My thoughts on a photo that sickens me.
I’m trying very hard this election cycle not to blog about politics. There are a couple of reasons for this.
First, I don’t want to alienate readers who come to read posts covering the wide variety of topics I write about but may disagree with me on politics.
Second, I know damn well that the folks who have been paying attention to the presidential elections this year have already made up their minds and there’s nothing I can say that will change them.
But sometimes a push comes to a shove and I’ve been pushed a few too many times this past week.
Where We Are
If you have been paying attention, you know how crazy this election cycle is.
On one side, we have a qualified, politically experienced, and knowledgable candidate who has been in public service in many different roles for about 30 years. She’s been haunted by conspiracy theories that focus not only on her but on her husband. She’s been battling investigations and insinuations for years, with a patience and fortitude I find amazing. And although most of the dirty rumors about her have been proven false, many Americans continue to believe that she’s some sort of evil monster that will take away their guns, abort their fetuses, and send them to death panels.
On the other side, we have a “successful” billionaire — if you consider six bankruptcies a sign of success — who clearly has very little knowledge about the Constitution, world affairs, or the global economy. He got his start in life with a million dollars from his rich father, who, along with various banks, has bailed him out of more financial trouble than the average person can even imagine. He’s bashed minorities, immigrants, veterans, African Americans, Muslims, and women — what he says about each group depends on who he’s speaking in front of. He incites violence at his rallies, hinting at one that “second amendment people” — gun owners? — could stop his opponent from nominating Supreme Court justices they didn’t like. He sees conspiracy theories everywhere and has even promoted one of the biggest: the so-called racist “birther movement.” And he’s already planted seeds with his supporters that if he doesn’t win the election, it’s because it’s “rigged.”
You can find articles online in reputable publications that support everything I’ve just said. Just Google and be mindful of the difference between investigative journalism like you might find at the Washington Post or New York Times and opinion pieces you might find at Fox News.
Of course, if you’re a Trump supporter, you’re not likely to trust any of the media since your boy Donald told you not to. You’ve drunk his Kool-Aid and all I have for you is pity.
“Locker Room” Talk
But that’s not what I’m writing about today. I’m writing about “conservative” women supporting predatory sexual harassment and assault.
Let’s get this straight: Bragging to an acquaintance that being a star lets you kiss women or touch (or grab) their genitals without their consent is not locker room talk. Not the locker room talk of men who have any amount of respect for women. Such talk is crude and lewd and clearly indicates an attitude of misogyny far beyond what should be tolerable in civilized society.
But what’s worse is that it indicates an attitude that says sexual assault is okay. This is a prime example of the rape culture that keeps making its way into the news
I cannot tell you how my blood boils when I hear women who call themselves “conservatives” claim that their men talk like that. Really? Your men really talk about forcing themselves on random women, about grabbing them “by the pussy”? Then what the fuck are you still doing with them? How can you possibly tolerate life with someone who thinks so poorly of women that they’d talk about women in such a way? And what are you teaching your daughters about women’s roles and rights? Why are you holding them back in your sorry backwards world?
I feel sorry for the women who honestly believe that “all men” talk like this. They don’t.
And with Trump, it’s not just talk, ladies. It’s actions. Since the release of the “bus video” last week, women have been stepping forward to tell their stories about how Trump kissed them or touched them or groped them against their will. Or walked into beauty pageant dressing rooms to gawk at young women while they changed their clothes. Every day, more women come forward with more stories or confirmation of those already told.
Donald Trump is the new Bill Cosby. Presidential material? I think not.
About the Photo
But I’m not really writing about that, either. What I’m really writing about is this photo, which has been circulating around Twitter, Facebook, and the rest of the Internet for a few days.
This makes me sick.
This photo makes me sick.
Here’s a woman proving to the world that Hillary Clinton was right: half of Trumps supporters are deplorable. How else could you label a woman who wears a shirt like this in public?
How can a woman think so poorly of herself that she invites sexual advances from a 70-year-old pervert?
How does she explain this to her children? Or grandchildren? What is she teaching them?
Do women like this one realize how they are degrading all women? How they are holding back other women from being taken seriously in school or the workplace? How they’re dirtying the rest of us with their appalling behavior?
(This is even lower than women who use lingerie photos of themselves to attract men on dating sites, but we won’t go there.)
And does she not see the irony in this? Does she not realize that Trump’s disdain for women who are not “beautiful” and for women who are overweight would likely make her a target for his ridicule?
Is she really that dimwitted and brainwashed?
What is this fucking country coming to? It’s gotten to the point that I ask myself this every day.
Comments Are Open
Comment are open — at least for now. The discussion is about this photo and the bus video that started this chapter of Donald Trump’s campaign. It’s not about Hillary Clinton. It’s not about Bill Clinton. It’s not even about Bill Cosby. It’s about this photo of this woman and the message she sends to the world about herself, Trump supporters, and the rest of our country.
And yes, I do realize that there are third party candidates. This isn’t about them, either.
Stay civil. Comments are moderated; you might want to read the comment policy before wasting your time posting something that won’t be seen.
Comments about anything other than this photo or the bus video that prompted the subject of this photo will not appear here, even if they do get through my blacklists and junk filters.
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I saw this picture earlier and like so many things regarding Trump and his presidential race, the mind just boggles. I can not articulate just how much incredulity each new revelation brings.
I thought perhaps this woman thinks that those women who take offence to Trumps statements are over reacting and so she’s making fun of the ‘lefty cry babies’. Or she thinks she’s being ‘ironic’. Her behaviour only speaks volumes about her, and the men around her. And she misses the point, this shirt is giving Trump consent to grab her (as you said, not that he would) whereas the outrage comes from lack of consent from the women he grabs in this way.
I just don’t understand how anyone, woman or man, could vote for such a ill qualified, bigoted hypocrite. But then again, I don’t understand how anyone can truly think a woman shouldn’t have autonomy over her own body, or that people shouldn’t be free to marry whoever they chose, regardless of sex, or that people with different coloured skin are worth less than those with white skin.
Well said.
I agree with everything you’ve said, but I suspect your title gives it away: it seems thinking and reason are not actually involved. It’s all about the feeling.
It seems Trump speaks directly to the emotions of a chunk of the population. In spite of his overt attacks on almost every segment of society that isn’t made up of rich white men called Donald there are folks who believe with all their heart that he speaks for them, represents them, is fighting for them and their issues.
And so they become, in a sense, freedom fighters who support their champion whatever he says and does because they believe in the cause. He said something and is now under attack, so they too are under attack. It doesn’t matter really what he said or did, in their hearts he has been wronged, so they stand by him.
Logic and reason belong to the other side, with their fact-based strategies and so on. On his side is sheer powerful emotion — the fear and confusion that are so well and so vehemently expressed in hatred in all its forms, including sexism, racism, homophobia, xenophobia and all the other ‘isms’.
Many of us outside the US are watching this train wreck with disquiet. We’re worried about what will happen there next. Whether he becomes president or not it seems you’re in for some rough times. It’s very dangerous to foment hatred. Let’s just hope that Logic and Reason will win out in the end.
What bothers me, though, is women who seem to be saying that it’s okay for men to sexually assault women. Or at least talk about it in no uncertain terms.
I think we are in for some rough times, as you said. There’s a lot of hate here, as well as fear and anger. That’s never a good thing, but it’s even worse in our now divided “United” States.
Susan and Miraz are right, of course. That photo is a badge of deep self-hatred.
What I am about to say might require your moderation. Feel free to take this down.
In a rational political contest one might expect that an ignorant, sexist, racist, self-preening and bigoted narcissist would probably be eliminated at an early stage.
So, why is he still here? Because there are republicans out there who would vote for Osama Bin Laden before Clinton. Over here we are hearing interviews with republican supporters who believe all politicians are vile corrupt self-servers and see Trump as a “breath of fresh air”.
What sustains this madness? The same fantasies that insist that Obama is a Muslim Kenyan. That politicians cannot ‘effect change’ (thanks, Congress). This is barely a whisker away from old KKK ranting and action. This election has reached deep into the swamp of nastiness yet keeps on digging.
To win, Hilary has to show that Trumpers really are ‘deplorable’. She should not apologise for that remark but nail him with the evidence. And that photo is the best sort of evidence.
Maria,
I know we disagree on ideological, religious, and political issues; therefore, I generally avoid reading your posts on these topics. However, the title of this one intriqued me.
First – I TOTALLY agree with everything you said in the locker room talk and about the photo sections. What Trump is accused of is totally unacceptable and is a terrible example from ANY leader in ANY field. And this woman, whoever she is, is part of the problem.
You did not consider two points in the where we are segment.
1 – Americans are tired of the politics-as-usual, two-party system. Thus Clinton’s experience is exactly what disqualifies her. If she is elected we know we will get eight more years of the same.
2 – The Donald’s kool-aid is only a few years old. Hillary has been mixing and pushing the progressive agenda for decades.
So, who is the more gulible, those who have bought into a system or those who are grasping at any new rope which might pull them out of a political cycle which they think doesn’t work?
The rest of the story. Unlike you, most victims of the American public school system cannot think critically and draw cogent arguments. Thus they always revert to emotion. The Donald appeals to those emotions but speaks in generalities which allows the listener to draw any conclusion based on their own bias.
To be clear, I am not a fan of Trump. I think he is crude, demeaning, inatriculate, illogical, and an ego-maniac. He is unpredictable. The question I am wrestling with is which is more dangerous in the long term: unpredictable danger or predictable danger?
I now return to reading about rotor wing flying and small business ownership.
With great respect for you as a writer, thinker, and business owner;
This election stopped being about facts a long time ago. It’s now a contest of emotions, above all fear and anger. When, not if, Trump loses it will be largely because he has gone out of his way to antagonize, belittle and underestimate half of the electorate. Even his most ardent supporters (as this woman appears to typify) will have to admit that he has torpedoed his own candidacy based on his treatment of women. Good riddance.