Last week, America was enlightened with leaked footage of Donald Trump’s “locker room talk," and reactions have ranged from extremely negative to extremely positive. The negative reactions largely originate from those who respect at least some code of moral conduct, who denounce sexual harassment and question Trump’s suitability to serve as commander in chief. The positive reactions came mostly from the Hillary Clinton campaign, who are politely holding off on claiming their early victory until November 28th, the honorary day of the election as requested by Trump.
Some Americans report simply feeling shocked at the footage. “I just can’t believe that someone running for office would say that, you know? Like, he expects women to look up to him after that?” remarked Andrew Wheeler, 26, who is reportedly the last American to have not realized that the Republican party nominated an unapologetic misogynist until just now.
Stacey White, 41, reports, “I just can’t have my son hearing words like that, and then hearing them referred to as ‘locker room talk’ and thinking that’s normal is ridiculous to me. If I ever hear his teammates talking like that, I will be calling the school board and their parents!” Her 14-year-old son, John, blushed and reassured his mother once again that he had never heard or uttered the word “p***y” in his life before Trump’s tape.
Trump’s apparent attitude of "what happens in the locker room, stays in the locker room" has sparked widespread debate on what exactly happens in locker rooms, and whether or not that is the same as what happens in real life. For example, in the same way that talking about sexual harassment in the locker room doesn’t necessarily mean you condone sexual harassment in real life, the snacks you eat in the kitchen don’t actually count toward your daily calorie intake.
To investigate this claim further, I spent some time in the locker room with a women’s collegiate rowing team. What I heard and saw was absolutely shocking: young women wishing each other well before and after practice, students discussing how to solve their problem sets, fist-bumps exchanged in celebration of a hard workout, advice on how to decrease the odor in running shoes, questions of whether or not a shirt was too dirty to wear a second time, and many pep talks regarding an upcoming race. It seemed to me that the team remembered the conversations they had in the locker room after they left, and also considered them to be no different than real-life conversations. The only difference between "locker room talk" and "real-life talk" turned out to be whether or not the conversation took place in a locker room. Frankly, I for one am extremely concerned for the type of locker room experience that Donald Trump seems to believe in.
