I am normally a quiet person in public. I do get boisterous with friends and family, but in general I tend to keep to myself when at work, school, or in a social media setting. Well, that is going to change today. Over the last few days I have been seeing some disturbing things in the media and posted by my friends and family about the presidential debate. I tend to be quiet, there's that word again, about my political leanings for the most part. Most people who know me probably see me as a conservative or "Republican". Now I used to have no issues with that label up until fairly recently and here is why:
Let me start out by saying I think most, keyword here, MOST politicians are in it for themselves or a paycheck. They do not make their decisions for the people who elect them. Saying otherwise makes you, in my opinion, a sheep following the masses whether you are following a conservative or liberal ideology. So, what I have to say next does not mean I believe one "side" or the other is better at running the country or state or anything really.
My biggest problem with the election this year, well every year that I had started to pay attention to them, is the mudslinging each side and their supporters do. It bothers me that people are so hateful towards each other. It makes me sad for my children and my nieces and nephews. This year seems to be one of the worst, but maybe it is only because our only TWO, supposedly, candidates are so polarizing. You have Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. Neither really deserves nor should be in charge of one of the most powerful countries in the world. Granted I do think someone who has at least held a public office is a little more fit for the job than a business man turned reality star, but I digress... Slightly.
Let's look at Donald Trump first...
Here is a man who is promoting rape culture. He said some hurtful and heavy things from a "hot mic". He played his comments off as "locker room talk" which I would be appalled if I heard my father, husband, cousins, sons, or anyone for that matter speak in such a manner. The words he said are not just degrading to women, but to men as well since he is someone in the spotlight who has a way to reach the masses. His comments, from that fateful day in 2005, are even more horrible when you look at how he has treated the women in his life in general. Let alone someone he may or may not have sexually assaulted.
My biggest issue in the aftermath of Donald Trump's comments are his supporters. Especially the ones who say that the women now accusing him of assault are fake victims. No one really questioned when the many women came forward saying Bill Cosby assaulted them. The women who said they were assaulted by Arnold Schwarzenegger, he has held a public office, had more credibility than the women who are coming forward about Trump in the medias' eyes. There are many reasons why women stay silent or do not report assault, whether domestic or sexual, to the police. I cannot speak for any of these women, but I will finally speak for myself.
When I was in college I was sexually assaulted by my best guy friend. He was someone I had trusted and never would have thought would do something like he did. I will spare you, dear reader, the details, but it still haunts me to this day. The reason I never reported him was because it would turn into a "he said she said" bullshit case. In my situation there were no witnesses besides him and I on that day. Afterwords I was scared and did not know what to do. Part of me felt like it was my fault. I should not have been alone with him given some of the circumstances, but again he was my friend that I had known for years. He even tried to play it off like it was no big deal. He told me he would never hurt me intentionally, and that it did not mean anything. We stopped being friends after that.
I have only talked to a couple of people about this incident. Most of my family and even mutual friends do not know what happened, or they might know his version of why I stopped talking to him. Does this mean I am making up what happened years ago... No. That is the simplest answer. My emotional pain and mental scars are not invalid just because I have been silent all of these years.
The people who are saying Trump's victims are fake are some of the most cold hearted people that I have seen. Even if you are only sharing or retweeting what they said you are cold hearted too. I ask you, dear reader, to please think before you blindly retweet or share something. I am not going to say you cannot speak your mind, but just think before you say something. I am not saying you should have a trigger warning before you speak, but have a heart.
No woman or man has ever asked for unwanted sexual advances. When it does happen it has nothing to do what they are wearing, reading, watching, how they seem to be acting, how they acted before, or how many people they have had consensual sex with at that time. The sooner people start respecting each other and seeing each other as actual people the sooner our world will be a better place.
If you still think these women are fake or lying then I pray your children or proxy children or you for that matter, never have to live through any type of assault. It can be a heavy burden to carry.
In the future will never be called a Republican again. I will vote or endorse whoever I feel like is the best for the job. Thank you
