A few weeks ago something terrible happened. A man (if you can call him that) aggressively spoke about sexually assaulting women. Now this happens all the time unfortunately, but this time that person was Donald Trump, who happens to be running for President. His bullshit "locker room talk" excuse was just a coverup for the fact that the disgusting words, "Grab 'em by the pussy," that came out of his disgusting mouth perpetuate rape culture in American culture. But I'm starting to think that maybe there's a silver lining. His words have sparked countless conversations about consent, and helped to spawn amazing videos like the one below from YouTuber, Riyadh K.
As a woman, it is painful to watch as other women are blamed for being assaulted and raped. Rape and sexual assault will continue to happen until humanity, every single man and woman, learns what consent really means. No means no. There is nothing else to it. And if a person is too intoxicated to consent, that still means NO.
So when Donald Trump said, "grab 'em by the pussy," it brought more light to the idea of consent because he put sexual assault on the biggest stage he could. I'm hoping that his loathsome words have helped some people to understand where the line between a sexy time and sexual assault begins and ends.
Woman have cried and begged after the likes of Brock Turner, Bill Cosby, Jian Ghomeshi and countless football players who are being paid millions in the NFL, for the world to recognize that rape culture is ruining our future and taking away our feeling of safety and security. And it's not just women's problem either. Men are being sexually assaulted and raped as well.
By raising a new generation that knows what consent means there's hope that a future free of assault can exist.
And as Riyadh K tells us, you can "grab 'em by the pussy," but only if they say "Yes."