Sometimes I despair that so many people jump on this or that bandwagon without giving the slightest thought to an issue. The recently revealed recording of Trump talking about his sexual adventures is one such. I’ve actually thought about it. Here are my thoughts.
As soon as I heard the Trump recording, I thought, “Typical locker room talk. He’s just bragging as so many guys do.”
No one among us has not heard such talk before (unless your mommy gave you a note that got you out of gym class for four years of high school). I’d wager there’s not a locker room in America and much of the rest of the world where talk like that doesn’t go on – much of it false braggadocio. Dudes will ever and always try to impress other dudes with their manliness and prowess with the ladies.
It works the other way too. Possibly not as many women brag as do men but there’s plenty of “dirty” talk to go around. When I was stationed in NY, I met a girl and her three friends and she and I ended up dating, but I also spent a lot of time with her and her three besties. It was not at all uncommon for them to talk about some guy’s crotch bulge of how nice his ass looked. Or what they’d like to do to him. It isn’t only men who undress others with their eyes.
Humans are sexual creatures. We all want it, some of us all the time.
Donald bragged that he could grab a woman’s lady parts or plant a kiss and she would let him because he’s a star. Star power works like that on many women. Athletic prowess does as well. Henry Kissinger once said that power is a great aphrodisiac. We know from any number of examples that money is too.
Many Hollywood stars are stars at least as much for their looks as for their acting, and any number of people, men and women alike, would jump in the sack with their favorite star without hesitation. How and why people are attracted to each other is complex. Why anyone would “let” someone touch “private parts” is complex too. But power is indeed an aphrodisiac and may well play a part in permitting sexual advances.
Is it really assault if the women “let” him? Is it assault if a guy touches his date’s breast when they’re parked at Lovers Overlook?
If she rebuffs his advances and he persists, that’s probably assault. But just grabbing private parts, and she permits it (whether star power, money or just damned good looks), that doesn’t strike me as assault.
In the old days, a guy would try to get to “second base” or “third base” and if the woman objected, he would strike out. It wasn’t assault, it was just testing boundaries.
Of course, in these “progressive” times, when a politically correct guy needs to ask permission before each advance he makes, just an adoring look may be “assault” in some circles. Do we need to get lawyers involved to draw up a Third Date Agreement On Physical Intimacy?
Now, the question arises as to whether or not Trump actually did what he was bragging about eleven years ago. Donald said that it was “just words” and that he didn’t actually do what he was bragging about. In the absence of actual evidence, I’m going to assume, as should you, that he was just making it up. Lots of men exaggerate their sexual prowess.
And, of course, if he really did what he bragged about, and they let him, rather than rebuff his advances, then it was not assault at all. It was consensual.
As for all those who have taken Trump’s bragging as actual fact and labeled it as “sexual assault,” they need to get a grip. I’m betting that a large percentage of these same folks have done the very same thing and made similar bragging claims. They are hypocrites. Many of those politicians distancing themselves from Trump over this issue are doing so more out of concern over political perceptions than any real disgust over Trump’s remarks. They are politically calculating hypocrites.
None of which is to say that sexual assault is a trivial matter. Actual sexual assault. The kind committed by William Jefferson “Slick Willie” Clinton and aggravated by his spouse who assaulted his victims verbally every time there was a “bimbo eruption” – Hillary’s term for when another Bill Clinton victim came forward.
Now, you may not agree with my conclusions but at least I’ve taken the time to think about it.