Locker Room Talk
It is about a week after the hot mic incident and the second Presidential debate and much has been discussed and debated in the court of “social media”. For one of our Presidential candidates to relegate what he said about sexual abuse as just “locker room talk” is completely ludicrous and continues to suggest that his actions are acceptable because if our athlete heroes speak this way, then it is ok for him to also join in the banter.
Well after much talk, talk, talk by the pundits, I decided to seek out a POV from someone or some people who have actually spent some time in a locker room to see “what the f^ck do you talk about in a locker room?”
I come from a family of athletes, both male and female, so although not a first hand expert on college and professional athletes, the first thing I know without any kind of scientific study or extensive research of women athletes is they would never talk OR act in a contemptible, aggressive way to their teammates or opponents.
A locker room is meant to build camaraderie and trust…it is THE secret chamber, but it is also where people who may not have much in common beyond the sport they all play and love, can discuss and learn what they DO have in common and build from there. While some male athletes may seek to “build up their cred as a play-er” with women or become “BMOC”, I still believe most do it with some level of innuendo and lack of detail. Remember, some of these women they are whispering about in the locker room may become the “Mrs.”, so I don’t think they want their teammates to know all the deets of her physique or their shared sexual exploits!
But for a more definitive insight into “what is locker room talk”, I turned to an actual NFL pro to elaborate on what does happen and how he viewed “the Donald’s” comments from that leaked interview. Chris Kluwe is a former NFL kicker and wrote this “open letter” to Mr. Trump published on Vox.com which I have excerpted and linked to:
“When asked to justify your statements, you claimed that this was "locker room talk," and it's just how guys speak about women. You're wrong, and only the type of wrong an over-tanned ham hock like yourself can accomplish, plummeting past the morass of gross incivility into the abyss of depraved sociopathy. How do I know this? Simple. I was in an NFL locker room for eight years, the very definition of the macho, alpha male environment you're so feebly trying to evoke to protect yourself, and not once did anyone approach your breathtaking depths of arrogant imbecility. Oh, sure, we had some dumb guys, and some guys I wouldn't want to hang out with on any sort of regular basis, but we never had anyone say anything as foul and demeaning as you did on that tape, and, hell, I played a couple years with a guy who later turned out to be a serial rapist. Even he never talked like that.”
Even a serial rapist! WOW! Mr. Kluwe goes on to reveal topics they do talk about, which I have summarized, but you can read the whole list in the link below*
Q: What topics do make "the cut" for locker room talk?
A: Families, significant others, children, parents, fears, community, schools, travel, safe havens, money, taxes, women, sex, jokes, and ACCOUNTABILITY.
Accountability is certainly something I want in a President over sexual abuse talk. Mr. Kluwe concludes with some advice:
“The next time you want to claim that something is "locker room talk," take a moment to recognize the fact that were you in an actual locker room, you would be universally reviled as a cancerous, egotistical train wreck of a disgrace that no team could possibly find the time to employ and, honestly, would never even have on their draft board to begin with. I've been in locker rooms, Donald, and you're the type of narcissistic, pants-soiling fecal eruption that just doesn't belong. Even football players are smart enough to know that.”
* http://www.vox.com/first-person/2016/10/10/13230346/donald-trump-locker-room-talk-chris-kluwe
Peace and Love,
Tomato
Picture credit: http://www.panthers.com