I am not just someone’s daughter

By: Megan Graves, columnist

I usually don’t have a difficult time coming up with things to write about. I’ve got an opinion on absolutely everything, and that makes writing an opinion column a little bit easier. However, this week I was facing some serious writer’s block. The few times that I did come up with subject matter, my creativity would coincidentally have this “thing” she had to go to and would peace out on me.

The end of the week was approaching, and I had no idea what I wanted to write about. But then, just as I was losing all hope, a dim, kind of dusty, orange light came out of the darkness.

Let’s talk about Donald Trump.

We all know by now that the Donald is pretty damn terrible to women. From his comments about Hillary Clinton, to his comments about Megyn Kelly, to his comments about former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, to his comments about…you get the point.

Well folks, I think it’s safe to say Donny has finally done himself in. I mean, he really just took the cake this time. The cake being one that has “You are a Horrible Man!” written on it in stale, green icing.

Footage from 2005 of Donald Trump and Billy Bush was dug up and spread online and on-air.

It begins with Donald telling the story of a time he tried to f**k a married woman and was upset when she didn’t respond positively to his advances, probably because she was, you know, married. Then there are, unsurprisingly, disrespectful comments about women’s breasts and physical appearances.
Trump then pops a couple Tic Tacs and says, “I’m automatically attracted to beautiful. I just start kissing them… I don’t even wait” as in, “I don’t even wait for consent.” Further, according to Trump, if you’re a “star” and you’re around women, “you can do anything; grab ‘em by the p***y.”

That statement is so aggressive and disturbing that my stomach turned when I heard the audio. Trump is saying he does not pay any regard to consent, and Billy Bush thinks that’s hilarious.

Grabbing women and kissing women without consent is a form of sexual violence. That is the behavior and the language of a predator.

I would say that, luckily, this is causing people to finally turn away from Trump, but it isn’t lucky. We never should have let him get this far in the first place. And while I’m happy to see other political figures speaking out against him, I’m not super happy with their language, either.

It shouldn’t be, “As a grandfather/father/husband/brother I find this wrong.”

It should be, “As a human being I find this wrong.”

Women’s rights and lives shouldn’t only matter when someone you know is being affected. You don’t have to be a father or a grandfather to find sexual violence and the language surrounding it horrific.

We need a president who will stand up against sexual violence, not perpetuate it. That should be a given. Donald Trump is a hateful, entitled, angry man who never should have been given the amount of power he has.

Please, if you haven’t already, register to vote online by Oct. 18 and in person by Nov. 3. Then actually vote in this election. Your vote and your voice matter, and it’s time to speak up.