Dear Mr. Trump,
I write to you as a woman – a demographic you believe has “respect for you”. As a woman, I am appalled, and simply disgusted, by the way you handled yourself in a 2005 conversation that was leaked this past Friday, October 7th, 2016. In this video, you say that “when you’re a star, they let you do it.” You continue with the statement, “I just start kissing [women]. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait.”
Moderator Anderson Cooper said it well when he confronted you at the second presidential debate.
“You described kissing women without consent, grabbing their genitals,” Cooper said. “That is sexual assault. You bragged that you have sexually assaulted women. Do you understand that?”
If that wasn’t enough, you responded by saying, “we should get onto much more important things and much bigger things.”
Sexual assault is not an issue to be taken lightly – nor should it be ignored. According to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly one in five women have reported experiencing rape at some point in their lives. One in five. That’s not a figure that should be deemed unimportant. By brushing off this issue, you are normalizing the violence that women – and men – face, and perpetuating the idea that rape culture is “normal”.
Your “locker room talk” adds to the notion that such actions are deemed okay within society. No, you are not entitled to any woman – nor can you “just kiss” a woman without consent. Just because you are a celebrity doesn’t excuse you from such actions – in fact, you should be held to even higher standards as a potential world leader. The White House is not a joke – nor is sexual assault. If you can’t see that, it’s safe to say you shouldn’t be leading our nation.
Any individual that is a bystander or participates in conversations like this is only reinforcing rape culture. If we want to make a change – and lessen the amount of sexual violence that occurs within this country – we need to agree to speak up during such conversations, and make it known that this banter is simply not okay. Not only does this change require your help, Mr. Trump, but it requires all men and women to be on the same page. Only then will we have a safer country. Only then will we be able to stand a chance at ‘making America great.’
Sincerely,
a woman