Locker Room Talk – Really?????

Donald Trump drew perhaps the strongest public ire of his campaign when a 2005 tape of particularly troubling, lewd and misogynistic comments bragging about sexual assault surfaced. His reaction to the public release of these comments has been a lukewarm apology for “locker room talk.” Unsurprisingly this has done nothing to allay public outcry, including among athletes who in no way want to be associated with the culture that he is attempting to normalize. As many have said since, athletes in the locker room talk about everything, just as people do outside the locker room. Some athletes may engage in such conversation but it provides zero justification for Trump’s comments or weak apology. In fact, Trump’s dismissal of the comments as locker room banter only highlights the problem: people like him normalize rape culture with dismissive comments and jokes. His dismissal of his past comments go far beyond implications for election results – they bring to light a massive problem in our country. Not only do these things commonly happen, but they are consistently ignored or justified as acceptable behavior. The fact Trump has made it this far in a Presidential race demonstrates that apathy or even support toward these types of comments, actions and individuals is a national problem.