I read the portion of Michael Cohen’s book referencing Donald J Trump’s vile, misogynistic comments about Cohen’s 15 year old daughter.
'Look at that piece of a--,' Cohen recalls Trump saying, as he whistled and pointed, "I would love some of that.”
Of course none of this is surprising, we all heard Trump’s “grab them by the p***y” comments. We know that far too many of Trump’s female supporters (including his wife) excused his words with mind-bending reasoning such as “it’s just locker room talk” and “he wouldn’t have said it if he knew he was being taped”. What’s missing from this pathetic boys will be boys bullsh*t is that that the entire world is a “locker room” to misogynists. And those who accept the objectification, dehumanization and sexualization perpetuate inequality, abuse and violence. Don’t get me started on the disgusting double standard in domestic violence and sexual assault cases, “we wouldn’t want to ruin HIS future.”
As a teen, my parents would throw these swinger-lite 70s parties for their neighborhood friends. Plenty of booze, plenty of inappropriate and adulterous behavior, plenty of “adult talk”. One of the neighborhood dads made a comment about my body and the only people to take offense were me and my boyfriend. All of the adults brushed it off as a perfectly normal thing for an adult man and father to say about a 15 year old girl. In my early 30s one of my bosses made a comment similar to what Trump purportedly said about Samantha Cohen. He said it in the workplace to some of my male colleagues. It got back to me. I was appalled, embarrassed and outraged. Outraged for a lot of different reasons. First, while I worked to be a valued member of the team my contribution was insignificant, it was the size and shape of my ass that was noteworthy. Second, no matter what I did or didn’t do professionally, I was first and foremost a piece of a—. Third, that not a single male coworker who heard it said a damned thing. And last, I was pissed about the double standard. If I said the very same thing about any of my male co-workers, I would be called out for being unprofessional, inappropriate and foul mouthed.
Misogyny lives to degrade, to belittle, to bully, to humiliate and abuse. Misogyny lives to make sure that women know “their place” in the same way racism exists to make sure black and brown people know “their place”. In the patriarchy, we are not human beings, we are things used as sexual objects, to serve, to entertain, to do the work that white men think beneath them. With misogynists like Trump, sexual assault and even rape are not crimes, they are perks.
In a healthy society, we encourage the talents, the abilities, the aspirations of all human beings. We celebrate the history and achievements of all. In a sick society, the opposite. We degrade, deny, intimidate and bury the stories of those who made history. The sickness is not Donald J Trump, he is the catalyst. Those fragile egoed white men from the very rich to the very poor know that in just, merit based system their white male privilege is dead. That is why they will spend as much as they can, lie as much as they can and take to the streets with their long guns. They need to control a system that works for them and against everybody else. Let November 3 be the start of something good.