With the presidential race in full frenzy, we often find our Facebook feeds littered with article after article, SNL skit after SNL skit, and rant after rant over who should be the next President of the United States of America. When it all started, I was like anyone else: laughing at Stephen Colbert hosting fake Trump vs. Trump debates and posting statuses like, “If Trump wins, guess who’s moving to Canada?” It all just seemed so absurd. Who could believe a reality show host with an ego the size of his wallet could actually be a real contender for the White House?
But as time has gone by and the candidacy pool has grown smaller, Trump has gained a legitimate following with more force behind it than I naively thought possible just a few months ago. Now I’m laughing less and less at those bits poking fun at the idea of a Trump presidency, because the concept is no longer a ridiculous notion. It’s very much possible, and to be honest, this terrifies me.
What scares me the most isn’t the idea of what policies he will promote as chief legislator or how well he will enforce laws as chief executive; I am more concerned about what he will unofficially bring to his role as president. I firmly believe that if Trump wins the presidency, this will represent a cultural change that will leave a much more devastating impact on this country than any policy change he may bring about while fulfilling his official duties.
What kind of culture does Donald Trump promote? What would this country look like if he were to become our chief of state? Many of his supporters think his lack of concern for political correctness means that this country will once again be free to speak its mind, unhindered by a need for social acceptability. What they don’t understand is that there is a difference between free speech and harmful speech. This isn’t about him saying things that people do or do not agree with. It’s a matter of him saying things that promote a culture of hatred and violence towards several groups of people.
First of all, Trump has horrible things to say about women. In an interview with Esquire, Trump said, “You know, it doesn’t really matter what [the media] writes as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass.” This attitude that women are nothing but a “piece of ass” whose value comes from their ability to look good on a man’s arm not only sets the feminist movement back a few decades, but it says that it’s okay to view and treat women like objects, rather than human beings.
For those who are still doubtful that Trump’s attitude towards women represents a real threat, let me remind you that the sexual objectification of women has a direct link to rape culture. I’m not making this up. Trump himself has perpetuated this concept that women are sexual objects, and that those who attack them are not to blame. He once tweeted, “26,000 unreported sexual [assaults] in the military-only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?” Whether he is implying that men cannot help but to assault women or women are naturally going to be attacked – or maybe both – the bottom line is that he genuinely believes that men and women cannot exist in the same space without sexual violence.
Why is this view so concerning? As a woman, I am terrified to live in a world where an attitude like this prevails. In fact, considering that I can’t walk from my apartment to Chipotle without hearing catcalls or leave Oakland without my can of pepper spray, I would say that this attitude is already way too prevalent. We should be taking steps to move away from these blatant displays of rape culture, not embracing them with open arms in the name of free speech. I cannot imagine living in a world where the leader of my country shares the same traits as the creeps who stare at my backside when I walk down the street. And I don’t want a person who thinks that rape is a natural part of male-female interaction (or any interaction at all) representing my nation.
As terrifying as it is for me personally to think of Trump rising to real political power, I cannot even begin to scrape the surface of understanding what it must feel like to be of a minority race or religion in this country right now. With his poll numbers rising, Trump represents a constant threat to the safety of minorities as he is promoting a culture of fear and, with it, a culture of hatred. He is calling for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” contributing to a culture of Islamophobia. He called Mexicans drug dealers, criminals and rapists, contributing to a culture of hatred toward immigrants. Trump’s words are not just absent of political correctness, they are absent of any sort of human compassion, understanding, and truth. His rhetoric is toxic, and I fear that if he wins this election, this poison will spread throughout the country and cause irreparable damage.
The idea of Donald Trump becoming president is not a joke; it’s a threat. It will represent a nationwide cultural shift in the wrong direction. Because of this, the more I scroll through my Facebook feed, the less I laugh and the more I cringe. Trump’s candidacy is no longer a joke, and if it is, I’m sure as hell not laughing.
Sources:
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a24057/donald-trump-presidential-run-2016-072913/
https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/331907383771148288?lang=en
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/donald-trump-shutdown-of-muslims-216504