Presidential candidates should respect women

Presidential+candidates+should+respect+women

Written By Johanna Wharran, Co-Opinions Editor

A 2005 video recording of Donald Trump talking about sexually assaulting women recently emerged, and for some reason, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Who would have thought?

It’s unbelievable that after everything we already knew about Trump and his feelings towards women, it took this tape coming out to change people’s minds about him.

Donald Trump has said and done some pretty ridiculous, terrible things in his time. On numerous occasions Trump has said disgusting, disrespectful things about women, people of color and those with disabilities.

Over the course of this election season, we have not only been witnessing and bringing to light some of Trump’s more “colorful” moments. We’ve also been, if you can believe it, trying to elect the next president of the United States. Shocking, I know.

The reason this might be shocking to you is that we’ve been focusing a lot on the character and past of our nominees instead of their policy. This isn’t our fault, though. Donald Trump is a phenomenally bad guy, bad businessman and bad politician. We are being forced to scrutinize both his character and Hillary’s more than anything else.

Trump believes that it’s hard for a woman to be a “ten” if she is flat-chested, and that as Heidi Klum aged and had children, she became less attractive and was no longer a “ten.”

First of all, there is no such thing as a “ten.” There is no reason we should be rating how attractive women’s bodies are. It’s disrespectful, demeaning and ridiculous. Everybody’s body is different, and everyone finds different things attractive.

Second of all, this man is running for president. He could very well be the leader of our country, a role model for our children. This man is telling little boys it’s OK to publicly analyze women’s bodies, and telling little girls that their bodies are up for public scrutiny. Fashion magazines are one issue, our president is another.  These two instances are only a few of many in which he has promoted the rating of women’s body, and promoted the correlation between their value and their looks.

Trump has never had any hesitation before publically calling women ugly, unattractive, fat and any number of unacceptable adjectives. He even suggested people “check out [the] sex tape” of former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, who had been speaking out against him.

Donald Trump believes his “stardom” gives him the right to do anything to women; they will just let him do it. But don’t we want a president who looks for consent first? Before he kisses them without waiting or grabs them by their genitals.

If he wins, this man is supposed to lead our country, and how can someone do that while promoting the idea that women’s bodies are there for the speculation and pleasure of men? That women who are not “beautiful” by a man’s standards are not worth as much as women who fit these standards?

We need a president who understands that women are valuable, intelligent human beings the same as men.

There are a lot of reasons Trump should not be president. One of them is the way he feels about, and treats people. Women are people, first and foremost. The problem with his actions is not that he feels it’s OK to treat women this way, but that it’s OK to treat anyone this way.

Paul Ryan, in response to Trump’s misogyny, said that women should be “revered.” This also doesn’t allow women to be human, instead making them larger-than-life, strange godlike figures to be worshiped.

Women shouldn’t be revered. They shouldn’t be sexually assaulted.

They should simply be allowed to exist as equals to men, without fear and without being hated.