“What a Nasty Woman”
As the third presidential debate wrapped up, the spotlight now shines upon America. The candidates are looking to the people in order to seal up the results and see who gets to take the glorious title of Commander in Chief. This election has been a whirlwind of scandals, controversy, and antipathy, but nothing compares to recent events surrounding Donald Trump and his behavior toward women.
When news broke of released tapes with audio of Donald Trump condoning sexual harassment of women, the floodgates opened up. Since then, there have been nine (yes, NINE) allegations of sexual harassment from different women around the country, all stating that Trump “groped” or “sexually harassed” them in a multitude of ways. At the recent debate when confronted with the controversy, Trump did nothing but deny said claims. He even went as far as to blame the Clinton Campaign for falsifying said claims. He stated that Secretary Clinton and her campaign asked these women to do this and they complied in order to gain their “15 minutes of fame.” Trump claims that “Nobody respects women like I do.”
If “nobody respects women” as Mr. Trump does, this country’s women are in grave danger. Donald Trump differs from past presidential candidates in a multitude of ways, but blatant oppression of women sets him apart in the most negative light. Women of America should feel deep seeded fear of Mr. Trump because of his misuse and abuse of the word “respect.” Respect is not referring to oppressive and offensive language toward women as “locker room talk.” Respect is not telling a female reporter, “If you weren’t beautiful, you wouldn’t have this job.” Respect is not accusing victims of sexual assault for “wanting 15 minutes of fame.”
Trump’s inability to see the issues of his actions should ignite a fire in the women in this country. Donald Trump is not fit to run a country where he does not respect 50% of its population and cannot see what is wrong with his actions and rhetoric. Little girls cannot afford to grow up in a country with a leader who does not respect them and their dreams. We must carry the responsibility of the outcome of this election highly, and understand that we cannot be subjected to leaps backward in the race to gender equality.