With Women’s History Month having come to a close and National Sexual Assault and Awareness Month just getting started, President Donald Trump maintains his assertion that “Nobody has more respect for women than I do.” While many people are aware of Trump’s famous phrase “Grab them by the pussy,” the context of the quote is actually much more controversial than the language itself.
“I did try and fuck her. She was married. I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn’t get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony tits and everything. She’s totally changed her look. I’ve gotta use some Tic Tacs, just in case I start kissing her. You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful - I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything… Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”
When the quotation more recently came to light and sparked controversy, most people focused on the word “pussy,” inspiring women around the country to “reclaim” the word through other means, such as knitting and wearing the “pussy hats” during the Women’s March. As progressive as this is for women, the most disheartening part of the whole ordeal is how infrequently people recognize the dehumanizing nature of his statements because these are things we’ve become accustomed to hearing. The rest of Trump’s message involved crude and profane comments that demean women, but when society is used to hearing men talk about women in such a way, now that the president speaks that way too, more people are starting to think that this type of behavior is acceptable.
By focusing primarily on the word “pussy” women have limited themselves from fighting a much more important feminist battle against the president. According to Vox writer Emily Crockett, “this plays into a broader trend of how some Republicans treat sexual assault.” Many people find Trump’s vulgar comments to be innocuous to society, but over time his disrespect for women and other groups will condition people to be tolerant of these ideas that should not be normalized.
“I did try and fuck her. She was married. I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn’t get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony tits and everything. She’s totally changed her look. I’ve gotta use some Tic Tacs, just in case I start kissing her. You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful - I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything… Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”
When the quotation more recently came to light and sparked controversy, most people focused on the word “pussy,” inspiring women around the country to “reclaim” the word through other means, such as knitting and wearing the “pussy hats” during the Women’s March. As progressive as this is for women, the most disheartening part of the whole ordeal is how infrequently people recognize the dehumanizing nature of his statements because these are things we’ve become accustomed to hearing. The rest of Trump’s message involved crude and profane comments that demean women, but when society is used to hearing men talk about women in such a way, now that the president speaks that way too, more people are starting to think that this type of behavior is acceptable.
By focusing primarily on the word “pussy” women have limited themselves from fighting a much more important feminist battle against the president. According to Vox writer Emily Crockett, “this plays into a broader trend of how some Republicans treat sexual assault.” Many people find Trump’s vulgar comments to be innocuous to society, but over time his disrespect for women and other groups will condition people to be tolerant of these ideas that should not be normalized.