world of Donald Trump’s psyche where women are for props and men are for profits it is easy to visualize a dreamscape where all the boys play games with the women are in the stands but it has recently come to my attention that that isn’t the case here on earth. As a matter of fact, many women dedicate their lives and hearts and brains to perfecting their sportsmanship and athleticism. These women push their bodies to the breaking point only to have their bodies and careers invalidated regularly, all the while being paid less than their male counterparts. In this world of sharp corners and closed boxes, women are relegated to the girls team and the girls uniforms and the girls pushups because our bodies are different, and somehow this difference is inferior. In ancient Greece, women used to be considered deformed men. This precedent, set well before the birth of both Christ, and Ronald Reagan, has somehow reached it pinnacle this election season. Women are humans, yes. But we are also women. We are not men, modified to your design, we are not Adam’s rib and we are not carbon incubators. We are different. We feel hurt and we feel pride and we feel it all the time and this makes us strong. We are decidedly better at some things and decidedly worse at others and we take life one step at a time with keys between our fingers down dark alleys and songs in our throats in best friends' cars. We do not yield for every stop sign at every street named after another man who did not believe in us until we whispered secrets in his ear. We are small and fragile and every time we break we build ourselves up again stronger. We climb mountains made of rejection letters and we have parties when we reach the top. We wear medals around our necks and diamonds on our hands. We build companies out of thin air and spin fabric out of self-made opportunities. Yes, we are paperback books and point shoes and piano keys, and yes, we are sports teams and soccer balls and scraped knees. We are proud Americans. We are kind wives and daughters and giving sisters and passionate friends and we are kind and giving and passionate all on our own too.
Mr. Trump, we are women. We make up 50% of America. You will find us in kitchens and boards rooms, and yes, even locker rooms. If you truly want our vote, you might want to get to know us as people, not just body parts.
Signed,
Her
